Building on last year’s success, the Born Digital Wine Awards (BDWA) announces the new 2011 judging panel and awards category. The BDWA awards recognize writers and artists internationally for content first published online in a free and unrestricted manner.

The Born Digital Wine Awards is different from other competitions in that the BDWA accepts submissions in any language. The awards are not a wine blogger competition, but are open to any content creator, so new voices can be placed alongside articles by established writers.

The judging panel for the 2011 edition combines winners from last year’s BDWA along with highly regarded wine professionals from around the world. Submissions – published in the 2011 calender year – will open on December 1, 2011.

Based on feedback from online wine communicators, the BDWA is also excited to announce a new category for the 2011 awards: Best Wine Photo Essay. This category was added to reward amazing photography that tells a engaging and meaningful story.

To learn how to submit work, or to help support the Born Digital Wine Awards, please go to their website: http://www.borndigitalwineawards.com

The categories for the 2011 awards include:

Best Investigative Wine Writing: for a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single wine article or series (video, written text)

Best Editorial Wine Writing: for outstanding examples of wine writing, giving prime consideration to literary quality and originality

Best Wine Tourism Feature: Speaking about a particular region as a tourist destination with a focus on wine (written text, video)

Best Wine Themed Video: Video content that either educates, demonstrates or builds awareness for wine

Best Winery Self Produced Content: for outstanding examples of content created by wineries to promote their brand and reach out to key audiences (video, written text)

Best Wine Photo Essay **NEW CATEGORY**: A set of 2 to 10 photos, published in one online location, that focus on a wine theme or story. (photo)

Members of the new 2011 Born Digital Wine Awards judging panel will be:

Michel Bettane (France) – Author of Grand Guide des Vins du France and  writer, Bettane et Desseauve, blogger
Hervé Lalau (Belgium) – Deputy-Chief Editor at In Vino Veritas and writer, Chroniques Vineuse, blogger
Fongyee Walker (MW candidate) (China) – Co-founder, Dragon Phoenix Fine Wine Consulting, author, blogger
Patrick Schmitt (UK) – Editor, Drinks Business
Elin McCoy (USA) – Writer Bloomberg and author, blogger
Ulf Sjodin MW (Sweden) – Head of Category Management, Systembolaget and writer
Tim Atkin (UK) – Wine Writer www.timatkin.com, blogger
Wink Lorch (France) – Wine Writer,  Wine Travel Guides, blogger
Richard Ross (UK) – Wine App Developer and writer, www,wine-lines.com, blogger
Jay Selman (USA) – Co-founder, Grape Radio and founder, Grape Visions, blogger

About the Born Digital Wine Awards
Founded in 2010 by Robert McIntosh from The Wine Conversation (http://wineconversation.com) and Ryan and Gabriella Opaz from Catavino (http://catavino.net), the annual awards aims to recognize international works on wine originally published online.