New Wine Writing Awards Highlight Digital Originalism

Posted by Tom Wark on Jan 3, 2011

Wine writing, as a craft, is fairly well scrutinized by those looking for the best of the best. In fact a variety of awards are given out each year to wine writers and journalists who are judged to be the better of the world wide lot.

Although it delivers but two awards focused on wine writing (Best Wine Book and Best Writing on Beer, Spirits and Wine) The James Beard Awards do come with a certain amount of prestige.

Much more focused on wine are the Louis Roederer International Wine Writer Awards, now in their seventh year. Though focused much more on British and Continental writers, these awards have become established as important sources for the best in the field.

Then there are the American Wine Blog Awards, which focus on the best writing in the wine blogosphere.

But even with all this, I was very intrigued to see the announcement of the BORN DIGITAL WINE AWARDS.

To quote from the new awards' website, the BDWA "are an attempt to give value to the new wave of online wine journalism. Each year, the best individual examples of electronic publishing, including videos and audio, from across the world will be reviewed by a panel of top industry professionals from within and outside the wine industry, with prizes awarded in a range of categories."

Categories for the first BDWA are:

Best Investigative Wine Writing

Best Editorial Wine Writing

Best Wine Tourism Feature:

Best Wine Themed Video:

Best Winery Self Produced Content

The organizers have also rounded up an impressive selection of judges to cull through the nominations, which are open until February 28 and can be easily submitted. Those judges include:

Jancis Robinson – JancisRobinson.com

Evan Schnittman – Bloomsbury Managing Director Group Sales and Marketing, Print and Digital

Patrick Schmitt – Editor, Drinks Business

Elin McCoy – Writer Bloomberg, author

Robert Joseph – Editor at Large Meininger's Wine Business International

The totality of wine writing has exploded over the past five years with the lower barriers of entry that come with free and easy blogging tools, social media tools and the increase in interest in wine. Finding the best of those writers and publications and blogs and video streams that are part of the wine publishing and writing universe is not the simplest of tasks. This one reason I'm a fan of awards like the Born Digital Wine Awards: they are an honest attempt to honor and highlight the best. That's a very honorable task.