These awards provide an opportunity for these wineries and other visitor-serving businesses in each region to gain exposure and recognition for their commitment to presenting leading wine tourism options, while giving visitors a one-stop list of the best places to experience.
Now in their 23rd year, the 2022 Great Wine Capitals Best of Wine Tourism Awards saw a number of entries from wineries in each of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network’s member cities, in seven different categories, namely:
- Accommodation
- Wine Tourism Restaurant
- Sustainable Wine Tourism Practice
- Architecture & Landscape
- Art & Culture
- Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences
- Wine Tourism Services
The judging process entailed an in-depth reviewing process, where applications received were reviewed and scored based on standard criteria. Seven expert judges and three Wine Tourism Ambassador Award judges conducted “ghost visits” to the wineries within each of their assigned categories. The judges then attended a final adjudication review, where each expert judge presented their findings, and a winner was selected for each category.
The winners were announced at a ceremony held at the Creation Wines in Hermanus on Tuesday, 12 October 2021:
ACCOMMODATION
Winner: Delaire Graff
WINE TOURISM RESTAURANTS
Winner: Creation Wines
WINE TOURISM SERVICES
Winner: Creation Wines
SUSTAINABLE WINE TOURISM PRACTICES
Winner: Vergelegen
ARCHITECTURE & LANDSCAPE
Winner: Vergelegen
ART & CULTURE
Winner: La Motte Wine Estate
INNOVATIVE WINE TOURISM EXPERIENCES
Winner: Babylonstoren
According to the organisers, South Africa’s unique history demands that there should be additional awards to recognise the ongoing transformation in the wine tourism industry. This includes properties that proudly celebrate our culture and heritage, as well as those leaders making innovative efforts to ensure sustainability and conservation in the field. The winners of the Wine Tourism Ambassador Awards are:
THE WINE TOURISM DIVERSITY AWARD
Winner: PaardenKloof Wines
THE AUTHENTIC SOUTH AFRICAN EXPERIENCE AWARD
Winner: AA Badenhorst
WWF CONSERVATION PIONEER AWARD
Winner: De Wetshof
“I would like to address my sincere congratulations to the 2022 winners of this new edition of Best Of Wine Tourism awards contest. The quality of the wine tourism offer in the Western Cape wine regions is a credit to the tourism industry as a whole in South Africa. I would also like to congratulate the winners for their sustainable practices, an example for the whole world while the wine industry, all over the globe, is working hard to implement solutions to mitigate their impact on environment,” said Catherine Leparmentier Dayot, Managing Director: Great Wine Capitals Global Network.
“The Great Wine Capitals Best Of Wine Tourism Awards is a perfect opportunity for our wine tourism operators to share our winemaking craft, culture and experiences with visitors from across the globe. We are truly honoured to have worked closely with industry stakeholders to recognise the wineries and wine tourism related businesses for having pushed through the challenges the industry has faced this past year and continued to excel and innovate,” concluded Wesgro’s Chief Marketing Officer, Monika Iuel.
Please find the link to the video here and e-booklet here to meet the judges and winners.
Additional info:
The World Wide Foundation (WWF) for Nature has, for the first time, supported the programme to shine a light on the work being done by estates who are up and coming in the field of Conservation in Wine Tourism. This has been made possible by the sponsorship of Neville and Pam Isdell who are wine lovers and conservationists from the US.
This video showcases the three finalists in this category and the work that they are doing on the ground.