So it was no surprise on Wednesday when the Mercury tried to contact Coolangatta Estate owner and vigneron Greg Bishop to talk about the winery's latest achievements, he was on the tractor tending his vines.

It's the sort of dedication leading to Coolangatta Estate's 2006 Estate Semillon that day being awarded the prestigious Sydney International Wine Competition's Joy Lake Memorial Championship Perpetual Trophy for Best Wine of the Competition, beating 2000 wines from 10 countries.

The wine also won the Ernie Hunter Memorial Trophy for Best Lighter Bodied Dry White Table Wine and The Wine Society (Australia) Perpetual Trophy for Best White Table Wine of competition.

The win confirms Coolangatta Estate's standing as one of Australia's finest semillon producers alongside Tyrrell's, McGuigan and McWilliam's.

It also confirmed Bishop's reputation as an extraordinarily talented vigneron.

When the Mercury finally caught up with Bishop he deflected much of the praise to his team at Coolangatta and winemaker Andrew Spinaze who made the winning wine at Tyrrell's in the Hunter Valley.

"The '06 just keeps getting better and better and it'll still be drinking beautifully in 10-15 years' time," a delighted Bishop said.

Now eight years old, the 2006 semillon has had a remarkable run on the wine show circuit, collecting 34 trophies and more than 40 gold medals including the influential Winestate magazine's 2014 semillon of the year.