Nominations 2021-2022

We invite all active, optimistic and creative entrepreneurs to expand the horizons of their business and overcome the consequences of the pandemic, not only by restoring the affected processes and connections, but also by Rebooting your project! The Wine Travel Awards invites you to take part in one of six (or several!) nominations.

WTA Jury

Robert Joseph
British wine expert, consultant, producer, an editorial consultant for Meininger's Wine Business International

Robert Joseph is a British wine expert, consultant, producer, an editorial consultant for Meininger’s Wine Business International, a wine journalist of London Sunday Telegraph. Mr Joseph is аn author of 27 wine books, including the bible for the world wine travelers – Wine Travel Guide, French Wines, Bordeaux and its Wines and The Complete Encyclopedia of Wine. He also founded the International Wine Challenge and built it into the world’s biggest wine competition. Decanter magazine named him as one of the 50 people who would influence wine drinking in the 21st century.

Dr. Ricardo Nunez
Head of the international group of companies Vinos de La Luz

Dr. Ricardo Nunez, Head of the international group of companies Vinos de La Luz, which unites wineries in Spain, Italy, Argentina and the United States. He was born in Argentina. As a grandson and son of winemakers, he grew up in the vineyards of the Andean Cordilleras and explored every corner of the Uco Valley. Dr. Nunez is an investor participating in the development of the wine-growing market of Ukraine, also thanks to his new company Wine Gallery. Mr. Nunez currently plans the production of his own products on the territory of Ukraine.

www.vinosdelaluz.com

https://www.facebook.com/vinosdelaluz

 

Felicity Carter
Executive Editor, Pix+ Special Projects

Felicity Carter, Executive Editor at Pix, was previously Editor-in-Chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International, the world’s only global wine business magazine. Her work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, and The Guardian USA, among others. Based in Europe, she is an international wine judge and speaker. Felicity has also written several non-wine books and worked as a freelance romance novel editor, where her main editorial note was “this is not physically possible”.

felicitycarter.com.au

Nina Basset
FIH Hotelier, Co-Founding Trustee and Chair of the Gerard Basset Foundation, Co-Founder and Vice President of the UK Sommelier Academy

Nina is a seasoned hotelier. She holds the accolade of being the youngest ever (at only 21), AA Hotel and Restaurant Inspector and was the winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award for Women in Business before she was 40. Her love of fine wine and her passion for Sommellerie, stems from all of her holidays being spent with her late husband, renowned sommelier, Gérard Basset, OBE, in various vineyards across the world. Living with such a wine legend ensured that his passion and enthusiasm for all things vinous rubbed off on Nina. Nina is ta Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality and the co founding Trustee and Chairperson of the Gerard Basset Foundation,

gerardbassetfoundation.org

Per Karlsson
Co-founder and wine writer of BKWine Magazine

Per Karlsson, a co-founder and wine writer of BKWine Magazine, one of the world’s leading wine tour operators, a co-author of eleven wine books (including “Biodynamic, Organic and Natural Winemaking: Sustainable Viticulture and Viniculture”), an internationally awarded, professional wine and travel photographer.

www.bkwine.com

per.karlsson@bkwine.com

Yang Shen
Estate Director of Cloudy Bay

Mr. Yang Shen, Estate Director of Cloudy Bay (one of New Zealand’s most outstanding wineries, part of the LVMH group – the world leader in the luxury industry). Born in China, he studied oenology at the University of Montpellier and wine marketing at the Montesquieu University Bordeaux, although his introduction to fine wine had begun long before that, in his native Chengdu. Throughout his career, Mr. Shen held top positions at Moët Hennessy, Diageo and Chandon China. “My mission at Cloudy Bay is to create wines of exceptional quality that highlight and express New Zealand’s distinctive terroir.”

www.cloudybay.com

Tim Hanni MW
President of Calyber LLC and HanniCo LLC. Wine industry business consultant and lecturer

Tim Hanni is an  expert in wine education, industry consultation, and culinary arts. As a MW, Hanni has dedicated over 50 years to the world of food and wine, shaping and influencing the industry in many ways.

