Henschke, one of Australia’s oldest family-owned wineries, has been named the 2021 Halliday Wine Companion ‘Winery of the Year’ in the first ever online broadcast of the prestigious awards ceremony.

The coveted annual awards recognise the best of the best from across the wine industry and celebrate the release of the 2021 edition of the Halliday Wine Companion.

The awards showcased the resilience and strength of Australia’s wine community in a year plagued with fire, drought and pandemic.

“The accessible move online, made to combat restrictions within the current climate, proved highly successful, with wine-loving viewers from across Australia and the globe tuning in to learn the deserving winemakers, wineries and wines honoured as the 2021 award recipients,” said Halliday Wine Companion publisher Hardie Grant.

Fifth-generation winemaker Stephen Henschke and his viticulturist wife Prue are recognised around the world for their exceptional quality wines, innovation and sustainability in the vineyard.

Their 2012 Hill of Grace was named ‘Wine of the Year’ in the 2018 Halliday Wine Companion and, in recent years, Stephen and Prue have welcomed sixth-generation family members Johann, Justine and Andreas into the family business.

“It’s a great honour be named Winery of the Year and we are overjoyed to share this award with our fantastic, loyal and hardworking staff,” said Stephen Henschke.

“We celebrated 150 years of family winemaking in 2018 and we couldn’t be prouder to receive this accolade in a year that our oldest Hill of Grace vines, the ‘Grandfathers’, turn 160 years of age.

“As we reflect on our own journey as Henschke custodians, we pay tribute to the trailblazers who laid the foundations for our Henschke story,” concluded Stephen, “this is an award that celebrates everyone in our family wine business; what we are achieving now, in handcrafting wines from healthy, sustainable vineyards, and what we hope to achieve in the future”.

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