By Amy Looker
The winners of the 2010 Australian and New Zealand Boutique Wine Packaging Awards were announced at a gala dinner in Sydney on Friday night (Aug 13), with a producer from across the ditch winning the award for Best Boutique Bottle of Show.
New Zealand’s Walnut Block Wines won the top gong of the evening to take home $5000 from label printers, Clear Image, as well as the award for Best Boutique Red Wine Bottle for its 2008 Pinot Noir Collectable series.
The other major award for the evening, The Whole Story, went to Victoria’s Gioiello Estate for its 2009 Carolina Wines Chardonnay series of six different labels and packaging and marketing material, receiving high praise from the judges for consumer appeal and a memorable branding design.
The Carolina Wines Chardonnay label also won the Best Boutique White Wine Bottle.
The 2008 Walnut Block Wines Pinot Noir won Best Boutique Bottle of Show and Best Boutique Red Wine Bottle.
The judging panel was chaired by Lisa McGuigan and consisted of judges from the wine media, marketing and retail sectors. “The Australian and New Zealand Boutique Wine Packaging Awards for 2010 had entries submitted covering six classes.
Class one –The Whole Story – proved to be popular again and the judges commented on the innovative ideas not seen before,” Mc Guigan said.
“The industry needs to support innovative, niche awards like this and realise the importance of brand identity in reaching the consumer, if it is to be competitive in the world’s eye. We need to over-deliver on all aspects of the wine and packaging and send a clear message when communicating this both visually and on taste.”
The Top 18 Boutique Wine Lovers tasting will take place this evening between 5:30pm and 9pm at Sydney’s Four Seasons hotel, showcasing all the trophy and medal-winning wines from the competition.
TheShout has four tickets to give away to the first people who send their contact details by clicking here.
Winners will be notified by 4:30pm and have their name placed on the door.
For a full list of winners, click here.