Decanter Magazine - the route to all good wine

Latest issue
Subscribe
Renew online
Buy Decanter:
In the UK
In the US
Find your nearest
UK newsagent

News Alerts
Keep up to date with news alerts and newsletters including decantertrade
Enter your email address:
Shopping Mall

Retailers
UK and Europe
Worldwide
Shopping
Property
Recruitment
Books
Accessories & Gifts
Storage & Refrigeration
Tourism

Features
2007 Harvest reports
Book reviews
Richard Mayson's Alentejo diary
Am I a great vintage?
Bordeaux En Primeur
Burgundy 2006
Other Features
Events reports
Events slideshows
Decanter contributors
Sister sites

House to Home
Country Life
Horse & Hound
The Field
Shooting UK
Homes & Gardens
Ideal Home
Yachting and Boating World
All IPC Media sites

Learning Route
Free tasting kit
Links
Wine courses
Wine clubs
The basics
Wine terminology - grapes
How do they taste?
Glossary
Wine Investment
Contact Us

Editorial...support...
sales...marketing...
Decanter media pack

Decanter World Wine Awards
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 eight price bands: up to £4.99, £5-6.99, £7-9.99, £10-14.99, £15-19.99, £20-29.99, £30-39.99,and £40+.
    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.

    Back to top

    Judging on a regional level

    Wines are judged on a regional level to promote a sense of origin. The Decanter World Wine Awards celebrate the diversity of wine, focusing on regional styles and the influence of terroir over bland homogenised styles. Any type of wine from anywhere in the world can enter the competition, whether red, white, rosé, still, sparkling, sweet or fortified. All wines are tasted in regional flights to find outstanding examples of their type. Successful wines from the regional judging go on to compete for international trophies.
    Back to top

    Judging in price brackets

    Wines are judged in price bands. Wines retailing at under £10 compete for best-value trophies. This is so the Awards do not lose sight of their main purpose – to provide practical recommendations for those who buy and enjoy wine.
    Back to top

    Judging by experts

    Decanter has enlisted some of the world’s most respected experts to head up our regional panels. Each Regional Chair is chosen for their specialist knowledge of a specific area and oversees a team of judges invited for their in-depth knowledge. A thorough understanding of regional style is crucial for recognising outstanding quality rather than simply rewarding specially crafted ‘competition wines’.
    Click here to see our full list of regional chairs
    Back to top


    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.

    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.
  • 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 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 £90,000 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 2008
    Start date for wine delivery: 1 February 2008
    Final date to submit entry form: 7 March 2008
    Final date for wine delivery: 19 March 2008
    Judging week: 21–26 April 2008
    Results announced to trade: 20–22 May 2008
    Results published: 3 September 2008


    Back to top
  • Enter now online
    save £10
    Request an entry pack by post
    The Decanter World Wine Awards are kindly supported by
    Back to top
    Members Log in

    Username
    Password
    keep me signed in unless I sign out

    Register free Forgot password?

    Latest News

    Record-breaking Bordeaux 05 Decanter tasting
    Parker rebukes top properties over Bordeaux 2005 prices
    Withnail director drank 200 bottles of fine wine in two weeks
    China to become leading wine producer?
    More news..

    Fine Wine Tracker®
    Decanter Fine Wine Tracker®
    Keep constant track of the changing auction values of your fine wines with this unique service. Up-to-date and historic values of 2,500 of the world’s best wines based on average auction prices from the major auction houses. Prices go back to 1978 in the UK and 1996 in the US

    Bordeaux Index
    119.40 1.8

    Contact us | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy
    © Copyright 2003 IPC Media Limited, All rights reserved