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Best Wine Communicator: Cellar Door 

In recognition of cellar door professionals who most effectively engage their customers and deliver a memorable brand experience.

This award acknowledges an individual and/or team with a demonstrated depth of both brand and wine knowledge, as well as an ability to engage with customers in a way that is both memorable and relevant to their needs.

Entry criteria:

  • Open to all staff members of a physical Australian-based cellar door.
  • The cellar door must be open to the public but can be appointment only.
  • The nominated individual or team must have been part of that cellar door’s team for at least six months.
  • The nominee must be customer-facing as their primary role.
  • The nominee is encouraged to submit a 2-4 minute video of themselves giving an overview on their cellar door offering.
  • Optional: may provide 1 or 2 short video(s) of the nominee serving real customers (Note: customers’ written permission must be obtained to record and use the video).

Entry Fee:

An entry fee of $55 inc GST applies to every award nomination submission for this category.

 

Judging Criteria:

The judges will consider the following with reference to each nomination:

  1. Impact of Cellar Door communication and storytelling on brand preference, including the ability to change negative or neutral perceptions about wine in general or the brand, into positive ones. Specific examples should be provided.
  2. Demonstrated wine and brand knowledge of the cellar door professional. Whether the nominee speaks confidently about different varieties, winemaking techniques and has in-depth knowledge of their products and cellar door offering.
  3. Inclusion of relevant regional messaging in the communication with visitors. e.g. the unique features of the region, local recommendations of where to eat, what to do.
  4. Demonstrated ability of the cellar door professional to engage different kinds of visitors, by giving written examples of how the applicant has approached visitors from different demographics and interests. Specific examples should be provided.
  5. Business impact – any performance uplift or sales results. However, it is recognised that the brand experience at cellar door may have a long-term positive impact on brand perception that is not necessarily easily measured by sales or visitation data.
  6. Creativity and originality of content – ability to engage and entertain the audience.
  1. User generated testimonials – Trip Advisor Reviews, Google Reviews, feedback from customers etc.
  2. A commitment to developing ongoing excellence in wine communication will be considered favourably. This includes membership to Wine Communicators of Australia.

Prize:

The winner will receive: one year’s membership to WCA valued at $190 (or 1 free renewal for an existing member), a category trophy, and exclusive WCA 2025 award-winner print and web graphics to use in personal marketing and communications.

 

ENTER NOW – Instructions

  1. Download the 2025 Awards Entry Form (Word format) HERE. Save it somewhere safe so you can complete later. Once complete, save as a PDF before returning to WCA.
  2. Click HERE to pay your entry fee. If you are entering multiple categories you can pay multiple fees at once.  
  3. Email your Entry Form and all supporting materials, by the deadline of 15 August, including an image of the nominee and/or organisation to represent your entry, to admin@winecommunicators.com.au

By emailing us your images you acknowledge and accept that WCA has full permission to use this content for promotional purposes.

Please complete ALL STEPS in the Awards entry process, failure to do so may result in your entry not being considered.

KEY DATES:

Entries Close: 15 August 2025

Finalists Announced: mid September 2025

Awards Ceremony: 6 November 2025

Good luck!