Wine Folly co-founder Madeline Puckette unveiled as IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year

The IWSC has completed its search for the world’s best wine communicator, crowning Wine Folly’s Madeline Puckette Wine Communicator of the Year 2019. Sponsored by Vinitaly, the award recognises someone whose communication skills have made an exceptional contribution towards promoting the world of wine.

Puckette is an American author, designer, sommelier, entrepreneur, and co-founder of the hugely successful blog Wine Folly, which delivers useful and accessible content about wine for beginners and experts alike through its educational infographics and engaging writing.

The blog was awarded IWSC Wine Blogger of the Year 2013, and has since been featured in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

In 2015, Puckette – alongside her Wine Folly co-founder Justin Hammack – released her first visual book Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine. The guide placed 15^th on the New York Times Bestseller’s list for food and drink.

Last year, the guide was followed up with Wine Folly: Magnum Edition, The Master Guide: a redesigned second edition with more than double the content. The Wine Folly blog was also relaunched, with thousands of new pages of educational wine content alongside an extensive database of different wines and grape varieties.

“Madeline has managed to combine tremendous skills from very different disciplines in order to bring the world of wine to an entirely new consumer audience. Her ability to distil information via infographics is second to none, and her relaxed presenting style is highly engaging,” said Hannah Tovey, panel judge and head of London Wine Fair.

“She is an innovator, and a new authority in wine. Wine Folly is addictive and endlessly revealing,” added Joe Fattorini, IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year 2017.

“Now more than ever, the world’s beverage community needs a communicator to connect with our new generation of drinkers through education and free knowledge,” said Puckette.

“As IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year, I hope to usher in our next decade of wine consumers – a conscious group of knowledge seekers unafraid to question the status quo. I will focus my efforts on two areas: reaching these new audiences through their channels of communication, and maintaining the educator’s commitment to unbiased perspective and the joyous spirit of knowledge giving.”

Following the Vinitaly Gala Dinner where the Wine Communicator award is to be officially presented, Puckette will be hosting a special masterclass at Vinitaly on Sunday 7 April, titled ‘Pinot Noir – One Grape in 5 Acts’ – a fun and illuminating view of winemaking vs Pinot Noir.

The tasting will compare different expressions of the versatile grape, from ‘Exposition’ (Pinot Noir Rosé) and ‘Rising Action’ (Pinot Noir Blanc de Noirs) through ‘Climax’ (White Pinot Noir) to ‘Falling Action’ (Pinot Noir Red) and ‘Dénouement’ (Pinot Rosé Champagne).

There are 33 seats available to book online before Wednesday 3 April.

Janina Mathiasz, manager of the international department of Veronafiere/Vinitaly, said “We are delighted with our 2019 winner, Madeline Puckette, and very much look forward to seeing her host a tasting at Vinitaly. We hope she enjoys her success and will be an excellent ambassador throughout the world in 2019”.