Wine writer RICHARD CALVER talks to Katherine Brown, of Brown Brothers, about what needs to happen to change the lot of  women in the wine industry. 

In late June it was announced that a study will aim to review current efforts, understand the state of gender equality, and identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for progress in the grape and wine sector. 

This research will be undertaken by Charles Sturt University and the University of NSW. 

The research team will engage wine and grape sector stakeholders to identify recommendations and develop a practical toolkit for all businesses and sector organisations, translating best practices and innovative ideas for gender equality, into actionable steps. 

In an interview with Katherine Brown, of Brown Family Wines, I asked her about how she advanced in the industry and what other ways women could be given more opportunities. 

What wines does Brown Family Wine Group sell in Canberra and what is the most popular wine sold?

“The Brown Browns NV Prosecco is our most popular wine sold in Canberra. Canberrans love their prosecco. Canberra and the ACT is a really loyal market for us. Our winery is located in Milawa, Victoria (near Wangaratta) which is only four hours from Canberra, and we get many visitors making the drive to enjoy our cellar door and award-winning restaurant.” 

How did you get into the industry and when and why? What have been your roles?

“I was lucky enough to be born into the industry. I’m part of the fourth generation of the Brown family. It was my great grandfather who made the first wines here in Milawa in 1889.  

“Each generation of winemaker before me was named John Brown so I’ve shaken that up because my name is not John and I’m a woman. 

“I went away to boarding school and then studied business at university. I travelled to France and got caught up in the vintage there, first working in Bordeaux then Champagne and then in Jura. 

“I did a vintage in those regions for about four weeks in each. This compares with vintage at Brown Brothers, which goes from February to the end of April typically. 

“When I came back I studied wine making at Charles Sturt in Wagga from 2010. Two-thousand-and-fifteen was my first vintage here. I came in as an assistant winemaker, with a portfolio of innovative wines, the ‘orphan’ wines.  

“I gave them my passion to get them in the forefront. I made a Nero d’Avola, which won a trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show in 2016. In 2019 I had my first child and then went back to making wine.

“In 2021 I had my second child, but found that the time required to mother two small children and wine making didn’t fit into a week, and so I am currently in a role where I can work part time, looking after some areas of marketing and corporate affairs.” 

What needs to change to get more women into the industry?

“At Brown Brothers we operate a very female friendly winery, our senior winemaker and our head of cellar are both women and over half of our permanent cellar hand team are female, this takes out the ‘blokey’ nature that can be seen in some agricultural workplaces. 

“I think women promoting women, acting as mentors for the next generation coming through is especially important. An aspect that this would work in is through job-sharing roles. So, say when two women have children they could job-share because winemaking is a role that takes five to seven days a week, seven days during vintage.

“Wine industry employers should be more open to let more job-sharing occur in the hands-on, agricultural side such as in the winery or in the vineyards. Our winery team at Brown Brothers work well because we can see other women in leadership roles, which creates achievable role-models for the younger female team.”