International Wine & Spirit Competition Announce Communicator of the Year 2008
VERONA, Italy, April 3/PRNewswire/ --
Emmy award-winning wine writer, lecturer and broadcaster, Karen MacNeil
from the USA, was last night declared the winner of the International Wine &
Spirit Competition Communicator of the Year award, sponsored by Vinitaly.
The award is given to the individual who the industry panel decides has
contributed the most to consumer communication on wines or spirits, over the
preceding twelve months.
Said IWSC Marketing Manager, Lesley Gray;
"Karen was acknowledged for a prodigious wine writing career which spans
30 years, however it was her work in 2007 that particularly separated her
from the other finalists. Karen led a TV series that went nationwide across
the US last year, plus wrote and introduced a wine studies course for a
network of cookery schools and initiated, undertook the funding and then
organised a week-long residential course on wine education in the Napa
Valley. Beyond this there was the production of an annual wine calendar,
books and lectures. It was an astonishing amount of work and we are hoping
that we might now see more of her writings & film-work here in Europe."
Other highly regarded journalists to be short-listed included Jamie
Goode, Olly Smith, James Halliday and Natalie MacLean.
For the 12th year running, VeronaFiere, organiser of Vinitaly sponsored
the Award. Karen MacNeil was flown across from California to receive the
Trophy from Giovanni Mantovani, Director General of VeronaFiere at the Gala
opening of the Fair, which runs for the next five days in Verona.
On collecting the Trophy, Karen added;
"I am thrilled and deeply honored to receive this award from the
International Wine and Spirit Competition. Over the last three decades I have
worked extremely hard to communicate the pleasures of wine to the largest
possible audience of consumers. In 2007, that lifetime of work came together
in numerous initiatives that I hope will further the culture of drinking the
world's most compelling beverage."
Previous IWSC Communicator of the Year winners include Hugh Johnson,
Jancis Robinson MW, Anthony Dias Blue, Andrew Jefford, Matthew Jukes, Joe
Wadsack MW and Oz Clarke.
A formal presentation of this award will be made at the IWSC Annual
Awards Banquet on November 17th 2008 at the historic Guildhall, in London.
http://www.iwsc.net
Source: International Wine & Spirit Competition
Media contact: Yvonne May: Lindsay May PR, e-mail: yvonne@lindsay-may.co.uk, Tel: +44(0)207-470-8890
2008-04-02 18:07:01 0326907 PRNEWSWIRE