Rhys Pender MW is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).
Rhys Pender MW
An educator, wine lover, judge, writer, and grape grower/farmer, Rhys Pender MW has worked in the wine industry since he was a teenager. Pender has pursued his passion for food and wine by completing a professional culinary diploma and all levels of the WSET, and in in 2010 he became Canada’s youngest Master of Wine.
He runs a WSET wine school and consultancy through his business Wine Plus+, and when he’s not travelling around the world he can be found with his boots in the dirt at his small four acre vineyard and winery in the Similkameen Valley – Little Farm Winery. He is a regular contributor to publications such as WineAlign.com, Macleans, Montecristo, SIP and Taste.
Pender judges wine competitions internationally such as the Decanter World Wine Awards and TexSom International Wine Awards, as well as for WineAlign and the British Columbia Wine Awards in Canada.
Rhys Pender MW was first a DWWA judge in 2011.
Follow Rhys on Instagram and X @wineplus
See more judges for the 2025 DWWA.
