James Halliday announced key speaker at WCA Royal Adelaide Wine Show Awards Luncheon

Australia’s most influential wine personality, WCA Patron James Halliday AM will deliver this year’s keynote address at the official 2012 WCA Royal Adelaide Wine Show Awards luncheon, in Adelaide.

Tickets are now on sale for this prestigious event, which will take place at the Adelaide Showgrounds on Friday 12 October. The esteemed awards celebration and VIP tasting is the flagship annual event on the South Australian wine calendar.

Now in its 135th year, the Royal Adelaide Wine Show (RAWS) is one of the pre-eminent events on the Australian wine show circuit, attracting over 2,800 entries.

In line with a long-standing tradition, the awards luncheon showcases some of the best wines of the show and includes the announcement of the winner of the highly sought after WCA Shiraz Trophy.

Tickets include entry to the VIP tasting preceding lunch, which features over 2,000 wine show entries and trophy winners for sampling.

The event provides a fantastic opportunity to taste many of the best wines in Australia and provides wine and business leaders with an opportunity to network and host clients at a high quality wine event.

WCA national board member and SA Chapter chair, Louise Radman says

“WCA is thrilled to welcome James Halliday to Adelaide. As the pre-eminent voice in Australian wine and a former chair of Royal Adelaide Wine Show, we look forward to hearing his thoughts and learning of outcomes from the Len Evans tutorial wine show futures symposium.”

Chair of Judges, Sue Hodder and winner of the 2011 WCA Wine Media Cadetship, Jessica Henderson will also speak at the event.

This year the WCA Shiraz Trophy takes an exciting new look. Crafted by renowned Adelaide Hills bronze sculptor Tim Thomson, the newly commissioned trophy marks a significant occasion — being the first time the awards luncheon will be run under the auspices of Wine Communicators Australia (WCA) since transitioning from the South Australian Wine Press Club earlier this year.

Tickets are $165 per head for WCA members and $195 for non-members/subscribers. Book online at