The winners of the 2018 Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA) were revealed at the awards ceremony in Sydney last week.
The awards ceremony was the largest ever gathering of Australian women in wine and took place as part of the first-ever Australian Women in Wine Symposium and Awards Day, which was held at Quay.
Following a morning of guest speakers, networking and lunch, the winners of the eight awards for 2018 were named, including the Winemaker of the Year, Workplace Champion of Change and Woman of Inspiration.
Speaking at the awards, Chair of the AWIWA, Jane Thompson said: “The Australian Women in Wine Awards acknowledges and rewards the work of women in the Australian wine industry and industry leaders who champion equality and fairness for all sexes in the workplace.
“These are the only awards program for women in wine in the world.”
- Winemaker of the Year – Kate Goodman, Goodman Wines / Penley Estate
- Viticulturist of the Year – Nicole Pitman, Kingston Estate
- Owner / Operator of the Year – Sarah Marquis, Mollydooker Wines
- Workplace Champion of Change – Lara Simic, Winestate Publishing
- Cellar Door Person of the Year – Janine Carter, Voyager Estate
- Researcher / Innovator of the Year – Dr. Jacqui McRae, Australian Wine Research Institute
- Marketer of the Year – Lynda Schenk – Purple Giraffe
- Woman of Inspiration – Tamara Grischy, Langtons
Speaking after being presented with her award, the Winemaker of the Year, Kate Goodman said: “It is pretty awesome to be recognised for what I am doing. Thank you to Ang and Bec Tolley, the owners of Penley Estate for having the belief that I could come in and help them turn their business around and face it in a new direction. It’s an incredibly exciting place to work with two very inspiring women.
“To my fellow Yarra Valley wine women, we are an awesome bunch. Our collective voices speak so much louder than our individual voices and I would highly recommend to those of you from other regions to get together with other women in your region and talk and taste and promote and be together as one.
“Thank you to the Australian Women in Wine Awards. For women working in a male-dominated industry, just embrace being women because we are awesome and we’ve got this.”
After the awards, the AWIWA also announced that, in partnership with Wine Australia, the 2019 Awards will be held in New York on Tuesday 17 September as part of Aussie Wine Month, which is set to be the largest Australian wine promotion ever held in the USA.