Hanni is a professionally-trained chef and also a Certified Wine Educator accredited by the Society of Wine Educators. As the President of Calyber LLC and HanniCo LLC, he carries out research into personal wine preferences, market segmentation and marketing strategies.

His influence extends beyond traditional education. He is the author of the book Why You Like the Wines You Like, a work that delves into the nuanced relationship between individual preferences and wine choices.

 

Prof. Dr. Prof. h.c. Gergely Szolnoki
Professor of Market Research at Geisenheim University

Gergely Szolnoki, Professor of Market Research at Geisenheim University (Germany) and honorary professor of Wine and Beverage Management & Marketing at the University of West Attica (Athens/Greece). His research fields cover consumer behaviour, communication and social media, organic wines, market analysis and wine tourism. In addition to his scientific activities, Gergely is a delegated expert in the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) in the fields of wine economics and statistics.

Gergely.Szolnoki@hs-gm.de

Stéphane Badet
Lecturer at ISVV – Institute of Vine and Wine Science at the University of Bordeaux

Stéphane Badet, a lecturer at ISVV – Institute of Vine and Wine Science at the University of Bordeaux, one of the world’s leading educational institutions, as well as a lecturer at such a prestigious university as EPL Bordeaux. He specializes in wine economy, industry management, business, marketing and tourism for many years, has extensive experience as an expert and consultant in various cooperation and sustainable development programs in the field of winemaking around the world, together with Interco NA, FAO, Ministry of Agriculture and Food of France, French and German embassies.

stephane.badet@formagri33.com

Ester Garcia Adrados
Director of School of Wine Tourism of Catalonia and Vocational Training Institute of Wine Tourism of Catalonia, Director of the Wine Business School

Director of School of Wine Tourism of Catalonia and Vocational Training Institute of Wine Tourism of Catalonia, Director of the Wine Business School. Born in Barcelona but descendant of a family closely linked to the world of wine in Ribera del ́Duero, now lives in Vilafranca del Penedès promoting projects and training spaces for the professionalization and dissemination of the
wine and wine tourism sector. Innovation, sustainability and networking are fundamental axes in the different projects it carries out.

egarcia@escolaenoturisme.cat

Florence Cathiard
Co-owner of the renowned vineyard Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte and President of the Wine Tourism Board

Florence Cathiard co-owner with her husband Daniel of the Château Smith Haut Lafitte vineyard, a President of the Conseil Supérieur de l’Oenotourisme. She is «chevalier de l’ordre du mérite» and has been granted «Légion d’Honneur» by Alain Juppé.

In 2023 launched with the Minister of Tourism a multilingual and hexagonal Gate – visitfrenchwine.com – giving access for the first time to all the wine regions of France, including also «unsung heroes».

Florence and her family have created a new wine tourism experience at the hot springs at Caudalie.

Javier de las Muelas
Dry Martini The Academy Owner

Trends setter and successful businessman, one of the most prominent cocktail masters in the world. He gives conferences at gastronomy forums and business schools, collaborates with media and acts as consultant to leading F&B companies. He is the founder of Barcelona’s cocktail bar Gimlet and owner of Dry Martini (Barcelona) – drytering.com – which has been nominated for seven consecutive years in the World’s 50 Best Bars list.

FAQ

How can one become a nominee of the international Wine Travel Awards?

It’s very simple.

  • You choose a nomination (or multiple nominations) that matches (or match) your company’s or personal profile.
  • The Nominees should fill in the Registration Form.
  • After receiving confirmation from the administrator, an issued invoice payment should be completed.
  • Afterwards, the presentation text, photo and video materials, with which you provided the WTA, will be uploaded by our moderators on all our information resources. From this moment, your campaign, stipulated by the nominee’s package and the award algorithm, has started!

