29 years old and stronger than ever!
Our Evolution
1996 | Australian Awards Founded
The awards aim to celebrate the greatness of the small winemakers of Australian and New Zealand. Huon Hooke joins as the Chairman.
2009 | New Zealand Invited
2018 | Changing Face
Ross Anderson took over the reins of this critically important wine show from Judith Kennedy in 2018. A complete re-brand and rebuild commenced to bring the awards into the digital era.
2020 | A World First
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020 awards become the 1st in the world to be judged remotely and in real time using the Drinkme Digital software and a team of dedicated stewards delivering re-poured entries to judges homes. Watch our 2020 awards wrap-up video here.
2022 | 12 Judges appointed
Since 2021, the awards have moved from 9 judges and 3 panels, to 12 judges and 4 panels. This was an important and much needed adjustment to manage workloads and palate fatigue, thereby ensuring even better results.
2023 | Huon Hooke retires, Toni Paterson MW takes over
Huon Hooke, our founding Chairperson (since 1996) handed over the reigns of the Awards to the incredible and long serving Toni Paterson MW at the start of the 2023 judging. Its very rare to have a Chairperson serve in this capacity for this length of time – a testament to the importance of the Awards to the Australian & New Zealand industries.
2024 | Rigorous selection process implemented
Not only are our results checked and cross-checked for accuracy; so are our judges. Our rigorous selection process and each judges performance is reviewed to ensure that we have the best possible people looking at each and every entry. We have also re-introduced associate judging positions for members of the trade looking to further their experience in wine judging.
Growing into the Future
As the show reaches approaches its 30th anniversary, bespoke technology is being used to drive results, feedback and awareness every year.