Hunter Valley stars shine bright

On Friday evening, the Hunter Valley faithful turned up to honour those who have excelled in wine and tourism over the previous 12 months, combined with the Legends presentations honouring a lifetime of work, vision, and promotion of the region.

Neil McGuigan was inducted as a Legend following in the footsteps of his father, Perc, brother, Brian, and sister-in-law, Faye McGuigan – and joked, "Finally, the member of the family that does of the work gets recognised".

Neil McGuigan's work promoting not only Hunter Valley wines, but the entire Australian wine industry, is worthy of legend status. His stellar career includes the converted title of International Wine Maker of the Year no less than four times, and he's been a beacon of hope promoting Australian wines worldwide for the better part of half a century.

Graduating with a degree in oenology in 1978, McGuigan retired from his role as CEO and chief winemaker at Australian Vintage Limited (AVL) 41 years later with a proud legacy. He remains a technical adviser to the business.   

Alongside Neil McGuigan was Phil Hele OAM, named as a Legend for his Tourism work as the Hunter Valley Resort owner for the last 30 years. 

Also honoured on the night was Christina Tulloch, who served as the president of the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association for two years during a particularly challenging period of COVID shutdowns and bushfires.

Other winners included the inaugural 2022 Tourism Operator of the Year: Beyond Ballooning and the Accommodation Operator of the Year: Spicers Guesthouse.

Winemaker of the year went to Liz Silkman from First Creek and Silkman Wines, Cellar Door of the Year went to De Iuliis Wines, Viticulturalist of the Year went to Jerome Scarborough, and Young Achiever went to Alex Beckett of Briar Ridge.  Brian McGuigan was recognised as a Patron.

From an evening of great celebration came a positive message, tourism is set to come back strongly in the Hunter. Phil Hele, who recently returned from a tourism conference in Sydney, said, "There is strong interest in our region and a wave of visitors coming in October this year. We are about to be very busy".