Who can be nominated?

The Wine Travel Awards nominee can be a subject / object from anywhere in the world that meets the category profile. Nomination takes place in six nominations, each of which has its own set of categories. You can choose one or several nominations at once and any of the categories listed below – and apply for self-nomination or nominate other companies or personalities, having agreed with them in advance.

In case of choosing several nominations, the most loyal conditions are provided by our financial policy.

Nomination: 1. The visiting card of the country

(Destinations, wineries, national brands, establishments with a wine program: hotels, localfood restaurants, bars, museums of wines and specialties, tasting rooms)

Category: Outstanding place marked on the wine and gastronomic route / Must visit

Category profile: Individual objects or destinations located on tourist routes, and which are the enogastronomic attractions of the region can be nominated for this category. Drinks and food presented by the nominee have a high level of quality confirmed by reputable competitions and experts. And the object itself has an active marketing policy and is visited by many domestic and foreign tourists.

Category: Brand – the visiting card of the country

Category profile: Brands (beverages and food) produced in the country of origin from 100% local raw materials can be nominated for this category. Brands are distinguished by a high level of quality confirmed by reputable competitions and experts, active marketing strategy, national and international distribution, presentable design that attracts tourists and enables the brand to act as a souvenir.

Category: Progressive Approach (sustainable development, organic methods, and resource-saving technologies)

Category profile: Objects that have actual evidence of compliance with international principles of sustainable development, environmental friendliness and other features of progressive approaches can be nominated for this category.

Category: Discovery of the Year (new facilities or renovations, services, programs, innovative or award-winning products, etc.)

Category profile: Facilities established (or that have introduced new services, functions, etc.) not earlier than 365 days before the start of the current year’s award can be nominated for this category. 

Category: Authentic Location (facility with its own history, reviving indigenous varieties and specialties, traditional technologies)

Category profile: Facilities that have a confirmation of the authenticity of their products, technologies, varieties, architectural forms, or format of activity can be nominated for this category.

Category: Objet d’Art

Category profile: Facilities that have a confirmed status of an art object can be nominated for this category, or facilities that can confirm the fact that their architecture belongs to a sample of art or history, original design or appropriate format of activity – cultural and art center, gallery, etc.

Nomination: 2. Ambassador

Ambassadors: persons representing wines, regions, enogastronomic routes, brands; associations, consortia, national wine bureaus, tourist offices, and tour operators

Category: Ambassador of the Year

Category profile: Entities who have the status of  an ambassador of wine / region / road of wine and taste or may confirm the fact of belonging to the enogastronomic association whose interests they representcan be nominated for this category. As well as those who have more than one year of experience as a promoter of a wine region, association, brand or certain types of wines. This activity can be confirmed both by an official source and by publications in the media, recommendations of officials, etc.

Category: Breakthrough of the Year

Category profile: Entities who have the status of an ambassador of wine / region / road of wine and taste can be nominated for this category, as well as those who may confirm the fact of belonging to the enogastronomic association whose interests they represent, whose activities have given impetus to a restart or radical changes in brand development of wine \ region \ wine and taste roads.

Category: Creative Strategy

Category profile: Entities who have the status of an ambassador of wine / region / road of wine and taste can be nominated for this category, as well as those who may confirm the fact of belonging to the enogastronomic association whose interests they represent, and whose activities are characterized by a special creative approach, creative solutions, originalviews.

Nomination: 3. Wine & Food Influencer

Journalists, professional media, bloggers, photographers, and videographers

Category: Author of the Year

Category profile: Authors of literary works (a guidebook, a reference book, etc.) or a series of publications in any mass media (including non-periodicals) on enogastronomic topics can be nominated for this category. Their publications should have been published during the year to the current year of the award and had outstanding publicity and promoted relevant destinations, locations, wine, and other products of the region in terms of tourist attractiveness.

