WCA celebrates 2021 Wine Communicator Awards

Wine Communicator of the Year award winner Katie Spain

Wine Communicator of the Year award winner Katie Spain

2021 Wine Communicator of the Year Katie Spain

 

Last night saw Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA) announce the winners of the 2021 Wine Communicator Awards eleven categories, including the overall Wine Communicator of the Year.

The annual Wine Communicator Awards recognises outstanding contribution to, and excellence in, wine communication in all its forms. Now in its twelfth year, support for the Wine Communicator Awards continues to grow and in 2021 organisers say they received a great response to the three new categories: Best New Blog or Podcast, Best Wine-Themed Event and Best Wine Communicator – Cellar Door.

Fifteen experienced and respected wine industry professionals were selected to judge and with such a high calibre of entries, WCA says it wasn’t an easy task.

The category award winners are:

Best Wine Marketing Communications Campaign (Individual or Team)

  • Taylors Wines’ mission to save the seahorses / Blend Public Relations & Common Ventures

Best Wine Blog or Podcast

  • James Atkinson for Drinks Adventures Podcast

Best Published Feature Article or Wine Column

  • Katie Spain

Best Wine Serial Publication

  • Wine Business Solutions for The Wine Paper

Best New Wine Book

  • Soul Publishing for Wine, Beer & Spirits of the Fleurieu by Rojina McDonald

Best Wine Website or App

  • Wine Australia for Australian Wine Connect

Best Wine-Themed Event

  • Henschke and Hutton Vale Farm for Vino Camino

Best Wine Communicator – Cellar Door

  • Rebecca Barr, Fernfield Wines

Best Wine Educator

  • Dr Rebecca Dolan, The University of Adelaide

Best Wine Student

  • Ruchira Ranaweera, The University of Adelaide

WCA Executive Officer Andrew Stark commented, “Last night’s virtual Awards ceremony was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate excellence in communication and acknowledge the innovation that individuals and businesses have shown in a challenging year. We wish to say a special thank you to everybody who applied in the 2021 Wine Communicator Awards. The calibre of entries continues to impress our judges. We would also like to thank our Award category sponsors for their support and commitment.”

“The Awards continue to be the most important event on the annual WCA calendar, recognising as it does excellence in many different facets of wine story telling.”

The overall Wine Communicator of the Year is chosen by the WCA board from the category of winners.

Previous winners have included Trish Barry, Barossa Grape & Wine Association, Max Allen, Gill Gordon-Smith, Gourmet Traveller WINE and Jeni Port.

This year, the Wine Communicator of the Year was awarded to drinks writer Katie Spain.

Judges’ comments regarding Katie’s application described her magazine articles as “a joy to read – a wonderful balance of information and the human side of the story”.

“Katie’s contribution to the wine industry is enormous, combining a huge work ethic with the ability to tell a compelling people story,” Stark said.