For the fifth year running, the Circle of Wine Writers – the UK-based assemblage of wine hacks www.winewriters.org whose current membership is an almost incredible 263 - is offering £1,000, sponsored by Oz Clarke’s publishers Websters International, to enable a young potential wine writer to travel to a wine region of their choice to gain first-hand experience and to develop a book or article based on that experience.
This annual Award is open to any UK-based wine writer under 30 who has not yet had a book published and is not yet an established columnist or regular contributor to a magazine. He or she should be able to demonstrate wine-writing ability and commitment to popular consumer wine-writing. An additional prize of a magnum of Quintessa from the Napa Valley is also on offer.
Information about the Award and previous winners as well as details of how to enter can be found at www.websters.co.uk or from Fiona Holman at Websters International Publishers, Second Floor, Axe and Bottle Court, 70 Newcomen Street, London SE1 1YT, tel: 020 7940 4720 or fionaho@websters.co.uk
Applications should be received by the end of apr 05 (a month later than the 31 mar deadline for The Geoffrey Roberts Award, the £3,000 international travel bursary open to any age and any nationality) and the winner will be announced in jun 05.
As for the last two years, the winner will received the additional prize of a 14-day, expenses-paid trip to the wine regions of Australia, courtesy of the Australian Wine Bureau and Qantas, along with an opportunity to write articles about the trip for the AWB website. Terms and conditions apply.
Since winning the inaugural Young Wine Writer Award in 2001, Peter Richards has gone from strength to strength. After 18 fine months with wine merchants Justerini & Brooks, he left in jan 02 to pursue a fulltime freelance career. He founded Devinity wine consultancy www.devinitywine.com providing services such as writing, tastings, translation and wine consultancy. His main focus continues to be writing and, as well as being published in an ever-increasing range of wine, travel and food titles and writing his first book Wineries with Style (published in 2004 by Websters’ arch-rivals Mitchell Beazley), he is also working on a number of book projects. Peter can be contacted at pete@devinitywine.com or on +44 (0)20 7584 2062. "Winning the Young Wine Writer Award has worked wonders for me,” he says. “It not only gave me a massive boost as a writer but also opened a multitude of doors and has proven a springboard from which to launch my career. Without exception, people have responded well to the Award and I can only thank Websters and the Circle of Wine Writers for their generosity and, above all, their belief in and support of young wine writing talent."
Matthew Day, winner of the Young Wine Writer Award in 2002, has written articles for Wine International magazine and other titles on a regular basis. All his articles can be found on his new www.daygustation.com website. To supplement his meagre wine writer's income he works full time as a wine consultant for a restaurant group. The prize has enabled him to travel to various French wine regions in order to research his prize-winning idea for a series of articles called An Accidental Sommelier. Matthew can be contacted at daymatthewday@aol.com or on +44 (0)7811 451 667.
Since winning the Young Wine Writer Award in 2003, Stuart George has travelled extensively throughout the wine regions of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. He has had articles published in Decanter, Harpers, Wine International and currently works for The World of Fine Wine. Stuart can be contacted at stu@artgeorge.fslife.co.uk
In 2004 the Award at last went to a woman, Penny Boothman no less, winner of the 2003 Geoffrey Roberts Award (see www.geoffreyrobertsaward.com). A specialist in eastern European vine varieties (aka cultivars), Penny is now studying for the Master of Wine exams while working for the trade magazine The Drinks Business as a staff writer. She can be contacted at: The Drinks Business, Units 222-223, 30 Great Guildford Street, London SE1 0HS tel: +44 (0)20 7803 2420 fax: +4 (0)20 7803 2421 penny.boothman@thedrinksbusiness.com