Pierre Vila Palleja is a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA)

Pierre Vila Palleja

Since 2015 he has worked as a journalist for Revue du Vin de France.

Pierre works as Restaurant Manager and Head Sommelier at Le Petit Sommelier in Paris, which has received several awards under his leadership, including best award of Excellence – Wine Spectator since 2013, Guide Lebey – best wine list of France 2016 and Magazine “Terres de Vins”– best wine list of France 2018.

Since May 2011, he has also been Sommelier at 2 Michelin Star Restaurant Lasserre in Paris.

Pierre has been successful in a number of sommelier competitions, including being awarded Best Young Sommelier of France Competition in 2008, 2nd place in Best Sommelier of France competition in 2016 and 2018 and Finalist in Best Craftman of France – Sommelier in 2015 and 2018.

He joins DWWA for the first time as a judge in 2019.

Natalie Earl
Natalie Earl
Regional Editor for France (excluding Bordeaux & Burgundy)
It was during her time studying for a French and Italian degree that Natalie began her foray into wine: tutoring French in exchange for WSET lessons in her spare time (she now realises who got the better deal!). She moved to the Languedoc after graduating to work for a vineyard tour company, before returning to the UK in 2016 to join the tastings team at Decanter.