Australia’s premier wine event, the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards in conjunction with the Australian Women in Wine Awards, is searching for an outstanding female wine judge.
Recently, the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards (RMWA) committee enthusiastically voted to dedicate an associate judging position for an outstanding female wine judge.
The search for the best candidate, who will take up her judging role in Melbourne from October 7-11, will be undertaken in conjunction with the Australian Women in Wine Awards.
The new initiative provides one industry leading woman with the opportunity to hone her wine tasting and judging skills alongside some of the best wine judges in Australia.
Speaking about the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards, CEO of The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV), Mr Paul Guerra stated:
“The RASV is dedicated to ensuring diversity and equal opportunity throughout our competitions and award programs and have recently become a signatory of the Diversity and Equality in Wine Charter (DEW).
“The RMWA is an industry leading wine event, and we are excited to partner with the Australian Women in Wine Awards to present this scholarship to associate judge at RMWA.” Stated Mr Guerra.
It comes at a time when many Australian businesses – including those in wine – are actively seeking greater balance, diversity and equality in their workforce.
RMWA Committee Chair Angie Bradbury said “We have worked hard in recent years to formalise our judging selection and tenure processes. We have included clear guidelines for judge selection on the website and instituted a rigorous judge rotation policy.
This year, three of the seven panel chairs are women and we are close to a 50/50 balance across judges and associates. This associate scholarship is the next step in providing clear pathways for talented women to enter the capital city show judging circuit.”
“This is a most welcome innovation,” says Jeni Port, AWIWA board member, wine writer and wine judge. “The Australian wine show system has been all the poorer in the past for not actively encouraging women to progress through the judging ranks.
“I believe this has been to its detriment, but in the last five years I have definitely noticed a change. It is through initiatives such as this that the Australian wine show system can only improve. Women are the major buyers of wine in Australia. It is only fair and reasonable that the Australian wine show judging system reflects that.”
The search for a suitable candidate will take the form of a writing competition. Applicants will be required to write 500 words on the topic “How do you see the value of the Australian wine show system to the Australian wine industry?”
They will also be asked to provide a little information about themselves. Applicants will need to meet the minimum judging requirements for the RMWA, that is, they need to have been an associate wine judge at another wine show. A judging reference will be required to confirm previous judging experience.
Those who can apply:
- Can come from a technical or non-technical background.
- Can work in any area of the wine sector.
- Can be of any age. There is no age limit!
- Can come from any state in Australia.
- All travel, accommodation, transfers and meals will be met by the RMWA.
*Applicants will need to be free to judge in Melbourne from October 7-11, 2019.
Members of the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards and Australian Women In Wine Awards who will judge the competition are:
- Angie Bradbury, chair RMWA committee and chair Wine Victoria
- Matt Harrop, winemaker, Curly Flat and chair of judges RMWA
- Jeni Port, wine writer, wine judge and AWIWA board member
- Corrina Wright, winemaker, wine judge and AWIWA board member
Dates for RMWA Judge Competition 2019 are:
Entries Open – July 26, 2019
Entries Close – August 9, 2019
Award Announced – Friday, August 23
This year’s Royal Melbourne Wine Awards judging takes place at Melbourne Showgrounds from October 7-11.
To enter, please email your 500 word response along with a copy of your resume, judging experience and one judging reference to wine@rasv.com.au
Contacts: Angie Bradbury Angie.Bradbury@digandfish.com , Jeni Port 0412 886 695 jeniport@iinet.net.au
About the RMWA
The Royal Melbourne Wine Awards is recognised both within the industry and by the general public as one of Australia’s most prestigious wine shows. It brings together the very best Australian wine makers and producers and is renowned as a benchmark of excellence in wine production.
The RMWA is conducted by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria.
