Award double act

With vintage now done and dusted and many of the new wines from 2026 resting safe and sound in barrels and tanks around the country, you could be excused for thinking there's not much going on at the moment. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Especially in cool-climate Tasmania.

Viticulture is an all-year-round occupation for the State's 200 or so licensed wine producers.

That noted, this week saw five Tasmanian wine producers down tools and head to trade events in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, before finishing up at celebrations marking the announcement of the annual Young Gun of Wine Awards.

It was time well spent for Tamar Valley couple Lauren and Matthias Utzinger. They were jointly named the 2026 Young Gun of Wine at a gala dinner held at Chinatown's Red Emperor on Tuesday 9 June 2026.

The awards singled out five other young winemakers and their labels. 

• Marcus Torzi (Whispers of Chaos): Best New Act
• Ella Hoban (Croser and Grant Burge): People's Choice
• Matthew Large (Praeter): Winemaker's Choice
• Lucas Blanck (Kerri Greens): The Vigneron
• Michael Williams (L'Anima): The Danger Zone award for 2024 'Sobremesa' Passvm Muscat Blanc

All award winners are pictured below.

Lauren and Matthias Utzinger are the owners and operators of Legana's Utzinger Wines. Their 5ha certified organic vineyard and winery overlooking the kanamaluka/River Tamar was established in 2018.

The Utzingers have now visited the winners' circle three times in the past three award years. In 2024, they were named Winemaker's Choice and received the Danger Zone award for their red field blend Roter Satz.

The couple were also finalists in the 2025 Young Gun of Wine, as well as finalists in the 2024 Young Gun of Wine Vineyard of the Year awards.

Tasmania's first Young Gun of Wine was Marco Lubiana in 2024. The Derwent Valley winemaker was named Best New Act in 2021 and was the 2022 winner of the Vigneron award.

The Young Gun of Wine is the brainchild of Melbourne wine influencer and wine communicator, Rory Kent (pictured above with Matthias and Lauren Utzinger).

Established 20 years ago as an initiative designed to connect young drinkers to the wines of young winemakers, the Young Gun of Wine Awards have grown to become a key part of Australia's wine marketing landscape.

Award participants need to be under 45 years of age when winners are announced in June.

Vineyard of the Year Awards became part of the Young Gun concept in 2020. They bring similar forensic attention to where and how wine is grown, and to the people making decisions in the vineyard.

This is no one-man band.

Those assisting Kent with the 2026 Young Gun of Wine Awards were renowned wine critic and hotelier, Nick Stock; winemaker, wine educator, and wine communicator Meg Brodtmann MW; wine business development manager Zoë Ladyman; wine buyer and events co-ordinator Isabelle Szyman; and the 2025 Young Gun of Wine, Eastern Peake winemaker Owen Latta.

Kent says the primary focus of the panel's quest for the best emerging winemaking talent was to uncover creative mavericks with new ideas. Winemakers unwilling to compromise.

"That's what sets these winemakers apart," he notes.

"They're change makers. These awards are about much more than who takes home which piece of silverware. They're about celebrating young people within the industry as a whole, and connecting young audiences to Australian wine culture."

Besides the Utzingers, Tasmania's 2026 Young Gun of Wine finalists included Tamar Valley winemaker Sam Rush, Coal River Valley winemaker Jake Sheedy, and Small Wonder's Andrew Trio, who makes wines from sites the company owns in the Tamar and Coal River Valleys.

Trio, Sheedy and Rush were first-time finalists in the awards.

The latter is a former forensic scientist turned winemaker. Rush moved to Tasmania from the Hunter Valley in 2019. In 2021, he launched Rush Wines after raising more than $10,000 via the crowd-funding site GoFundMe. The micro-batch, minimal-intervention project draws on Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir grown the Tamar Valley.

Jake Sheedy is the face behind the Coal River Valley's SISU Wines, established at Campania in 2021. The former Valley View mixed farming property now plays host to a 25ha vineyard (farmed holistically), a modern 200-tonne winery, and a striking vineyard cellar door that first opened in December 2025.

The vineyard's planting mix is eclectic and perhaps helped capture the attention of this year's judging panel. Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Pinot Noir are core selections, while Gewürztraminer, Viognier, Gamay, Nebbiolo and Shiraz comprise building blocks for a little more creative expression of site.

Andrew Trio entered the Tasmanian wine scene after WA-based Overstory purchased Goaty Hill Vineyard at Kayena in 2020 and renamed it Small Wonder. The property produced a string of award-winning wines under its 22 years of family ownership. Small Wonder wasted little time in enjoying success of its own. The vineyard achieved certified organic status after a three-year conversion period.

Group winemaker Andrew Trio brought Small Wonder's first wines to fruition in 2022.

In 2024, Small Wonder purchased the 24ha Marengo Road Vineyard in the Coal River Valley. Established in 2017 by NSW Southern Highlands producer Tertini Wines, the Richmond vineyard is now being managed organically under its Small Wonder ownership.

The 2025 Small Wonder Rosé was named Best Rosé at the 2026 Tasmanian Wine Show.

Winemaking awards aside, the Utzingers are keen to acknowledge nature's role in their ongoing successes.

"We are vignerons," they insist.

"Our wines are grown, not made. Our winegrowing stems from a deep love for our planet, the creatures living on it and a common idea of true terroir wines."

Almost 20 percent of the couple's landholding has undergone revegetation to promote sustainable wildlife habitat and enhance vineyard biodiversity.

Management of the vineyard floor is currently the subject of three-year research program being funded by Wine Australia's latest round of PhD top-up scholarships. And who could be better suited than one half of the vineyard's day-to-day management team? 

Lauren Utzinger.

The scholarships were announced by Wine Australia earlier this month.

The busy mother-of-two is all set to live a double life as a University of Tasmania PhD student.