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Decanter World Wine Awards
What are the Awards?
The Awards
  • The judging process
  • Judging on a regional level
  • Judging in price brackets
  • Judging by experts
  • Promotion of the results
  • Looking for UK representation?
  • Turning wine into water
  • Dates

    The Judging process

    Stage 1
    Entries are logged, wines are categorised and coded according to origin, type and price.
    Stage 2
    Wines are tasted in flights of 12, grouped by region, and in five price bands: up to £4.99, £5-6.99, £7-9.99, £10-19.99 and £20+.
    Stage 3
    Wines are scored and given a grading: no award, Commended, Bronze, Silver or Gold. Gold-medal wines are retasted by the regional chairs for confirmation.
    Stage 4
    The taste-off of Gold medal-winning wines for each region. The best of each style are awarded a regional trophy.
    Stage 5
    Regional Trophies are pitted against each other to decide the International Trophy winners - the ultimate accolade.

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    Judging on a regional level

    The Decanter World Wine Awards celebrate the diversity of wine by focusing on regional styles and the influence of terroir. Wines are judged on a regional level to promote a sense of origin over international homogenised styles. Whether your wine is red, white, rosé, still, sparkling, sweet or fortified, they will all be tasted in regional flights in the first round to find outstanding examples of their type. If successful they will move forward to compete for an international trophy.
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    Judging in price brackets

    The Decanter World Wine Awards judge wines in two price bands: under £10 and over £10. Wines retailed at under £10 will compete for best value trophies giving context for the consumer. This is so that the awards do not lose sight of their primary purpose - to provide practical recommendations for those who buy and enjoy wine.
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    Judging by experts

    Decanter has enlisted some of the world's most respected experts to head up the regional panels. Each has been chosen for his/her specialist knowledge of a specified area and will oversee a team of judges also chosen for their in-depth knowledge. A thorough understanding of a regional style is crucial for recognising outstanding quality rather than simply rewarding wines crafted specifically as 'competition' wines.
    Click here to see our full list of regional chairs
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    Promotion of the results

    If your wine is a winner we will tell everyone about it. The results are promoted internationally through the respected Decanter brand and other high-profile, third-party media partners. Click here to see our great press coverage

    Decanter promotion

    The best-selling Awards issue of Decanter magazine hits the busy Christmas buying period

  • A special results section on decanter.com features every medal-winning wine with search options available by producer, retailer and medal.
  • Point-of-sale material such as bottle stickers are available for all award winners to purchase.
  • Press coverage

  • The Chinese and Hungarian editions of Decanter bring highlights of the results to these vital emerging markets.
  • Highlights of the results will appear in Observer Food Monthly
  • Everyday Bordeaux Campaign promoting wines priced between £4 and £15 exclusively featured Decanter medal winning wines. Over 1.5m booklets were distributed with The Sunday Times, Delicious Magazine and at a series of high profile consumer tastings throughout the UK. www.everydaybordeaux.co.uk
  • Caterer and Hotelkeeper, the UK's leading magazine for Sommeliers and Food & Beverage managers is our trade media partner ensuring that people who make the decisions about your wines are alerted to the results.
  • Results will be available to sister titles in TimeWarner and IPC Media
  • Our daily recommendation of an award-winning wine in CityAM newspaper reaches an audience of 100,000 readers in London's financial district.
  • Click here to see a full list of magazines featuing the awards

    Shows and Fairs
    Our results will be promoted to trade and consumers at:
  • Wine for Asia

  • The London International Wine and Spirit Fair

  • The Decanter Fine Wine Encounter

  • The Country Life Fair

  •    
    Looking for UK representation?

    Decanter's Unsigned Talent tasting at the London International Wine and Spirits Fair showcases medal-winning wines from the Awards. The cream of the UK wine buyers, sommeliers and journalists come to this tasting knowing all the wines are available for import and have been chosen by Decanter's expert panel of judges. All medal-winning wines which are not currently imported into the UK are eligible for this free tasting - we will be in touch with full details of how to enter your wines once the results are announced.


    Turning wine into water

    All wine left over from the judging is auctioned by Christie's to raise money for Decanter's clean water project in Burkina Faso - one of the world's poorest countries. To date, the Decanter World Wine Awards have raised over £50,000 for WaterAid to continue its vital work. To find out more about WaterAid visit www.wateraid.org.


    photo: WaterAid / Suzanne Porter

    Dates

    Start date to submit entry form: 2 January 2007
    Start date for wine delivery: 1 February 2007
    Final date to submit entry form: 23 March 2007
    Final date for wine delivery: 23 March 2007
    Judging week: 22–27 April 2007
    Results announced to trade: 22–24 May 2007
    Results published: 5 September 2007


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    Enter the 2007 Decanter World Wine Awards - Click here

  • The Decanter World Wine Awards are kindly supported by
    Advertisements
    Shopping directory
    Poll
    With the news that the EU is trying to harmonise wine's appellation system, should the map of wine regions be simplified?
    To comment on this month's poll email editor@decanter.com

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