Last night, Brendan Carter from Bottleshock was named the 2026 Wine Communicator of the Year by Wine Communicators of Australia (WCA), adding Australia’s top wine communication award to his recent global accolade.
The announcement was the culmination of the celebrations at WCA’s sold out annual Awards Night in Sydney, with Brendan accepting his award from WCA National Chair, Lynda Schenk.
The annual Wine Communicator Awards recognise outstanding excellence in wine communication in all its forms. Thirty-three experienced and respected industry professionals judged entries across thirteen different categories. The judges were hugely impressed with the calibre of creativity, passion, and skill shown across a wide range of communication channels.
Toasts were also made to the thirteen category winners with trophy-winning wines from this year’s Sydney Royal Wine Awards.
The 2026 Wine Communicator Awards category winners are:
Best Australian Wine Communication Campaign, sponsored by Wine Australia
- Jacob’s Creek x Australian Open 2026 by Vinarchy
Best Digital Communication, sponsored by Liquid Ideas
- BottleShock by Brendan Carter, Noah Ward and Henry Doyle.
Best Social Media Communication, sponsored by Endeavour Group
- Brokenwood Wines
Best Published Feature Article or Wine Column, sponsored by De Bortoli Wines
- Campbell Mattinson for his article ‘Peter Dredge is not a winemaker by accident’
Best Wine Packaging Design, sponsored by WineHub
- Poco Vino, designed by Australian Vintage
Best New Wine Book, sponsored by Adelaide University
- Penfolds Rewards of Patience, Andrew Caillard MW + Longueville Media
Best Winery Website, sponsored by Parallax Design
- Henschke
Best Wine-Themed Event, sponsored by Purple Giraffe
- MOULD x Pinot Palooza
Best Wine Communicator: Cellar Door, sponsored by Coravin
- Rhiannan Wilson, former Dandelion Vineyard
Best Wine Communicator: Marketing, sponsored by Vinomofo
- Lara Apollonio, Sidewood Estate
Best Wine Communicator: Sales, sponsored by Coravin
- Roger Bond, Dan Murphy’s Double Bay
Best Wine Educator, sponsored by RIEDEL
- Yvonne Hilsz, Positive Change Coaching
Best Wine Student, sponsored by Wine Communicators of Australia
- Alexandra Quinton
Overall Winner ~ 2026 Wine Communicator of the Year
- Brendan Carter
WCA National Chair, Lynda Schenk said, “The Wine Communicator Awards are a highlight of the year for our community. From digital campaigns and events, to journalism, education, research, hospitality and advocacy, the awards celebrate the individuals and organisations helping connect people with wine through compelling stories, fresh ideas, and meaningful conversations.
The Wine Communicator of the Year, Brendan Carter, demonstrates an exceptional ability to engage consumers through his Bottleshock.TV and The Big Blind League wine tasting competition while also challenging us all to act differently in how we talk about wine. His fresh thinking, willingness to challenge convention, and commitment to building stronger connections between wine and consumers make him a truly deserving recipient of this honour.”
Despite being utterly surprised to be named the winner, Brendan proved his insightful eloquence when he responded without any preparation. He said “Commanding people’s attention is a privilege. The most important thing when it comes to building audiences is trust and authenticity and that is where Australia has a unique opportunity. Very few accents click in people’s minds globally as the Australian one. The ability to command attention is becoming scarcer but if we can establish Australian accents globally as the authority on wine now, we might just be okay.”