DWWA judge profile: Alexandre Freguin

Alexandre Freguin is a judge at the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).

Alexandre Freguin

He has since gained experience in many prestigious establishments in France and the UK, including Les Loge in Lyon, L’Enclume in Cartmel, Hôtel Casadelmar in Porto-Vecchio and Restaurant Jean Sulpice in Val Thorens.

He has also been training to qualify as an advanced court master sommelier.

Alexandre was appointed head sommelier at Moor Hall in Lancashire in 2016. He was placed 2nd in the finals of the UK young sommelier of the year 2018, and won the Taittinger sommelier of the Year 2018 in July 2018, having been a semi-finalist in 2017. At the end of 2019, he moved to Chez Bruce as head sommelier until summer 2020.

Alexandre previously served as the wine director for Family Perrin in the southern Rhone and is currently the wine director for his own self-titled company Alexandre Freguin.

Alexandre joined the DWWA for the first time as a judge in 2019.

See more judges for 2026 DWWA.

Born and raised in India, Shivani is the awards manager at Decanter, managing the 300-strong cohort of worldwide judges for the world's largest wine competition, the Decanter World Wine Awards, ensuring a seamless judging process and driving the competitive integrity of the awards. After earning a master’s in wine management from the Burgundy School of Business, she moved to London in 2016 and completed her WSET diploma. While Burgundy holds a special place in her heart, Champagne is her go-to bottle. Alongside her full-time role, she has been dipping her toes into wine writing, relishing the opportunity to bring wine stories to the surface.