DWWA: the judging process

The Decanter World Wine Awards are rooted in regionality. Wines are judged first and foremost within their region, by a panel of experts in that region. The judges look for typicity above all, rewarding wines that are true to their terroir. Turn to ‘Meet the experts’ from p12 to find out more about the credentials of our four DWWA Co-Chairs and Regional Chairs, as well as a list of the judges for each region.

There are three judges on each panel to ensure consistency of results – panels mostly comprise one Regional Chair and two panel judges. The Regional Chair sits on one panel per day, and tastes and scores each wine along with the other two judges. Some Regional Chairs oversee two panels: each of these panels is led by a Senior Judge. The Regional Chair is responsible for establishing a benchmark and re-tasting all Silver and Gold medal-winning wines (see ‘Stage 1’ on p11).

Flights of wines are organised to ensure judges do not jump between contrasting styles in short timeframes, or risk palate fatigue by tasting very tannic wines over a long period. Judges taste 75-80 wines a day, in optimum conditions – seated, in a plain, white room, under natural light. They taste from Riedel glasses, in an environment free from distractions (phone calls, emails, tweeting etc are permitted only during breaks). Wines are judged in flights of grouped to give similar wines an equal chance to shine (see ‘Categorisation’, p11). Judges taste wines within the context of their style and price band (hence a wine considered worthy of a Gold in the £10-£14.99 band may not necessarily win Gold if judged in the £30-£49.99 band). Judges taste individually and then compare notes to reach a consensus.

Platinum and Best in Show wines are judged during the second week by selected Regional Chairs, led by our Co-Chairs (see p12).