STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO THE COMPETITION

1

Once the competition opens for entries, producers submit their wines and provide us with wine details, price and retail availability. Four bottles of each wine arrive at the Decanter warehouse and are logged, categorised and coded according to their country and region.

4

Gold medal-winning wines go forward to compete for Platinum status in the second round of judging. All the Gold wines are judged according to their origin and style, with judges aware of the factors in step 2. There is no limit to the number of Gold winners that can be promoted to Platinum. Within each grape variety or style, more than one wine from a specific country, region or style can be promoted to Platinum. Winners are awarded Platinum medals – in addition, wines that fall into a price band below £15 are awarded Value Platinum status (see p7).

2

Wines are grouped by country, region, colour, grape, style, vintage and price bands. In 2022 the price bands at DWWA have remained as:

Price band A Entry Level: up to £9.99

Price band B Mid-Range (lower): £10 to £14.99

Price band C Mid-Range (upper): £15 to £19.99

Price band D Premium: £20 to £29.99

Price band E Super Premium: £30 to £49.99

Price band F Boutique/Icon: £50+

5

All the Platinum winners then compete again for the Best in Show awards. In a separate tasting conducted by our four competition Co-Chairs only, these top-performing wines are pitted against each other to win the ultimate accolade at the DWWA: Best in Show. Winning wines priced under £15 are eligible for Value Best in Show status.

NB: prices were under £15 at the time of judging in May 2022, but with time elapsed and market conditions these are subject to change

3

All wines are tasted blind, but judges are aware of the factors in step 2. They taste wines individually within the context of their style and price band. They then compare notes and reach a consensus on the wine’s medal and the score out of 100 points. Wines awarded Gold or Silver medals are re-tasted by the Regional Chair for his or her confirmation of the medal. The Co-Chairs then re-taste all the Gold wines for final endorsement.

6

The results are published in this magazine and on decanter.com. Producers can label medal-winning wines with stickers (like the medal icons on the page opposite) to enable consumers to recognise them in store.