Sunday Times 2
Dilip’s Dimbulla red wine adjudged best at Aussie show
View(s):The wine from Australia’s Dimbulla Estate owned by Sri Lankan businessman Dilip Kumar has been adjudged the Best Red Wine at this year’s Hunter Valley Wine show. The wine judged the Best Red Wine was a Tempranillo Shiraz 2014. The Hunter Valley Wine Show is one of the most prestigious held in Australia every year.
WINE AND SHINE: Dilip with his super wine in one hand, the trophy in the other
This small vineyard was named after the Sri Lanka tea growing area where Dilip worked for a time before migrating to Australia in 1974. He pursued business interests in the automotive industry and became the successful owner of car, truck and bus Dealerships in Victoria and NSW. He now owns Peninsula Motor Group based in Bankstown in the western suburbs of Sydney where he has dealerships for Holden and Hyundai cars. He is also the Australian distributor for Hyundai Commercial Vehicles.
About 15 years ago, Dilip acquired the land in the Hunter Valley and established 10 hectares of wine grape vines including Semillon, Shiraz and Tempranillo, which is a grape associated with the Spanish Rioja region. Vines take time to establish so it is only in the past five years that Dimbulla Estate wines began to win medals at regional wine shows.
In the history of the Hunter Valley Wine Show, this is the first time that a blended wine has won the premier award. In all the other years, single variety Shiraz has been the dominant red wine at the show.
A past pupil of Trinity College, Kandy, Dilip had a short career in tea plantations in Sri Lanka before he migrated to Australia. He graduated from the Dave Syme Business School of Monash University and the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dilip says he has two abiding interests outside of business – one is wine, the other is rugby, he was the chairman of the Australian Rugby Union in 2005.
After his playing days at the Dandenong Club in Victoria, he got involved in Rugby administration. He first sponsored the Warringah Rugby Club for 10 years and took it to four Sydney “A” Grade Championship Finals. He then joined the NSW Rugby Union Board was Chairman for four years.
From 2000 to 2005 Dilip was a member of the Australian Rugby Union and he was the Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee during the RWC 2003. In 2005 he was appointed the Chairman of the Australian Rugby Union.
Despite all this, Dilip considers that his greatest contribution to sport has been as a foundation trust Member of the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team (LMRDT) which has been promoting rugby union among indigenous youth in Australia since 1992. In that time thousands of young aboriginal children, mostly from remote areas, have been assisted through the LMRDT to play sport, finish their education and to find work.
In 2000, the Government of Australia awarded Dilip the Australian Sports Medal for his services to Rugby.
Dilip is married to Barbara and has two children, both of whom have graduated with degrees in Business.