DWWA judge profile: Beatrice Bessi
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Beatrice Bessi is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Beatrice Bessi
Beatrice Bessi has worked in hospitality for over 20 years. In 2016, she moved from Italy where she was a restaurant manager to London.
Thirsty to increase her knowledge of the wine world, she joined Ronan Sayburn MS and his team at 67 Pall Mall. Here she started as Junior Sommelier, working her way up to become Assistant Head Sommelier.
In those three and a half years, she studied for the Court of Master Sommelier qualification.
Currently Beatrice is head sommelier at the Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone, a five star luxury boutique hotel, with a restaurant and a cocktail bar.
She is working towards the Master Sommelier qualification, the WSET Diploma and becoming a WSET Educator.
Beatrice joined the Decanter World Wine Awards as a judge for the first time in 2021.
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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.