King River Estate has taken one of Victorian wine’s top honours, with its 2024 Flying Duck Shiraz named the 2026 Premier’s Choice winner at Parliament House on Tuesday 16 June.

The award follows the wine’s standout success at the North East Victorian Wine Challenge, covering the Alpine Valleys, Beechworth, Glenrowan, King Valley and Rutherglen, where it collected four trophies and puts the King Valley winery in the spotlight as one of the state’s leading producers.

King Valley Tourism Association president Karen Barber said the recognition was significant.

“This is not just a big deal for King River Estate, it’s a big deal for all King Valley wineries,” she said.

Owner John Butler said the result built on the winery’s strong showing at the North East Victorian Wine Challenge last year, where the 2024 Flying Duck Shiraz was awarded best shiraz, best red wine, best wine and best viticulturist of the show.

“There were over 400 entries across different wine categories, so to come away with four trophies was terrific,” he said.

That success secured King River Estate a place among 12 regional finalists from across Victoria at the Premier’s Trophy event, where the wines were judged by selected parliamentarians including the Minister for Agriculture, Michaela Settle under wine show conditions with guidance from wine show judges to select the Premier’s Choice Award.

Following spirited discussion, the winning wine was awarded to 2024 King River Estate Flying Duck Shiraz from the King Valley.

All panellists agreed that the wine displayed vibrancy with lifted berry characters combined with an approachable silky tannin structure.

During the presentation of awards, Minister Settle concluded that “it was the diversity of our state from coastal and cooler climate regions producing Chardonnay with varietal character combined with finesse and elegance to inland regions producing fuller-bodied Shiraz with complexity that set Victoria apart as a prominent wine growing state".

John said the win was especially meaningful given the calibre of competition.

“With so many great wineries and wines, including some major companies, we were just delighted,” he said.

"We would also like to thank our winemaker, Dennis Clarke, who did an outstanding job with the wine."

John and his wife Karen purchased the property in 2001, where the vines were already well established having been planted back in 1998, and named it Flying Duck due to the high number of ducks on the property.

The couple merged the winery with King River Estate in 2018, given the two properties are just 3km apart, to expand operations and cellar door offerings.

John said the award would help further raise the profile of the King Valley and encourage more visitors to the region.

“There are many people who come through the King Valley and are impressed by the offerings, it's really getting a big name for itself," he said.

“People have heard about it, they’ve heard about the great wines there, and it creates huge exposure for the region.”

John said the recognition would flow on to businesses across the valley.

“It’s great for everybody, for accommodation houses, pubs and restaurants, hospitality in the area and tourism businesses through the King Valley,” he said.

The 2023 Oakridge Wines 864 Funder & Diamond Drive Block Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley was awarded the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Trophy.