Winemaker Bob Oatley honoured for pursuits

They say alcohol and boats don't mix.

Except in the case of winemaker Robert Oatley, who has won seven Sydney to Hobart races with his Wild Oats yacht series and already has his eye on another one.

In between running a successful wine company and Australia's largest tourist resort, Hamilton Island, of course.

It's this determination that led to Oatley's appointment as an Officer of the Order of Australia in this year's Australia Day Honours.

The appointment recognises his service to the country's wine and tourism industries, to yacht racing, as well as the 86-year-old's contributions to the community as a supporter of medical research and visual arts organisations.

His entrepreneurial success first began in the 1950s and 60s, when he exported Papua New Guinea's coffee and cocoa beans around the world.

Then came Oatley's visionary decision to plant the first vineyards in the Hunter Valley in 1969 at the now famous Rosemount Estate.

By the mid 1980s his wines were being poured into glasses all over the world.

After more than 30 years producing wine, in 2001 Oatley sold the wine company but kept a stake which he later sold to beer company Foster's in 2005.

Rather than retire, a year later he launched the Robert Oatley brand in the United States.

This year's Australia Day Honours also featured one of the architects of Jacob's Creek, Philip Laffer, and McWilliams winemaker Kevin McLintock, who were appointed Members of the Order of Australia for their work.