Nicholas Paris MW is a judge at the at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA)
Nicholas Paris MW is the director of wine and spirits education for the E. & J. Gallo Winery. He began his career as a fine wine retailer at Zachys in Scarsdale, New York, later assuming the role of auction coordinator for Zachys, and wine specialist at its partner, Christie’s. Charged with bringing fine wines to auction, Paris sampled many of the finest and rarest wines in the world, some of which dated to the 19th century. It was an experience which piqued his interest in gaining a deeper understanding of the complexities of wine and eventually led him to pursue in-depth wine studies. In 2005, Paris became a distributor sales representative with Premier and later a manager at Peerless, today part of Empire Merchants, in New York. Two years later, he joined E. & J. Gallo Winery as an on-premise field marketing manager in the northeast, focusing on fine dining, and was soon promoted to manager of fine wine retail, and later public relations for the region before finding his niche in education. Paris has been recognised as an advanced sommelier by the Court of Master Sommeliers, and certified wine educator and certified specialist of spirits by the Society of Wine Educators. This is the first year Paris has been a DWWA judge.
