Final toast to South Australian entrepreneur Duncan MacGillivray, the man who tamed Two Dogs

FOR Two Dogs founder Duncan MacGillivray, it all started with a load of lemons that couldn't be sold and were about to be wasted.

IT all started with load of lemons that couldn't be sold and were about to drop to the ground, wasted.

It was 1993, and then pub owner Duncan MacGillivray suggested cursorily that he and his desperate neighbour should brew them up, creating a tasty alcoholic "lemonade".

Adelaide's thirsty trendsetters lapped it up and within a couple of years Duncan and his quirkily named Two Dogs were local legends, his unique drink sold in more than 250 pubs across Australia and making waves in international corporate board rooms.

Always synonymous with the Two Dogs lemonade super brand, but remembered with greater reverence for his wider contribution to South Australia's rural pursuits, Duncan MacGillivray died on Monday aged 66, after suffering a heart attack while holidaying with his family in Bali.

The seemingly unstoppable entrepreneur was considered one of the state's great rural ambassadors, domestically and internationally.

He had advised governments on agricultural matters, worked incessantly in the beef, fruit and grain trades, become a progressive publican and brewer before an award-winning vigneron, and finally went on to champion the state's food industries domestically and internationally.

But it is a crazy little fruit concoction sporting label images of his pet bulldogs that will go down as the most shining memory Duncan imparted.

With his exuberant sales nous behind the brand, that innovative taste of SA lemons as a trendy alcoholic drop went on to inspire an incredible global business in what were called RTDs (ready-to-drink beverages).

Two Dogs became so successful he sold the company to French beverage giant Pernod Ricard for a reported $17 million and immediately moved into the wine business, establishing Longview Vineyard at Macclesfield in the Adelaide Hills, where he continued his pioneering ways with varieties like sauvignon blanc and more experimental Italian grapes like nebbiolo, as well as continuing a lifelong interest in beef cattle.

He later sold the operation to the Saturno group, and brothers Peter and Mark still run the business.

Duncan's next major business challenge moved to Kangaroo Island, where he founded, in 2009, KI Pure Grains as a trading group for the region's growers struggling against excessive freight costs and lack of markets.

Duncan recognised that KI could be just as well known for its food as it was for tourism, KI Pure Grains executive chairman Neil Pontifex said.

"He had the interests of the island at heart," he said.

Mr MacGillivray also helped well-known chef and Tasting Australia director Simon Bryant in a small grain business based on the island.

"Duncan was the epitome of that can-do South Australian spirit," Mr Bryant said.

SA Hotels Association's Ian Horne said Mr MacGillivray was always breaking new ground, with the brewery hotel, with Two Dogs, and The Astor.

He was also remembered for his work as chairman and current patron of the Hutt St Centre Foundation supporting the homeless.

MacGillivray is survived by his wife Oopy and four children, Alice, Hugh, Angus and Max.

The family will return to Australia in the coming days and will announce funeral arrangements once his body returns to SA.