The Great Wine Capitals Global Network’s Best Of Wine Tourism Awards is an esteemed recognition program that celebrates excellence and innovation in the wine tourism industry in the top wine regions around the world.
Best Of Wine Tourism Awards 2026
Award categories
The awards highlight the dedication and creativity of the South Australian wine industry across a number of categories:
- Accommodation
- Architecture and Landscape
- Art and Culture
- Culinary Experiences
- Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences
- Wine Tourism Services
Find out more about the award categories.
Short-listed entries
The entries shortlisted for the 2026 Awards demonstrate the incredible quality and diversity of South Australia’s wine tourism offering.
- Adelaide Hills Wine Region (Winter Reds Festival)
- Alkina Wine Estate (Lost in the F.o.G – Festival of Grenache)
- Ascend Experience (Oliver's Taranga + Golding + Kimbolton + South Australian Helicopters)
- Bottle Shock
- Le Mas Barossa
- Maxwell Wines
- Mount Lofty House and Estate
- Penfolds Magill Estate
- Petaluma
- Pindarie
- Rieslingfreak
- SA ebikes
- Seppeltsfield Wines
- Sidewood Estate
- Teakle Wines
- The Lane Vineyard
- Torbreck
- Vinteloper
- Wonderground Barossa
The 7 category winners will be revealed at an awards ceremony in Adelaide in September.
The winners of the South Australian awards will then go on to compete in the international Best Of Wine Tourism Awards held in Bordeaux, France in November, where they will be benchmarked against world-renowned wine regions such as Bordeaux and Napa Valley.
Best Of Wine Tourism Awards 2025
The 2025 Best Of Wine Tourism Award winners for Adelaide, South Australia were:
- Accommodation – Beresford Estate
- Architecture and Landscape – Dandelion Vineyards
- Culinary Experiences – Sidewood Estate
- Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences – McLaren Vale Distillery
- Wine Tourism Services – (joint winners) Kimbolton Wines and Watervale Hotel
- Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices – Sidewood Estate
Winners of the South Australian awards competed for a Global Best Of Wine Tourism Award. Dandelion Vineyards took out the award, which was presented at the Great Wine Capitals Gala Dinner and Global Best Of Wine Tourism Awards Ceremony in Verona, Italy.
Dandelion Vineyard’s Wonder Room was also recognised on the world stage, with the McLaren Vale winery winning a 2025 Great Wine Capitals Global Best Of Wine Tourism Award for Architecture and Landscape. The Award was presented at the Great Wine Capitals Gala Dinner and Global Best Of Wine Tourism Awards Ceremony in Verona, Italy in October 2024.
Find out more about the 2025 Best of Wine Tourism Award winners.
Discover Best Of Wine Tourism Award winners from South Australia and around the world.
Benefits
Entering the awards helps wineries and wine tourism operators in South Australia to build their reputation for excellence and innovation. It provides the opportunity for businesses to reflect on the difference they make to the wine tourism industry.
In addition to being recognised as a Best Of Wine Tourism Award winner in a particular category, award winners will receive:
- a certificate and trophy presented at the SA Wine Industry Dinner
- significant media exposure including international coverage
- opportunities to be showcased as an award winner at SA premium wine and food events such as CheeseFest, National Wine Centre events, and more – this might involve masterclasses, interviews, wine tasting, or other activities
- a marketing toolkit and support – including a special award logo to use on your website and in your email signature to help you fully leverage your win and promote your business
- networking opportunities.
Testimonial
Alkina Wine Estate won the 2024 Global Best Of Wine Tourism Award for Accommodation. Managing Director and Winemaker Amelia Nolan says:
The Great Wine Capitals Best Of Wine Tourism Awards have provided us with an incredible sense of acknowledgment as a global player in one of the most exciting wine regions in the world.
We were incredibly excited to receive global recognition for excellence in Winery Accommodation last year. The award, alongside the immense support from Great Wine Capitals team and local bodies, has allowed us to better communicate our small-scale terroir project to the world, both in the accommodation offering and wine philosophy. The recognition off the back of this award, whilst providing a plethora of media, has also enabled us to attract a global community of luxury accommodation lovers, bringing in guests from far and wide, who can then experience not only Alkina, but the Barossa as a whole.
Any winery, whether it be with accommodation, architecture or wine tourism services should consider entering into the awards to not only test themselves against others in their region, but also to project and benchmark their offering on a global scale.
