"You have two choices. Sit around counting all the challenges we face as an industry. Or you can just get on with it and do great things and inspire the rest of us - like these 50 Stars of 2023. WBM has gone back through the inbox - and the stories - to see who stood up when there was every reason to just sit down. We'll have these 50 Stars on our team any day."

WBM writes, "Ashley helps to keep the wine industry 'up'. Mr Positive has more balls in the air than Bobo the clown. Where does he find the time? White there were great wines coming out of the Riverland before Ricca Terra saw merit in alternative varieties suited to the climate, Ashley has almost single-handedly doubled the exposure of the better stuff. Big on the environment, he has put wine in casks. Enthusiastic, energetic and thoughtful. A big thinker. Crazy in a good way. Great marketer. His latest surprise is a $100 Riverland wine. May his infectious personality spread. Now a Top 100 Halliday Winery - perhaps the best piece of marketing in the Riverland has had since the 1973 Jimmy. You don't need a blueprint to tell you the region just needs another few dozen Ricca Terra's. Easier said than done."

Australia's Wine Business Magazine - November/December 2023