DWWA judge profile: Dimitar Nikolov

Dimitar Nikolov is a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA)

Dimitar Nikolov

Dimitar Nikolov has 14 years’ experience in the wine industry as a sommelier, wine buyer, wine judge, wine writer and educator. Starting his career as a sommelier for a major hotel chain and at a restaurant in Chicago, Nikolov then returned to his native Bulgaria to work for Metro Cash & Carry, firstly as the wine buyer for Bulgaria, and then was promoted to category manager for Metro Cash & Carry’s entire Russian Federation operations, which saw him move to Russia.

After five years with the company, Nikolov was appointed to a top management position at a wine importer specializing in Hungarian wines. Upon returning to Bulgaria, he created apollowine.com, an online wine shop where he offers a selection of boutique wines from Bulgaria. He holds qualifications from the ISG Chicago, the WSET advanced certificate, and is currently studying for the WSET diploma.

Dimitar is the co-founder of Wine and Spirits Academy Bulgaria (WSAB) located in Sofia, Bulgaria where he is teaching WSET courses.

Dimitar first judged at DWWA in 2011.