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DWWA judge profile: Alistair Cooper MW

Alistair Cooper MW is a judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2022.

Alistair Cooper MW

Alistair Cooper MW is an independent British wine writer, judge, consultant and educator with over 20 years of experience in the industry. He writes for JancisRobinson.com and is a regular contributor to Decanter Magazine and Decanter.com, where he writes as a specialist on the wines of South America as well as other countries. He has written for many other publications such as The Spectator, Harpers, Meiningers Wine Business International and Drinks International.

Having studied modern languages at Newcastle University, Alistair moved to Chile and Argentina in 2002 where he lived for 4 years, working for wineries in export management.

Moving back to the UK in 2006, he ventured into all aspects of trading from managing, buying and consulting for wine bars and restaurants to importing and wholesaling wines.

Having passed the WSET Diploma in 2011 as the top performing student, he was awarded the Derouet Jameson Scholarship. He became a Master of Wine in 2017 with his research paper focusing on the region of Itata in Chile.

Alistair now works as a freelance wine consultant and writer, and has appeared on both television and radio in the UK for BBC, as well as in Chile and USA. He is a regular judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards and is a panel chair for the IWSC, as well as President of South America’s most prestigious wine competition, the Cata d’Or Wine Awards. Alistair is in South America several times a year, judging, educating and consulting. He has recently written a guide on the Wines of Latin America. Alistair is also the global consultant wine buyer for the Sydney based Australian company United Cellars, Australia’s largest independent wine merchant.

2016 was Cooper’s first year as a DWWA judge.

Follow Alistair on Twitter @cooper_alistair

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