Category: Research of the Year

Category profile: Authors of literary works (a guidebook, a reference book, etc.) or a series of publications in any mass media (including non-periodicals) on enogastronomic topics can be nominated for this category. Their publications should have been published before and during the current year of the award and had outstanding publicity and promoted relevant destinations, locations, wine, and other products of the region in terms of tourist attractiveness.

Category: Expert Opinion

Category profile: Authors whose publications demonstrate in-depth knowledge in the field of enogastronomy and / or the peculiarities of the region can be nominated for this category. Publications should have an outstanding publicity and promote a competent opinion and reliable information about destinations, locations, wines, and other products of the region in terms of tourist attractiveness.

Category: The Brightest Journey

Category profile: Authors whose creative work includes a report (a video, an article) from an enogastronomic tour or a report from a trip to an interesting region, a specific object of the wine road, etc. can be nominated for this category.

Nomination: 4. Education in enotourism

Wine museums, wine institutes, tasting rooms, including those located on the premises of the wineries, academies of enogastronomy, wine schools participating in tourist projects, organizers of tours to exhibitions, etc.

Category: Unique Program (educational or of enogastronomic tours)

Category profile: Entities with original educational or excursion programs, special tastings and tours can be nominated for this category.

Category: Cultural Mission

Category profile: The category aims to identify educational institutions and programs with a special cultural mission (revival of traditions, promotion of advanced technologies, etc.).

Category: The Art of Performance 

Category profile: Companies with an expressive exposition or a particularly creative teaching staff / approach, or an information resource where educational programs are presented, can be nominated for this category.

Nomination: 5. Wine guide

Guides, guides-representors of wine regions, tour operators, etc.

Category: Guide of the Year

Category profile: Entities with three years of professional experience, outstanding professional achievements, expertise in the field of enogastronomycan be nominated for this category. Besides, socially significant excursion programs and tours implemented during the year before the current year of the award (2020-November 2021) canbe nominated as well.

Category: Unique Route

Category profile: Guides or travel companies that have in their portfolio independently developed enogastronomic tours along a unique routecan be nominated for this category. Preference will be given to tours that attract the attention of external and domestic tourists to the region where the “Unique Route” is laid, and promote unique people, places, varieties, and products.

Category: Journey of the Year

Category profile: The category aims to support creative guides and tour operators who offer bright and meaningful excursions and tours that attract many enogastronomic tourists from around the world to the regions and wine roads, and that were implemented during the year before the current award year (2020- November 2021).

Category: Educational Tour of the Year

Category profile: The category aims to identify educational tours and excursion programs with a special mission, which were implemented during the year before the current year of the award (2020-November 2021). Preference is given to rich programs that reproduce the history of dynasties, ancient production technologies, information on indigenous varieties, as well as tours to international professional exhibitions and major world symposia.

Nomination: 6. Enogastronomic events

Festivals, Wine Days and Local Products Days, exhibitions, promotion programs 

Category: Event of the Year

Category profile: The category aims to identify important events (Days of wines, local products, festivals, gastronomic summits, online symposia) which took place during the year before the current year of the award (2020-November 2021). Preference is given to special events that are relevant to the topic and are distinguished by the original format and exposition, the audience.

Category: Magnet of the Region

Category profile: The category helps to support the organizers of professional events (enogastronomicfestivals, exhibitions, tastings, and auctions) aimed at promoting local and international producers of craft drinks and local specialties. Preference is given to attractive events that draw the attention of tourist communities to wines, spirits, beer, and other products of the region where the event is held.

Category: Effective Event

Category profile: The category aims to identify outstanding events (both off- and online) that took place over the three years prior to the current year of the award (2018-November 2021). Preference is given to the most massive events that bring together the professional community in the format of international exhibitions and major world symposia.

Category: Premiere of the Future

Category profile: The category is designed to support important enogastronomic events that took place during the year before the current year of the award (2020-November 2021) and which focus on advanced technologies, organic products and packaging, sustainable production and more. Preference is given to special events that have an international level and are accompanied by educational programs (workshops, lectures, annotated tastings).

