Decanter awards

Oh sure, decanter awards, I would register the Decanter stickers on wine bottles in the shops but it never influenced my buying decisions in any significant way. What I found was that the awards were not devised as decanter awards sort of wine trade accolade but were begun as a way for consumers to be assured they were buying quality wines in the marketplace. Steven pointed out that Decanter is a consumer magazine so it only makes sense that they decanter awards out awards that reward not only quality and value for money but also flag wines that might otherwise be overlooked.

The Decanter Awards are the largest and most influential wine awards globally and this year 18, wines were tasted by judges whose tongues must have been made of steel in a rigorous process which ensures fair judging with the drinker and consumer firming in mind. Libby was fortunate to sit down with Co-Chair Andrew Jefford, who has been with the Awards since they were set up 18 years ago, and ask him a few questions on his wine background, preferences and what he thinks of the awards. I felt there should be more, so I started making my own wine with carrots and elderflower and grape juice. It was an interesting process. I was by Hugh Johnson and others and decided to have a go at writing about wine myself. It worked out though! You do a range of roles within wine, which do you love the most?

Decanter awards

I spent three fulfilling days last week chairing the Burgundy panel at the Decanter World Wine Awards. The competition has flourished over the 10 years since its inception, and now attracts over 14, entries for the various teams to taste. One significant change is the move to writing notes on iPads which, allowing for some teething problems, worked superbly well. I particularly enjoyed inputting notes through the iPad, since that is what I do these days when tasting in cellars, and at least I can read what I have written afterwards. The change of venue to Tobacco Dock was also an unqualified success — or would have been if the tube strike had not put obstacles in our way. Everybody got there in the end, with the river boats being favoured until the early sailings on Wednesday morning got cancelled because of fog. And so to the tasting. Flights of between six and 12 wines were prepared according to style and appellation, and then subdivided by vintage and price. Very intelligently, there is a range of different styles each day, rather than wading through a whole day of white, a whole day of Beaujolais and then a few pinots to conclude. The three judges on each panel taste in silence and then compare marks under the guidance of the regional chair. The trick is to arrive at a consensus without either any judge being bullied by the others, or the dumbing down of interesting wines to a middle position. Judges who always change their views and judges who never change their position are equally to be avoided; happily neither came my way over the three days. What of the wines?

Next article In fitness and in health — ways to get out of your well-being rut. Libby was fortunate to sit down with Co-Chair Andrew Jefford, who has been with the Awards since they were set up 18 years ago, and ask him a few questions on his wine background, decanter awards and what he thinks of the awards, decanter awards. Then a very top 50 out of 18, wines tasted.

Usually I spend my time exclusively on the Loire Valley , but this year I spent some time judging in Bordeaux as well. There was good social distancing within, and excellent adherence to mask-wearing. All participants judges, runners, Decanter staff and support staff self-tested for Covid antigen on a daily basis before attending. After my slew of tests before, during and after my recent trip to the Loire Valley, my daily Decanter tests mean right now I feel all tested-out. But it was the right thing to do. I know there has been a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure the judging could proceed in maximally safe conditions.

Top medals showcase an exciting breadth of world-class wine regions on the West Coast, as New York winery also strikes Gold. In , more than expert judges, including 44 Masters of Wine and 11 Master Sommeliers, tasted a record 18, wines from 56 countries. Just 0. There were also Platinum and Gold medals awarded, making up 0. There were also six Gold medals for sparkling wines, and a cache of exciting Golds for wines that might normally fly below the radar. Virginia wines joined those awarded with a Silver and a Bronze win, and Arizona too made the list with two Bronze medals. Success for so many diverse US wines at DWWA also comes in a year when many across the wine world paid tributes to leading wine expert Steven Spurrier, the former Decanter consultant editor and long-time DWWA chair who died earlier this year. A tireless seeker of new wines, and an authority on established names, it was also Spurrier who organised the notorious Judgement of Paris tasting that helped put California on the world wine map. This is blind tasting.

Decanter awards

Chinese wines achieved a record total of medals, including one Platinum and four Golds. Harvested by hand, the Afip A8 Chardonnay has been through a minimum of six months of oak aging. Last year, the vintage of the same wine won a Silver medal in DWWA, showcasing its sustained quality. As part of the DWWA judging process, the Chardonnay was first awarded a Gold medal in the first round of blind tasting by expert judges. During the second round of judging, the Chinese dry white stood out from Gold-winning wines of the same category from Asia to achieve the Platinum medal. In the last two decades, China has been better known for its thirst of red wine production and consumption. Professor Li anticipated a comeback of white wines to the Chinese market, as consumers are returning to former wine drinking habits. White wines, in many ways, have better affinity to Chinese food and its dining culture than reds. In addition to the Platinum and Golds, the country was awarded 36 Silver medals and Bronze medals.

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June 18, Are there any new regions excited about you are excited about? Sommeliers are really surrogate drinkers with expertise whereas others can lose sight of the fact that this is about what is good for a person in a shop or restaurant who wants to find their way to a nice bottle which will over-deliver. We make a real impact on the winemakers and the drinkers and the industry. The judges are concentrating, swirling, spitting, frowning, furrowing. The standard of samples submitted naturally ranges from the sublime to the… well, less than sublime. We want a cross section of skills with judges, so we have those working in trade, buyers, people making commercial decisions, educators and of course, sommeliers. Although the judging is blind, all judges are given the maximum information about each wine without telling them what it is or the producer. Loading Comments It was enjoyable tasting with them both, and we found some interesting and intriguing wines, especially in the generic Bordeaux and St Emilion Grand Cru categories.

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What I liked about the Kylie initiative was that it was accessible to ordinary people - these were not forbiddingly expensive wines. One significant change is the move to writing notes on iPads which, allowing for some teething problems, worked superbly well. If you see a Decanter medal or recommendation sticker on the bottle, you can be sure it has passed through some very rigorous tasting to get that designation. Instead of bustling rooms of excitement, the rooms are quiet, serious and sedate. This is not a sales-driven awards system so there may be unexpected wines in the top The judges are concentrating, swirling, spitting, frowning, furrowing. Dmitri is chairman of the European Court of Sommeliers and is currently acting chairman of the Bordeaux panel, standing in for Bordeaux correspondent Jane Anson. And then, there are other bits and pieces in any individual countries. I asked him what is the main aim of the panel of judges when they are judging the wine and he replied that the panel considers each wine in relation to the region, value for money and the quality of the each wine. Frost has suddenly been a big problem, again, in the last two years, actually - and in and in Just then, I am greeted by Sarah Jane Evans MW for my interview with her, who is positively beaming, and announces that a wine from a rather surprising country has just been scored as gold. Email Required Name Required Website.