AUSTRALIAN superfine wool was in the spotlight on Tuesday night, when three wool producing families from across the country were celebrated in Sydney.
Italian fabric mill Vitale Barberis Canonico (VBC) which sources about 85 per cent of its wool from Australia, awarded its inaugural Wool Excellence Award to the Hawksford family, "Glenburnie", Kentucky, in the New England.
Andrew and Katrina; Ronald and Lana; and patriarch Reg Hawksford (pictured with Andrew), have been growing Merino wool for more than 20 years.
The 4200 head of Merino sheep running at "Glenburnie" produce 8000 kilograms of wool a year, averaging 17 micron and ranging from 14.5 to 17.5 micron.
"At VBC, we keep a record of every wool clip purchased for our use - we have been collecting this data for more than 20 years," said VBC raw material procurement manager Davide Fontaneto.
"The Hawksford's clip appears time and time again in our data, and a very high proportion of their production is selected in our very best types."
Kenneth (Fred) and Tracey Cameron, Walcha, took second place, and third place went to Simon and Ann Louise Cameron and manager Lyndel Poole, Kingston, Tasmania.
The Hawksfords received a trophy, return airfares to Italy and a monetary prize equal to the full delivered value of all the wool purchased by VBC in the 2013-14 season.