Li Demei is a judge at the 2024 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).
Li Demei
Demei Li is a professor and director of Enology Engineering at Beijing Agriculture College and a guest teacher at ESA Angers in France. Demei trained at Chateaux Palmer when he studied Viti-Oeno-Economie at ENITA de Bordeaux. He aims to visit all wine regions in the world and converse with Chinese consumers through the wines he has made.
Demei is the vice-director of the Chinese Wine Technology Committee and a member of the National Wine Judge Board. He is also the vice-president of the Chinese Viticulture Society, and he consults for several vineyards in China, including Helan Qingxue in Ningxia and Tiansai and Silk Road Vineyard in Xinjiang. The wines on which he consulted have won over 500 medals from the most prestigious competitions, including the International Trophy in the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2011, the highest award ever given to the Chinese wine industry.
Having judged extensively in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Europe, Demei also speaks at Wine for Future, Wine Business International, and regional associations, sharing his insights on Chinese consumer preferences. He has been the chairman of the Industry Forum at Prowine Shanghai since 2014.
Demei started writing for the Wine Review of Singapore 18 years ago. Today, he contributes to many prestigious wine publications, including DecanterChina.com. He is the author of the books Wine Communication from a Chinese Winemaker and Wine Grape Varieties and a contributor to the 4th edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine.
Among his personal achievements are the RVF Man of the Year in the Chinese Wine Industry 2012, French Mérite Agricole 2015, and Vinitaly International Award 2019.
He has previously judged at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards and joins the Decanter World Wine Awards for the first time in 2024.
See more judges for the 2024 DWWA.
