DWWA judge profile: Neil Sommerfelt MW

Neil Sommerfelt MW is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).

Neil Sommerfelt MW

Neil Sommerfelt MW is proprietor of NS Wine Consultancy, a business he set up in 2014. He works with a number of different companies including H2Vin Ltd and Philglas & Swiggot, with particular responsibility for their Burgundy En Primeur campaigns. Prior to that he spent 13 years as the buying director of the Jeroboams Group (incorporating Laytons wine merchants). He started his career in 1982 in retail and trade sales at Berry Bros & Rudd, following a degree in geography and a year working and living in France with wine producers in Alsace, Loire and Champagne.

Neil’s year abroad gave him a good grounding both professionally and with the French language. After passing his WSET exams with scholarships and honours, he achieved his MW during the six years he spent with Berry Bros & Rudd. He then went on to become director of Horseshoe Wines/David Baillie Vintners, commercial manager of International Wine Services, and then two spells as a senior buyer for two UK supermarkets: Waitrose (1990-1995) and Safeway (1997-2001).

Neil Sommerfelt MW was first a judge at the DWWA in 2009.

Follow Neil on X @NeilSommerfelt

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