For those unfamiliar with them, the Born Digital Wine Awards are a set of awards that were developed to celebrate and recognize a new breed of wine journalism, namely wine coverage that originates and remains entirely online. Plenty of awards exist for traditional wine journalism, but the Born Digital Awards are one of a few that focus on the kind of thing that I’ve spent the last 12 years doing. Namely writing about wine online, for free, for anyone who cares to read.

A couple of weeks ago, the Born Digital Wine Awards announced their shortlists in the four categories of awards they offer, and I was surprised and proud to find Vinography shortlisted in all three of the categories I entered: Best Editorial / Opinion Wine Writing, Best Investigative / Journalistic Wine Story, and Best Tourism Content with a Focus on Wine.

I’m even more pleased to announce that the winners were announced on Thursday of last week, and my story “Austria: The Wine Lover’s Dream Destination” was chosen as the winner in the Best Tourism Content with a Focus on Wine, and my story “Do You Need to Worry About Arsenic in Your Wine?” took second place/runner-up in the Best Investigative / Journalistic Wine Story category.

I highly recommend you go check out the other winners and various runners-up, as they offer some great reads (and a very funny video to watch).

You my readers are kind enough to offer comments and encouragement both here on the blog, in e-mails, and whenever I manage to run into one of you in the real world, but nonetheless, my efforts here provide most of their own validation. I continue to write because I enjoy it, and because I hope that others do too. When awards like this come my way they are a very nice reminder that what I do here has some value to readers and to the broader arena of wine communication. In this case, there’s actually a cash prize, too, which is a super bonus! Imagine that. Getting paid for wine writing that I did for free!?! Wonders never cease.

OK, self-indulgence over. Back to wine coverage. Thanks for continuing to read my stuff. Cheers!

Cheesy stock image of two hands toasting with wine courtesy of Bigstock.