South Australia’s wine tourism operators and wine producers have the chance to be showcased on the world stage as part of the 2025 Best Of Wine Tourism Awards.

Nominations are now open for the 2025 Great Wine Capitals’ Best of Wine Tourism Awards – a key annual awards program for the sector, which recognises the role wine tourism has in strengthening the regional economy through innovation, sustainability, and service excellence.

The opportunity is made possible through South Australia’s membership of the Great Wine Capital Global Network (GWCGN), alongside other Great Wine Capitals around the world including Bordeaux and Napa Valley.

All 12 members of the GWCGN run parallel awards, with local category winners going on to compete in the Global Best Of Wine Tourism Awards which are judged by an international jury.

In 2024’s global awards held in Switzerland; Barossa Valley winery Alkina Wine Estate took home the Global Best Of Wine Tourism Award for Wine Tourism Accommodation.

Categories for the 2025 Best Of Wine Tourism Awards are: accommodation; architecture and landscape; art and culture; culinary experiences; innovative wine tourism experiences; wine tourism services; and sustainable wine tourism practices. With a continuing emphasis on sustainability, each of the shortlisted award entries for the first six award categories will be considered for the sustainable wine tourism practices award.

Applications will also open for the next round of the Outbound Knowledge Exchange Bursary Program – a program which sees local wine industry professionals, researchers and academics traveling to other Great Wine Capitals to learn directly from international experts in their field – on 1 July 2024.

The bursary program aims to enable local industry to gain experience and expertise in their chosen field and share their learnings upon their return to the state. In past iterations of the program, successful participants have learned about using technology to enhance sustainability during drought and extreme heat, climate change adaptation solutions, cellar door experiences, and irrigation practices.

The awards were launched today at an event for the Outbound Knowledge Exchange Bursary Program, where last year’s recipients presented what they learnt to the South Australian wine industry at the National Wine Centre of Australia, Adelaide.

Both the Best Of Wine Tourism Awards and Outbound Knowledge Exchange Bursary Program are coordinated by the Great Wine Capital’s South Australian steering committee which includes representatives from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA), South Australian Tourism Commission, South Australian Wine Industry Association (SAWIA), and University of Adelaide.

For more information and to nominate for the 2025 Best Of Wine Tourism Awards go to:
www.adelaidegreatwinecapital.com.au

Award entry applications close on 12 July 2024.

Applications for the Outbound Knowledge Exchange Bursary Program will be open on 1 July 2024.

Quotes

Attributable to Clare Scriven

We are all aware of the outstanding quality of South Australian wine and wine tourism, and these awards allow for this quality to be recognised on the global stage.

The Best Of Wine Tourism Awards gives us a chance to recognise the great things the South Australian wine industry achieves despite challenges that have arisen for the industry over recent years, and further solidifies our place as a Great Wine Capital of the world.

I encourage all South Australian wineries and wine tourism businesses offering outstanding experiences to put yourself forward.

Attributable to Amelia Nolan, Alkinda Wine Estate Managing Director, and Winemaker

The Great Wine Capitals Best of Wine Tourism Awards have provided us with an incredible sense of acknowledgment as a global player in one of the most exciting wine regions in the world.

We were incredibly excited to receive global recognition for excellence in Winery Accommodation last year. The award, alongside the immense support from Great Wine Capitals team and local bodies, has allowed us to better communicate our small-scale terroir project to the world, both in the accommodation offering and wine philosophy. The recognition off the back of this award, whilst providing a plethora of media, has also enabled us to attract a global community of luxury accommodation lovers, bringing in guests from far and wide, who can then experience not only Alkina, but the Barossa as a whole.

Any winery, whether it be with accommodation, architecture and/or wine tourism services should consider entering the Awards to not only test themselves against others in their region, but also to project and benchmark their offering on a global scale.