Worthy finalists line up for prestigious awards celebrating wine industry excellence

Fifteen enterprising Australian businesses have been short-listed for the coveted 2018 National Wine Industry IMPACT Awards.

The awards, to be presented at the Adelaide Town Hall on 18 October, showcase visionary organisations contributing to the capability and competitiveness of the Australian wine industry, which in the 12 months to the end of June this year achieved a 20 per cent increase in wine exports valued at $2.76 billion.

An initiative of Wine Industry Suppliers Australia (WISA), the awards are presented across categories including grape growing, winemaking, engineering, packaging, distribution and logistics, marketing and communications and tourism.

A Start-Up category also recognises emerging businesses that introduce new concepts, technologies, services and solutions in the industry.

WISA Executive Officer, Matthew Moate, said expert, independent industry representatives had selected the finalists for the awards that recognise operators achieving excellence in domestic and export markets.

“They were highly impressed by the quality of presentations from businesses that are having a significant and positive impact on our wine industry and wine tourism experiences,” he said.

“The Australian wine industry employs about 172,000 people across 65 grape growing regions nationally and it contributes over $40 billion a year to the Australian economy.

“As the sixth largest wine producer in the world and the fifth largest wine exporter, the industry relies on innovative and progressive operators along the complete supply chain.

“The Wine Industry IMPACT Awards celebrate their achievements and each of the finalists is a worthy contender.”

The categories and finalists are:

Grape growing category partnered by Bentleys SA

  • Consilium Technology which has introduced Geospatial Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture, or GAIA, to bring advanced vineyard analytics for grape growers;
  • TracMap supplying growers and contractors with sophisticated GPS guidance systems and cloud-based applications for precision management of vineyards.

Winemaking category partnered by DW Fox Tucker Lawyers

  • The IMCD Group in Australia and New Zealand supplies the Proteotest kit from Vason, which allows winemakers to quickly, accurately and reliably determine protein stability in wine for greater preservation of its integrity and reduction of over fining that impacts sensory qualities.
  • Tonnellerie Vicard has worked with customers and the University of Bordeaux to introduce a new type of barrel focused on eliminating barrel variation creating a new paradigm in delivering the best foundation for quality wine.

 Packaging category partnered by Australian Vintage Limited

  • Amorim Australasia is an exemplary supplier of cork closures demonstrated by a multi-million dollar R&D focus impacting the Australian wine industry by enhancing domestic and export quality and reputation;
  • VI Packaging has exemplified a strong market position through the delivery of bold value-adding design and packaging options providing a one-stop solution accessible to all wine producers of any size.

Engineering category partnered by Pernod Ricard Winemakers

  • Best Bottlers has delivered innovative automation solutions that increase speed, reduce costs and provide greater flexibility in small format packaging options for their customers;
  • Seeley International has further improved their award-winning temperature and humidity control systems with smart technology to enhance wine quality, reduce costs of loss from evaporation and energy associated with barrel hall storage and maturation.

Distribution and Logistics category partnered by MGA Insurance Brokers

  • WineWorks has made major investments in infrastructure and services to create best-fit transport, warehousing, reworking and export solutions for clients along the complete supply chain;
  • eBev offers wine venues and suppliers an innovative digital service for sourcing and ordering products, centralised portfolio storing and access, collated industry trade events and communication channels.

Marketing and Communications partnered by Australia’s Wine Business Magazine

  • Australian Vintage Ltd has introduced the BrandPrint off-the-shelf business intelligence software providing greater capability across the supply chain to analyse sales data resulting in enhanced efficiency and profitability;
  • Confidence in Taste has developed a new, direct-to-consumer marketing channel allowing wine samples to be taken from retail ready bottles and sent directly to consumers providing a virtual cellar door experience.

Tourism partnered by Cathay Pacific

  • Studio S2 Architects specialise in providing architectural and interior design with a focus on wine tourism.  It introduces best practice for tourism elements including cellar door experiences and business growth;
  • Sarah Constructions and d’Arenberg combined in a challenging and imaginative concept to develop The Cube providing unique experiences for visitors to the McLaren Vale region and elevating South Australia’s reputation as an inspiring wine tourism destination.

Start-Up partnered by Casella Family Brands

  • Rapid Phenotyping is an emerging platform for instantly measuring chemicals in the entire winemaking cycle from nutrients in the soil, the uptake of nutrients to the vine and then sugar, tannin and acid levels of the fruit;
  • Along with the Distribution & Logistics category, eBev has also been short-listed in the Start-Up category.

Visit the event page for more information.