Finalists of the inaugural Australian Women in Wine Awards (AWIWA) have been announced.

The AWIWA Board, judges of the awards, said the calibre of entries this year exceeded their expectations.

CEO of Oliver’s Taranga and AWIWA Board member, Corrina Wright said the entries demonstrated that women are making a significant difference across the wine community; “the business case for gender diversity has never been stronger”, Wright said.

Finalists will now go on to the awards night, to be held November 17, where winners of Winemaker of the Year, Viticulturist of the Year, Owner/Operator of the Year and Workplace Champion of Change will be announced. For more information on the awards night, visit www.womeninwineawards.com.au/events

The finalists in each of the four award categories are (in alphabetical order):   

Winemaker of the Year

Eleana Anderson, Rose Kentish, Jo Marsh, Sarah Pidgeon

Viticulturist of the Year

Cath Kidman, Liz Riley, Irina Santiago-Brown

Owner / Operator of the Year

Sarah Andrews, Joanne Bradbury, Rebecca Duffy, Briony Hoare

Workplace Champion of Change

Dianne Laurance, Chris Pfeiffer, Dino Michelini