Adam shares the prestigious title with Stuart Halliday, sommelier at Tetsuyas restaurant in Sydney.

Described by James Halliday as the most exclusive wine school in the world, The Len Evans Tutorial aims to raise the standards of Australian wine by educating Australia's best sommeliers, winemakers and trade representatives. Over an intensive five days, the 12 scholars are subjected morning tastings of 30 varietal wines from up to five countries, spanning up to 30 years of vintages from some of the world's best wineries.

Mr Wadewitz was thrilled to be named dux of his class, describing the tutorial as a week of amazing and inspiring wines.

''It was very humbling to receive this award - I didn't realise the magnitude of this event until I was a part of it. It truly is a once in a lifetime experience to taste some of the world's best wines in context,'' he said.

It was almost inevitable that Adam Wadewitz would become a winemaker; born and bred among the vines in South Australia's McLaren Vale wine region. Immediately after leaving school, he started a casual job at Geoff Merrill Wines, going on to enjoy winemaking stints abroad in California, Chile and France, and closer to home at Geoff Merrill, Wirra Wirra, Shadowfax, Petaluma, Brokenwood.

In 2005 he joined the team at Bests Great Western historic vineyards.

Bests has three ranges of wine, all of which are crafted by Adam Wadewitz: The Icon Range, including the flagship Thomson Family Shiraz, the Great Western Range and the Victorian Selection Range. Bests wines are available through Bests Great Western Cellar Door and online at www.bestswines.com.au