Mudgee winemaker Drew Tuckwell has become an award-winning writer, capturing the prestigious 2006 Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine's New Writer Award.
"I am absolutely thrilled to have been presented with this award," Mr Tuckwell said.
"I have always enjoyed writing, and the Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine has provided an opportunity for me to pursue another avenue in my wine industry career.
"I am looking forward to writing more articles in the future."
Conducted by Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine, in association with Wine Press Club of NSW and the promotions firm Liquid Ideas, the New Writer award carries a prize pool including $1,500 cash.
Writers were required to submit up to 1,000 words on wine or wine-related topics. Articles were judged on content as well as writing style.
Mr Tuckwell's article, selected from more than 60 entries, predicts that "the next fashion" among both wine producers and wine consumers will be the vaguely defined practice of non-interventionist winemaking.
Mr Tuckwell, who started his winemaking career in the Hunter Valley, earned an Oenology degree at the University of Adelaide and worked in Tuscany, north-east Victoria and McLaren Vale before coming to Mudgee for the 2000 vintage and establishing his own 21C Wine Company contract winemaking business.
He has served as chief steward of the Mudgee Wine Show and as chair of the Mudgee Wine Show committee.
Mr Tuckwell's winning entry in the New Writer Award competition discusses the pros and cons of interventionist versus non-interventionist winemaking.
"Non interventionist Winemaking is not easy to explain" he said. "There are no defined or common rules.
"It is essentially a very natural form of winemaking ... where, in general terms, winemakers resist the use of modern technology and simply allow the wines to express the terroir of the vineyard."
In his article, Mr Tuckwell noted how Jonathan Nossiter in his film Mondovino, shown recently in Mudgee, demininses globalised brands and industrial winemaking while promoting wine-making artisans. He said, however, that achieving non-interventionist quality results in high prices and limited quantities that may place such wine out of reach for some consumers.
In recent years, Mr Tuckwell wrote, the wine industry has been consumed with the issue of bottle closure which has pitted advocates of cork against advocates of other technology such as screw caps.
"Yet the wine industry, being somewhat faddish, will tire of this issue before long," he wrote.
"The next big issue likely to capture the attention of wine industry professionals and consumers is non-interventionist winemaking. This issue will become a hot topic because there is an increasing number of small, high quality producers who have successfully adopted non-interventionist winemaking practices and because the wine press has given this winemaking method an increasing amount of exposure.
"It is bound to be the next fashion in winemaking, with producers around the globe adopting the technique and consumers seeking out the wines."
The marketing manager of the Mudgee Wine Grape Grower's Association, Mike O'Malley, congratulated Mr Tuckwell on his award.
"Mudgee has relatively few high-profile winemaking ambassadors so it's fantastic to see Drew win this award which will once again bring the Mudgee region into focus," Mr O'Malley said.
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