Best of The Best Making an Impact in The Wine Industry

Innovation and leadership excellence have been recognised with 16 progressive Australian businesses short-listed for the prestigious 2019 National Wine Industry IMPACT Awards.

The awards, to be presented at the Adelaide Town Hall on 17 October, celebrate organisations that elevate the profile, quality, capability and competitiveness of the Australian wine industry across the complex value chain from vineyards to consumer experiences.

Presented by Wine Industry Suppliers Australia (WISA), the awards showcase new and proven concepts, technologies, services and solutions in categories including grape growing, winemaking, engineering, packaging, distribution and logistics, marketing and communications and tourism.

A Start Up category also recognises entrepreneurial and novel achievements by businesses that enhance the capability of the Australian wine industry, which in the year to June 2019 grew exports by four per cent to a total value of $2.86 billion.

WISA CEO Matthew Moate said independent wine sector experts had selected the finalists for this year’s awards that will acknowledge achievement before 400 industry leaders at the Adelaide Town Hall gala dinner.

“The judges were greatly impressed with the quality of entries again this year, making it a highly robust and valuable competition for the coveted 2019 Wine Industry Impact Awards,” he said.

“The diversity of entries, even within the individual categories, has genuinely challenged the judges, and each of the finalists are worthy contenders.

“Speaking with previous finalists and winners, it is clear that the awards impact their business by providing the platform to highlight their services, technologies and solutions that benefit the market, including Australian and overseas consumers.”

The finalists in each category are as follows:

Grapegrowing partnered by Bentleys SA

Ocvitti Pty Ltd in the research and development of Ocloc tailored vineyard steel trellis systems and supporting products to deliver more profitable and environmentally sustainable outcomes.
Taglog Pty Ltd, which has partnered with Group Logistics Pty Ltd, to create an integrated, real time labour and job management system to better track and manage vineyard operations generating improved production efficiencies.

Winemaking

Kauri, which supplies premium oak barrels and a range of organic and vegan friendly yeast and nutrients, along with cleaning and sanitation products, to meet the changing needs of producers and consumers.
Blue H20 Filtration, in association with French oenological product supplier, Lamothe-Abiet, in expanding and applying domestic research and providing technological advances to optimise aromatic qualities of white and rose wines.

Packaging partnered by Australian Vintage Ltd

Wine In A Glass, which has delivered innovative packaging solutions allowing consumers to enjoy single serve wines in elegant, reusable containers that are ideal for venues and situations where glass is not an option.
Blue H2O Filtration has developed a high performance, automated filtration system that improves production line efficiencies, including the option of off-site monitoring using smart phone technology.

Engineering

Hawk Engineering, in partnership with Domain Chandon in the Yarra Valley and Riverland Heavy Vehicles in Renmark, has developed advanced on-board scale kits for precision measurements of grape harvests with smart phone data recording to assist in logistics efficiency.
Clean Machine has engineered the Ezylift that makes barrel handling and cleaning an easier, more efficient and safer task for workers while delivering cost-savings for wineries.

Distribution and Logistics partnered by MGA Insurance Group

WineWorks Australia, a logistics finalist for a fourth consecutive year, has demonstrated continuous improvements in efficiency in the transport, warehousing, repacking, reworking and export processing in partnership with clients seeking competitive advantage.
Freight Hub Logistics is continuing to demonstrate excellence in personal support of clients to leverage economic synergies from integrated wine and beverage freight and tracking, wine climate warehousing, and post-production services.

Marketing and Communications partnered by WBM – Australia’s Wine Business Magazine

Revel Global has created spectacular new benchmarks in Australia and overseas as a special event promoter of fun wine orientated experiences. It improves connection and brand advocacy between wineries and the people who want to explore and learn about wine.
Denomination is a creative branding design specialist working with a growing profile across the Australian wine landscape to improve sales outcomes through influencing consumer perceptions of quality, relevance, memorability and appeal.

Tourism

Wine Tourism Australia has demonstrated a powerful commitment to partnering with industry to elevate the profile and professionalism of businesses offering definitive wine tourism experiences while educating consumers about product diversity and quality in unique settings.
With vision, energy and innovation, and backing from industry professionals, Fastrak Asian Solutions and Wine Tourism Australia have progressed the Growing Wine Tourism education program in conjunction with the Australian Tourism Export Council and supported by Wine Australia to help businesses promote their tourism profile and potential.

Start Up

Taglog has received very positive customer validation of its innovative, digitised work management system that provides accurate and transparent information on vineyard tasks allowing for greater cost efficiencies, goal setting and controls.
After extensive research and testing, vinCreative has developed a novel and unified software management program that helps small to medium producers more effectively target and market products, better understand cellar door preferences and trends, provide new distribution options and enhance customer relationships.

Image: Ulf Thorstensson of Clean Machine (engineering award finalist) demonstrating the Ezylift barrel cleaning system to Tim Smart and Sally Brown from Mount Adam.