Award-winning Hunter Valley viticulturist Liz Riley has won the prestigious Legend of the Vine award.
She received the honour at the 2023 Sydney Royal Wine Show Trophy Winners Lunch held last Friday at the Hyatt Regency in Sydney.
Riley said she was "honoured and humbled" by the recognition.
Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA) Angus Barnes said he was "delighted to be able to honour Liz's many contributions to the wine industry".
"Liz often works quietly behind the scenes, but her contribution is long and lasting," he continued.
"During the terrible bushfires and smoke events of the 2020 vintage, Liz worked tirelessly to ensure that NSW producers and growers could get their grapes and wine tested for smoke damage. This led to businesses being able to make much better decisions about how to treat that particularly difficult season.
"For this work, she was given the 2021 Award for Excellence by the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association."
Riley is viticulturist at Scarborough Wine Co. and provides viticultural advice to various wineries through her business Vitibit, which she started in 2000. She is a member of several industry boards including the Australian Wine Research Institute, Freshcare and Landcare NSW, and recently took on an educator role through Tocal College in NSW, passing on her knowledge and skills with regard to pests and diseases, pruning and biosecurity.
Read more: Hunter Valley's Liz Riley named viticulturist of the year
Riley was the first female recipient of the NSW DPI Graham Gregory Award 2020, and was named viticulturist of the year by Wine Magazine in 2022, the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology (ASVO) in 2017 and the Hunter Valley Wine Tourism Association in 2011.
She is a Roseworthy graduate, where she won the Grant Hardy Smith Award in 1992 for "the graduating student showing the best all round character and ability". Riley went on to win an Australian Nuffield Farming Scholarship in 1997.
Riley is the 11th person to be awarded Legend of the Vine status in NSW, and joins a prestigious national list that includes Andrew Caillard MW, Sandra Przibilla, Lyndey Milan, Huon Hooke, Clive Hartley, Iain Riggs, Rob Hirst and David Lowe.
She is married to winemaker Jerome Scarborough and they have two children, Callum and Hannah.
Scarborough Wine Co. is a family-owned winery in the Hunter Valley specialising in chardonnay.
