A RIVERLAND winery was recognised as an international exporter via a major win in an industry awards night on Friday.

Family-owned, fifth-generation Angove Family Winemakers is one of only a handful of wineries in major global markets to be certified organic.

With strong growth in sales and recent expanding market opportunities, the winery was awarded Exporter of the Year at the Australian Organic Industry Awards.

Angove joint managing director, Richard Angove, said the family was thrilled to win the award.

“The extra time and effort the team have put into growing the grapes, crafting the wines, packaging and then distributing them to global markets has been truly worthwhile,” Mr Angove said.

“Being recognised like this means the industry is acknowledging that what we are doing is beneficial to the organic sector, we know it is beneficial for our vineyards and the environment.”

Now in its 15th year of farming and making wine under the organic certification, Angove is certified to Australian, US, Canadian, European Union and Chinese organic standards.

Mr Angove explained that certified organic grape growing and winemaking meant going “over and above” what others in the wine industry are doing.

“As well as crafting wine made from grapes grown without synthetic chemical intervention, being certified organic also means we adhere to strict organic protocol standards every step of the way and are independently audited each year,” he said.

“Most importantly holding organic certification means we are preserving and improving our precious resources for future generations.”

The award comes on the back of Angove’s other recent award successes, winning Distiller of the Year for St Agnes Distillery at the Tasting Australia Spirit Awards, and the Icons Award for the Medhyk Shiraz at the McLaren Vale Wine Show.