Judging Week at Decanter: an Insider’s View


As Britons were enjoying the early spring bank holiday weekend in the first week of May, I was travelling from home in South-West England to London to join the Asia panel of Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), the world’s most influential wine competition. I had a full week of wine tasting ahead me, expecting samples mostly from China, Japan and India; but there are always wines sent from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Kazakhstan too. Reviewing nearly 600 wines is a bit more work than one may imagine. It is also highly educational, whilst admittedly the tasting room is filled with collegial air. Here is my insider’s view from the 2024 competition.

The Origins & Growth of DWWA

DWWA was the brainchild of the late Steven Spurrier, organiser of the 1976 Judgement of Paris, a blind tasting event which became famous for the Cabernet Sauvignon of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars from Napa, California beating the fine claret of Château Mouton Rothschild, the first-growth Pauillac property in Bordeaux, into the second place. Spurrier’s name may also be known to Indian wine drinkers from The Wine Society of India, formerly a Mumbai-based mail order wine club; or Fratelli Wines, with whom Spurrier collaborated to create the M/S range. In any case, Spurrier suggested to Sarah Kemp, the then-publisher of Decanter magazine, the creation of a wine awards in the early 2000s. Since the inaugural competition, which saw around 3,000 wines judged in a West London studio, DWWA has grown into the world’s most influential wine competition in just over 20 years, with producers entering more than 18,000 wines in 2024. I was honoured to return and lend my expertise on Asian wines. Also, what an opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues from all over the world who were amongst the 250 wine professionals judging for a full week.

Judging Week

The tasting took place at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London’s docklands, in the vicinity of City Airport. The venue hosted the first week of DWWA during which judges reviewed and rated all the wines. The enormous fairground had hosted the wine competition before the Covid pandemic for the first time, simply because its unparalleled logistical capability provides ample space for the army of runners and backroom operatives who invisibly organise more than 1,500 cases of wine. Miraculously, all the wines got lined up in front of the judges fully blind without delay and when a bottle was refused due to a taint, the replacement found its way from storage within less than 15 minutes. If anyone, it is the runners who worked truly hard to ensure us judges could focus on swirling, smelling, tasting and spitting all day long.


The industrial venue would certainly not evoke romantic images of cellars, yet there was a special sense of comradery in the tasting rooms. If rigorous tasting by regional experts is the foundation of the competition, it is the ensuing discussions which make the heart of DWWA. These post-tasting conversations guarantee that no wine is looked over, no single judge sways the outcome, and every wine has a fair chance. It is also a perfect opportunity to geek out in like-minded company if I am honest. Poh Tiong Ch'ng, the regional chair for Asia, is always up for a good discussion to consider the merits of the wine in the glass, whilst imparting his vast experience on China and Japan. At times, we cannot avoid getting one of the co-chairs participate in the conversation. Regardless whether it is Andrew Jefford, Michael Hill-Smith MW, Sarah Jane Evans MW, Ronan Sayburn MS or Beth Willard; they are all keen to listen to our arguments as to why we believe a wine merits a good medal before facilitating a conclusion that all judges consider fair. Ultimately, the verdict of the tasting panel is translated into a score, if high enough, into a medal, and the essence of the discussion is captured in tasting notes, published for wine lovers in the magazine and online.

During its second week, DWWA moved into Decanter magazine’s editorial offices in London’s Paddington base, so the co-chairs may review all the wines which had been awarded with a gold. The aim of the second week is to select the best of the best: platinum and the best of show wines. It is a hugely rigorous and time-consuming process which ensures the credibility of every medal for the assurance of winemaker and consumer alike.


The Rise of Asian Wines

As I was writing in my article on Decanter’s website earlier this year, there has been a spectacular rise of Asian wines at DWWA, reflecting the growing importance of domestic production in China, Japan, India, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia. It is noteworthy that in the autumn of 2023 I was invited for a whirlwind trip to Changsha in China to celebrate 20 years of Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). Nearly all the leading Chinese winemakers were in attendance. The remaining part of the trip took me to coastal Yantai in Shandong province, where the programme included a visit to Domaine de Long Dai, the Rothschild property; Longting Vineyard, an organic producer; and Changyu, the oldest and largest winery in China.

It was also in the autumn of last year that during my visit to India the Wine Growers Association of India asked me to host a tasting for a group of sommeliers, writers and educators at the Taj Lands End hotel in Mumbai. The trade part of the event was followed by a walk-around tasting for consumers and the fact that it was well attended despite the relatively short notice proves the point that interest in wine is exponentially increasing in India, just as in other Asian countries.

The curtains are down, and judging is completed. However, there is still a tremendous amount of work for the DWWA team before the announcement of the results on 19th June. I will be excited to marry up my tasting notes with the labels and winery names when the medals and scores are released. It will also be satisfying to know that anyone who will take a bottle of wine with a Decanter medal off the shelf, or order it online, should have every confidence in their choice and enjoy it the same way as the judges did.
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