A brilliant shot, Spinning the Chardonnay, showing wine spinning into a tank, taken by Melbourne-based photographer Victor Pugatschew, has seized this year’s crown for Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year, a category of Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2018, the world’s leading celebration of food photography and film.
Yasia Williams, Art Director, Octopus Publishing accepted the prize of £1000 and the trophy on behalf of Victor which was presented by Sophie Wren, Brand Manager in the UK for Errazuriz. The announcement took place in front of an audience of five hundred guests at a glittering Champagne Taittinger reception packed with celebrities from the food and photography world, at the Mall Galleries, London on Tuesday 24 April 2018. Host for the evening was the legendary TV presenter and chef Prue Leith.
The competition was fierce, there were 8000 images entered from 60 countries and the standard was exceptional. Victor’s shot stood out from the rest in its category, however, for the way in which he made the subject matter so fascinating and original.
Even more amazingly, though every image is judged anonymously, it is the second time Victor has won Errazuriz Wine Photographer of the Year – he won it first in 2015.
The judging panel this year, chaired by internationally-renowned food photographer David Loftus, included Magui Chadwick, Family Ambassador, Vina Errazuriz, Emily Luchetti, Chair of the James Beard Foundation, NYC, culinary superstar Ferran Adria, Wajmar Yaqubi, Global Photo Director, Buzzfeed, His Excellency Ali Bin Thalith, Secretary General, HIPA.
The Errázuriz Wine Photographer category consists of images relating only to wine and is divided into three sub-categories: Produce, People and Place. Victor’s winning shot had scooped the Produce section, while George Rose won the Place section with Vineyard Flooding and Thierry Gaudille`re took top place in the People category with his Worker at Maison Champy.