DWWA judge profile: Nicholas Blampied-Lane
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Nicholas Blampied-Lane is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).
Nicholas Blampied-Lane
Nicholas Blampied-Lane is originally from New Zealand but left to study winemaking and viticulture in France. After completing his post graduate studies in Toulouse, he travelled the world doing vintages in France, New Zealand, the United States of America, and Australia.
He then became a winemaker at Cloudy Bay Vineyards where he worked for 13 years.
Nicholas had the opportunity to make champagne at Veuve Clicquot initially then Moet et Chandon and Dom Perignon. After 6 years in Champagne, he took up a position in the exciting English wine making scene as the head winemaker for the contract winemaking facility Defined Wine, situated just outside of Canterbury.
In addition, Nicholas provides winemaking consultation to UK wineries and grapegrowers. For more information on his work, take a look at his website.
He joined Decanter World Wine Awards as judge for the first time in 2021.
See more judges for the 2025 DWWA.
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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.