Washington Wine Awards Immersive Trip To Boost National Profile

The Washington wine industry is looking to boost its national profile by putting a new writer in the vineyards.

Dennis Fraley of Florence, South Carolina, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Allen Shoup Memorial Fellowship for Writers and Communicators.  Fraley is a wine writer, educator and judge who writes The Bottle Talk for The Post and Courier, with bylines in Food & Wine and Vinum.

“Dennis is a creative and thoughtful writer, with an eagerness to learn more about our region. I’m excited to see where this fellowship takes him,” said Ryan Shoup, Allen's son and a member of the 2026 selection committee.

The Hope Is Fraley Will Learn The Ins & Outs Of Washington Wine

The fellowship will bring Fraley to Washington for an immersive look at the state’s vineyards, wineries and winemakers—along with wine samples and a stipend.  Industry leaders say the goal is to give influential emerging communicators firsthand experience with Washington wine, helping shape how the region is understood by consumers nationwide. 

“I have spent my working life on the idea that no two people respond to the same glass the same way,” Fraley said. "Washington may be the rare wine region that believes the same about the people drinking it. The state grows everything, insists on no single story, and lets the wine in the glass matter more than any rule about how you are supposed to taste it. That is the story I have been waiting to discover, and I am honored the committee is trusting me to tell it." 

We Need A Wider Audience

The fellowship honors Allen Shoup, a pioneer of Washington’s wine industry and former head of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, who died in 2022.

"Allen knew Washington to be one of the world’s great wine regions and understood that bringing its story to a wider audience required writers to experience it for themselves,” Ryan Shoup said. “Through this fellowship, emerging writers can spend time in the vineyards, meet the people behind the wines, and develop their own appreciation for our story.” 

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