'Lunch is for wimps.' When Gordon Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) uttered those immortal words in 1987's Wall Street it was indicative of the cut-throat, fast-moving, wheeling-dealing nature of New York's stocks and bonds industry. Well, that was last century.
This decade, the mantle of fast-paced, dynamic corporate life firmly belongs to the global wine industry. And the activities at Australia's Southcorp Wines provide as much drama and compulsive viewing as any movie.
Take the past two years. In October 2000, Southcorp owned major brands Lindemans, Penfolds and Wynns. At about the same time its major competitor, Rosemount, agreed to partner California's Mondavi in a Trans-Pacific joint venture.
But things behind the scenes were moving fast. Almost immediately, Rosemount and Southcorp shocked the wine world by announcing a planned merger. The Mondavi deal was put on the back burner. The Australian wine industry continued to watch in amazement as the Southcorp board announced that Philip Shaw, head winemaker at the much smaller Rosemount, would become tchief winemaker, overseeing all of Southcorp's brands.
John Duval, who was Southcorp's man, was asked to concentrate on Penfolds alone. At the time, Duval was the third man ever to have responsibility for making Grange, Australia's undisputed flagship wine. 'What a kick in the teeth to this most respected of winemakers,' many industry insiders said. 'It will only be a matter of time until someone else snaps him up.'
As predicted, next month Duval will part company with Southcorp to pursue his own winemaking interests, although he will remain as a consultant to Penfolds. Peter Gago becomes the head winemaker.
I met Gago in Hong Kong earlier this year. A quiet, modest man, he enjoys lunch and bears no resemblance to Gordon Gekko. Once a maths and science teacher, Gago has written three textbooks on wine and under Duval's leadership, has been Penfolds' red wine oenologist since 1994. Much of his time recently has been spent promoting Grange and other Australian wines to consumers around the world.