Trophy wines from the 2021 Royal Sydney Wine Show

The 2021 Royal Sydney Wine Show Lunch, held on 16 December, saw the announcement that Sandra Przibilla had been honoured for her years of contribution to the Australian wine industry.

Sandra has contributed to building the industry as a retailer, a wholesaler, an industry leader and as a pioneer of diversity and inclusion in the drinks industry.

Sandra said that she was “honoured and humbled” by the recognition.

“It gives us great pleasure to present this honour to Sandra,” Wine Communicators Australia (WCA) executive officer Andrew Stark said.

“Her long career as an industry leader has seen her help many wine businesses tell their stories more effectively, as well as making the industry a more welcoming one for female professionals.”

Sandra’s varied career has included serving as General Manager of the iconic Peter Doyle Cellars, Managing Director of NILWA, CEO of Drinks Association, and Chair of the Women in Drinks Council.

Sandra is the ninth person to be awarded Legend of the Vine status in NSW, and joins a prestigious national list that includes Lyndey Milan, Huon Hooke, Clive Hartley, Iain Riggs, Rob Hirst and David Lowe.

The Legend of the Vine Award was first introduced in NSW in 2014, and extends across Victoria and South Australia with annual awards issued in each of these states.

The WCA Board and State Chapters select the nominees from each state, with the final winner determined by the WCA National Board.

The WCA was established as a national not-for-profit company in December 2010 growing out of the well-respected Wine Press Clubs of NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

It aims to be Australia’s pre-eminent organisation connecting business professionals working with wine and currently has more than 700 members.

WCA’s annual program includes networking events, webinars and its prestigious lunches in association with three major capital city wine shows – Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

It also runs the annual Wine Communicator Awards and Legend of the Vine Awards, as well as the Wine Industry Mentor Programme and Wine Media Cadet Programme

Elsewhere in the wine show, top awards went to Tyrrell’s 2013 Vat 1 Semillon, which took home four Sydney Royal trophies including the trophy for Best Wine of Show and Orlando’s 2018 Lyndale Chardonnay taking home The A P John Coopers Perennial Trophy for Best Chardonnay.

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