Mr Barnes, a leader in the wine industry for 40 years, who now lives in Nelson Bay, knew Mr Gregory personally and called him a "bit of a hero" in the winemaking world.

So, it was with great honour that he accepted the prestigious award from the Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, at the NSW Wine Awards in Sydney last month.

However, there was no trophy for Ms Hodgkinson to hand Mr Barnes as last year's winner "forgot to return" it.

Instead, Mr Barnes will be handed the trophy at the NSW Wine Industry Awards luncheon to be held in the Hunter Valley soon.

Mr Barnes described himself as a "wine everything". In 1970, he developed 600 acres in the Hunter Valley to build Saxonvale Wines.

He moved on to establishing the second restaurant in the then-small wine region, Blaxlands Restaurant, which is still operating in Pokolbin.

During the next 40 years Mr Barnes would become president of the Hunter Valley Wine Association for eight years and president of the NSW Wine Industry Association for nine.

He sat on the executive for the Wine Federation of Australia, the industry's peak body in Adelaide, for five years.

He has also been on the National Wine and Grape Industry Council as well as being chairman of the industry's licensing committee for 14 years.

He was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) for services to the wine industry in 2003 and inducted as a Hunter Wine Industry Living Legend, 2010.