News & views | 2014 IWSC, Gonzalez Byass Blogger of the Year

News & views

2014 IWSC, Gonzalez Byass Blogger of the Year

A fantastic piece of news! I won the International Wine & Spirit Competition, Gonzalez Byass Blogger of the Year award which was announced at the IWSC awards banquet last week.

It's a fantastic honour for a print journalist like me to scoop such a prestigious new media award so you'll have to excuse me if I blow my own trumpet a bit!

This was the citation from Victoria Gonzalez Gordon, Gonzalez Byass International marketing manager:

"The winner of this year’s Blogger of the Year has been chosen for the creation, over the past decade, of one of the most extensive and popular sites and blogs dedicated to food and wine matching currently available.

The creator is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for the UK national press for over 20 years - perhaps the only wine writer to have had 3 national newspaper columns in Today, the Daily Mail and, currently, The Guardian.

Unusually she has written equally about food and wine an interest which led to her groundbreaking website matchingfoodandwine.com which she founded back in 2004 and remains an indispensable reference for many in the wine trade. Traffic to the site has increased by over 100% in the last 12 months alone.

Her 23 books have included cookery books as well as wine books - the most recent being about one of her favourite foods, cheese.

The IWSC, Gonzalez Byass Blogger of the Year is Fiona Beckett.

And, having been tipped off about the award as I couldn't collect it in person this is what I had read out in reply ...

"Well, I’m just gutted not to be with you tonight. I’ve won food writing awards before but never one for my wine writing and as luck would have it I’m half way over the Andes wondering what wine to match with llama.

But thank you - thankyou everyone - the judges who kindly gave me this award, to Gonzalez Byass for sponsoring it and to all the lovely people who read the blog and chat to me about it on Twitter. As a traditional print journalist I’m truly honoured to have been given such a prestigious new media award. THANKYOU!"

Which says it all really. Except for yipppppeeeee!

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Comments: 1 (Add)

Edmund Inkin on November 22 2014 at 09:57

Utterly brilliant, Fiona. Well done.

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