Emily Brighton MW is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).

Emily Brighton MW is the head of technical for the UK importer North South Wines, specialising in wine quality evaluation across a global portfolio.

Emily’s passion for wine began whilst reading Law at Bristol University, where she joined the wine society and discovered blind tasting.

She embarked on the MW programme having won the Derouet Jameson scholarship for her WSET Diploma results in 2018. Becoming the current youngest female MW, and, with dual-citizenship, the first Latvian MW.

Emily joined DWWA for the first time as a judge in 2024.

See more judges for the 2025 DWWA.

Shivani Tomar
Shivani Tomar
Awards Manager

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.