DWWA judge profile: Marco Iaccarino
Marco Iaccarino has been a professional sommelier for over 15 years, working in various prestigious hotels in Italy and England. Now he is Head of Wine at the Berkeley hotel.
The DWWA Judges
Read the profiles of the world’s best wine tasters, and find out which judges sit on which panels.
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DWWA judge profile: Beatrice Bessi
Beatrice Bessi works as Head Sommelier at the Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone and is a judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards.
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DWWA judge profile: Amaya Cervera
Amaya Cervera is a freelance wine writer and the founder and editor of the bilingual website, Spanish Wine Lover.
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DWWA judge profile: Anne Burchett
Anne Burchett is a wine marketing and communications specialist, a writer and a lecturer on the business of wine.
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DWWA judge profile: Salvatore Castano
Salvatore Castano is Head Sommelier & On Trade Advisor at Friarwood, a famous boutique in the London. In 2021, he won the Best Sommelier of Europe and Africa Competition organised by ASI.
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DWWA judge profile: Stefan Kobald
Stefan Kobald is an executive head sommelier at the Biltmore Hotel, Jason Atherton’s newest project opening in Mayfair. He is also working towards the Court of Master Sommelier Master Diploma.
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DWWA judge profile: Shane Jones
Shane Jones is a wine and sake educator who can be found teaching accredited programmes in the UK, France and Germany.
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DWWA judge profile: Melania Battiston
Melania Battiston is Head Sommelier and Wine Buyer at Medlar restaurant, in Chelsea, London.
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DWWA judge profile: Michele Fazari
Michele Fazari is Head Sommelier at Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square Private Club, where he is committed to helping others develop a passion for wine.
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DWWA Acting Regional Chair: Michaela Morris
Michaela Morris is an international wine writer and educator, based in Vancouver, Canada. She is a regular contributor to Decanter Magazine.
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DWWA Acting Regional Chair: Michelle Cherutti-Kowal MW
Michelle Cherutti-Kowal MW is an Acting Regional Chair for Tuscany at the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards and a consultant tutor at the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) in London.
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DWWA judge profile: Victoria MacKenzie MW
Victoria MacKenzie MW is Head of Product Development for Wine Qualifications at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
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DWWA judge profile: Cathy van Zyl MW
Cathy van Zyl MW is associate editor of the Platter's South African Wine Guide and an international wine judge.
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DWWA judge profile: Zsuzsa Toronyi
Zsuzsa Toronyi is an international wine marketing expert. Her wine communication work currently focuses on promoting Central and Eastern European wines to the UK market.
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DWWA judge profile: Dominic Smith
Dominic Smith embodies both music and wine, being a professional musician for over 20 years and working as a sommelier at the Clove Club in London.
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DWWA judge profile: Wieteke Teppema
Wieteke Teppema is Commercial Director and Wine Buyer for Drop Wine Shops and App. She spent 10 years working as a sommelier in some of London's best loved Michelin stared restaurants, including Trinity, The Square and The Ledbury.
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DWWA judge profile: Sumita Sarma
Sumita Sarma is an experienced wine buyer and consultant, who entered the wine industry through the broadcasting and journalism route nearly a decade ago.
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DWWA judge profile: Alastair Pyatt
Alastair Pyatt is Head of Buying at Jascots Wine Merchants.
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DWWA judge profile: Adam Porter MW
Adam Porter is a UK based Master of Wine with 15 years’ experience in the wine industry, gained in a variety of buying, marketing and retail roles. He is currently working as an independent consultant, wine educator and wine judge.
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DWWA judge profile: Yolanda Ortiz de Arri
Yolanda Ortiz de Arri is a freelance wine journalist and translator based in the Basque Country.
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DWWA judge profile: Luma Monteiro
Luma Monteiro works as Marketing Executive for Davy's Wine Merchants and runs Wineria, one of the UK’s most successful wine accounts on Instagram (@wineriaofficial).
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DWWA judge profile: Federico Moccia
Federico Moccia is assistant head sommelier at 67 Pall Mall. He is an expert in Italian wines and runs detailed masterclasses exploring the Italian terroir.
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DWWA judge profile: Alexandra Mawson
Alexandra Mawson is celebrating her 16th year in the wine industry where she has worked for independents and grocers in the UK and Australia. Since 2015, she has primarily been buying Australian and New Zealand wines for Waitrose.
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DWWA judge profile: Christopher Martin
Christopher Martin is head of educator training at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET). He has over 16 years of teaching experience and has taught wine and spirit WSET courses all over the world.
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DWWA judge profile: Elsa Macdonald MW
Elsa Macdonald MW is Head of Wine Education at Arterra Wines Canada and the marketing manager for Le Clos Jordanne.
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DWWA judge profile: Joanna Lory
Joanne lory is Portfolio and Marketing Manager at Indigo Wine. This involves managing relationships with winemakers and promoting them to the press and trade through engaging content, visits and events for the independent restaurant and beverage sectors.
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DWWA judge profile: Malu Lambert
Malu Lambert is an award-winning wine writer. She won the title of the Emerging Wine Writer of the Year at the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards 2019.
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DWWA judge profile: Dilyan Kolev
Dilyan Kolev is a partner at a specialist importer company, The Old Cellar. You will find him working with Balkan producers to discover interesting new wines and spirits to introduce to the UK market, organising tasting events and wine dinners or helping customers to build a successful drinks list.
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DWWA judge profile: Magnavai Janjo
Magnavai Janjo has his own importer company, MJ Wine Cellars, which focuses on creating brands for UK retailers, and on importing niche, small batch, hand-crafted wines.
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DWWA judge profile: Aleesha Hansel
Aleesha Hansel is a wine communicator and freelance writer. She is the wine columnist for Red Magazine.
