The 6th Annual Vineyard of the Year Awards list of Australia’s top winegrowers has just landed. These awards are here to advance the regional identity of Australian wine and promote leading-edge sustainability and innovation in winegrowing, and there has never been a more important moment to celebrate a group like this.
The risk of bushfire is never far from the minds of those who live in rural and regional Australia, and our wine growers and makers are no exception. Wine is an agricultural product that is especially vulnerable to bushfire – whether those impacts are direct, such as the loss of vineyards in a blaze, or less direct, such as grapes that have been affected by smoke taint. While the current bushfire season has thus far been far less dramatic than the wide-scale destruction that was caused across the country during the ‘unprecedented’ 2019–2020 bushfire season, fires in Central Victoria have already impacted the livelihoods of dozens of winemakers this year – and we are not yet out of the woods. In this article we’ve detailed the major fires that have impacted Australia’s winemakers thus far in 2026 – including information about the producers affected and the best ways to support them.
Winemaking and wine growing is an inherently risky business – expensive to get started, and subject to the vagaries of the international wine market and the whims of consumers. Beyond that baseline level of risk, though, there are also freak events, accidents, and other disasters that can strike at any stage in the winemaking process – and that have the possibility of derailing promising winemaking careers. We talk to winemakers Bridget Mac of Werkstatt and Bryan Martin of Ravensworth to discover how these devastating experiences can also offer opportunities for growth and the development of resilience.
We are heartbroken to hear that Peter Fraser, winemaker and general manager at Yangarra and Hickinbotham, passed away yesterday at the age of 51. This is an incredibly tragic day for Peter’s family and friends, for the teams at Yangarra and Hickinbotham and the Jackson Family Wines group, and for the McLaren Vale and broader Australian wine community. Our thoughts and condolences are with Peter’s family and friends, the teams at Yangarra and Hickinbotham, and the Jackson Family Wines group in this difficult time.
Registrations for the 20th Annual Young Gun of Wine Awards are now open (closing in November). Owen Latta of Latta Vino and Eastern Peake will join the panel in 2026. From launching a startup label to managing a legacy brand, he knows exactly what winemakers are going through.
Designed to place vineyards and growers across the nation at the heart of the Australian wine story, and the heart of the Australian wine community, the 6th Annual Vineyard of the Year Awards is now open for registrations.
The Vineyard of the Year Awards in 2019 in order to place vineyards and griowers across the nation at the heart of the Australian wine story – and at the heart of the Australian wine community. We wanted to reconnect the whole idea of wine to the place it comes from and the manner in which the grapes are grown. Five years on, and the mission of the Vineyard of the Year Awards remains the same. Read on to discover the New Vineyard of the Year; Old Vineyard of the Year; Innovative Vineyard of the Year, dubbed ‘The Groundbreaker’; and Vineyard of the Year.
Exciting new projects, vibrant and daring wines, thoughtful packaging and marketing, detailed viticulture, and a quiet achiever of the Australian wine community – all of these have been recognised with trophies at the 2025 Young Gun of Wine Awards.
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