Who are the judges of the award?

The members of the panel of judges are 12 experts from around the world in the field of enogastronomy and tourism, marketing and journalism, wine business and education.

Robert Joseph, a British wine expert, consultant, producer, an editorial consultant for Meininger’s Wine Business International.

Dr. Ricardo Nunez, Head of the international group of companies Vinos de La Luz, which unites wineries in Spain, Italy, Argentina and the United States.

Felicity Carter, Executive Editor at Pix, was previously Editor-in-Chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International, the world’s only global wine business magazine.

Fiona Morrison, MW, Managing Director of Thienpont Wine, an international wine merchant and négociant and with her husband, Jacques Thienpont, runs their three Bordeaux estates, Le Pin in Pomerol, L’IF in Saint Emilion and L’Hêtre in Castillon.

Per Karlsson, a co-founder and wine writer of BKWine Magazine, one of the world’s leading wine tour operators, a co-author of eleven wine books, an internationally awarded, professional wine and travel photographer.

Philippe Massol, General Director of the unique and pioneering project – La Cité du Vin in Bordeaux.

Olga Bussinello, a private entrepreneur, brand consultant, legal consultant for food and wine companies.

Einat Klein, a journalist, photographer, historian, professional traveller, guide to the Middle East and Africa, wine expert and wine producer (Israel).

Gergely Szolnoki, Professor of Market Research at Geisenheim University (Germany) and honorary professor of Wine and Beverage Management & Marketing at the University of West Attica (Athens/Greece).

Saverio Savio, a leader of projects funded by the European Union and aimed at the development of integration processes in the region.

Stéphane Badet, a lecturer at ISVV and EPL Bordeaux, specializes in wine economy, industry management, business, marketing and tourism.

Maximilian Tafel, an enologist by profession, studied International Wine Business at Geisenheim University and the University of Giessen.

How does the voting take place?

The awards’ winners are determined in two stages. In January 2022, an advertising campaign for the awards will start, aimed at attracting wine lovers of the world and professionals to vote, and in February, a voting function will open for users of the website winеtravelawards.com. According to the voting results, summed up at the end of March 2022, five nominees of each category, that reached the final, are considered by a jury of the awards, consisting of 12 reputable professionals in such industries as winemaking, food tourism, marketing, journalism. The selection takes place within a 10-point system according to the unified Wine Travel Awards protocols.

What will the participants of the project “Wine Travel Awards” gain?

Nominations of the Wine Travel Awards are some sort of club cards of the WTA global wine tourism community.

We ensure that the nominees will gain the following benefits:
Joining the WTA international professional community: making useful business contacts, expanding opportunities to attract tourist (client) flows to their own facilities and businesses, as well as opportunities to learn from the participants’ experience.
The annual advertising campaign on online and offline resources, as well as at the exhibitions and special events conducted in the framework of the Wine Travel Awards nomination packages.

Participation in the WTA community includes:

  • posting information on the nominee’s personal page at www.winetravelawards.com;
  • posting information about the nominee during the year on the nomination start pages www.winetravelawards.com;
  • placement of information about the nominee on www.drinks.ua in the form of a bilingual version (EN and UA);
  • information about the nominee in the social media of Drinks+ Media Group, the Wine Travel Awards, and information partners of the award;
  • news support for the nominee in the WTA social media until the end of voting on the site;
  • coverage in the WTA newsletters;
    publication in the printed magazine Drinks+ (1 page);
  • coverage in the printed and electronic versions of the Wine Travel Awards Guide;
  • the nominee’s coverage in the WTA presentation file at the national level;
  • the possibility of using the WTA visual materials in its marketing (pursuant to the agreement for the right to use such materials, entered into with the right holder-WTA);
  • the opportunity to become one of the winners of the Wine Travel Awards.
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