Last night, Max Allen became the first two-time recipient of Wine Communicators of Australia’s coveted Wine Communicator of the Year title, backing up his prior win in 2018.
He also received two other category awards for Best Published Feature Article and Best New Wine Book.
Drinks Trade attended last night’s ceremony, where Max Allen tuned in from Germany via conference call to accept the award.
“This is a great honour,” he said. “It just underlines for me how lucky I’ve been to write old-fashioned print journalism and books … It’s a real privilege and it’s not something I take lightly.”
Max Allen received the award via zoom (the headline image is from 2018)
Max Allen was voted Australia’s Wine Communicator of the year award out of the 13 category award winners by a judging panel of 29 industry professionals, who overall said they were hugely impressed with the calibre of creativity, passion, and skill shown across a wide range of communication channels in 2025.
“Each winner represents best practice in engaging and educating audiences, from cellar doors to national campaigns,” says WCA National Chair Lynda Schenk. “It’s also great to see smaller producers like Ten Minutes by Tractor (Gabrielle Richardson) standing alongside well-established names, showing that impact comes from creativity and clarity, not just scale.”
According to Schenk, Allen was chosen out of the 12 category award winers for his communication efforts that are “consistently insightful, authentic, and grounded in deep industry knowledge.
“On behalf of WCA, I congratulate Max on being named Wine Communicator of the Year for a second time — the first person ever to receive this coveted award twice. It’s a remarkable achievement that reflects his sustained excellence and influence in shaping how Australia communicates about wine.”
Max Allen said he was particularly happy to receive the two category awards for his book Alternative Reality and feature article Why These Australian Wines are at risk of extinction.
“Particularly for these two, the article and the book, they’re things that I really very strongly believe in. I think the article, as I said before, for me it captures a moment in Australian wine history where things seem to be on the cusp of real change. It’s the end of an era, in many ways, and the start of a new one. The book, of course, is all about the future. It’s all about potential. It’s about the ability that we have to dream a new reality and then bring that reality into being.”
The 14 award winners from the 2025 Wine Communicator Awards are as follows:
Best Australian Wine Communication Campaign, sponsored by Wine Australia: Brown Brothers Moscato Mango Swirl by Brown Family Wine GroupBest Digital Communication, sponsored by Purple Giraffe: Halliday Wine Companion PodcastBest Social Media Communication, sponsored by Endeavour Group: Ten Minutes by TractorBest Published Feature Article or Wine Column, sponsored by Vinarchy: Max Allen’s ‘Why These Australian Wines are at risk of extinction’, AFR magazineBest New Wine Book, sponsored by University of Adelaide: Alternative Reality by Max AllenBest Innovative Wine Packaging, sponsored by Saver Glass: Paddington Lane, designed by DenominationBest Winery Website, sponsored by Parallax Design: Head WinesBest Wine-Themed Event: Pinot PaloozaBest Wine Communicator – Cellar Door, sponsored by Vinomofo: Nicholas Williams, Hungerford Hill WineBest Wine Communicator – Marketing (new in 2025), sponsored by University of Adelaide: Gabrielle Richardson, Ten Minutes by TractorBest Wine Communicator – Sales (new in 2025), sponsored by Wine-Ark: David Wright, Pikes WinesBest Wine Educator, sponsored by RIEDEL: Retallack Viticulture and EcologyBest Wine Student, sponsored by Wine Communicators of Australia: Jesslyn Collins, The University of AdelaideOverall Winner ~ 2025 Wine Communicator of the Year: Max Allen
(L-R): Katherine Brown, Nick Williams, Gabrielle Richardson, Shana Rohn (Halliday Wine Companion), Jesslyn Collins, David Wright, Jessica Audas and Dan Sims (Pinot Palozza)
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