PIRIE SACKED FROM PIPERS BROOK

Published: 23 July, 2008

By Max Allen

Andrew Pirie has been sacked from his position as chief winemaker and MD of Pipers Brook Vineyard, Tasmania's highest-profile wine company, which he founded three decades ago. Pirie was dismissed last week by John Carlile, CEO of Kreglinger, the Belgian-based company that acquired Pipers Brook last year for $30 million. There is speculation that Pirie's departure was hastened by the imminent relocation to Tasmania of Kreglinger's Belgian chairman, Paul de Moor, who is said to have taken a personal interest in Pipers Brook. Even so, as Stuart Bryce, president of the Vineyards Association of Tasmania, put it: Andrew was Pipers Brook. He is the pioneer who put Tassie firmly on the map. If it weren't for him, nobody would know what the bloody hell was happening down here.' Pirie, who was in the second year of a five-year contract, said: It's a surprise because Pipers Brook had a great year last year. Ninth Island Pinot Noir is doing exceptionally well; we've seen some monumental growth. Now, though, none of the people in the team who laid the foundations for that success - (marketing director) Linda Holmes, (general manager) Graeme Allen, me - are there.' Pirie is now considering his options, including taking Kreglinger to the industrial commission in Hobart to fight for what he believes to be his just entitlement.

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