The DAWA 2016 judging panel

The Decanter Asia Wine Awards (DAWA) was set up in 2012 to offer wine lovers across Asia a reliable source of wine recommendations. Since the launch of the competition, Decanter has recruited a judging panel of Asia’s most influential and expert wine palates.

Coming from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Korea, and Taiwan, the DAWA 2016 judging panel consists of over 40 judges, ranging from sommeliers to wine writers, wine educators to importers. The panel is chaired by Steven Spurrier, and led by a group of experienced and internationally renowned vice-chairs including Shinya Tasaki, Li Demei, Andrew Jefford, Michael Hill Smith MW, Gerard Basset MS MW, and Ch’ng Poh Tiong. The entire panel’s extensive experience of the wine industry in Asia makes them ideally placed to taste and score the wines entered into the Decanter Asia Wine Awards in order to give recommendations to wine lovers across Asia.

Over 2,500 wines are entered into the Decanter Asia Wine Awards each year. Wines are then carefully organised in flights, according to style and price. All wines are rigorously blind tasted and each wine is discussed individually by a panel of judges. Wines can win commended, bronze, silver, and gold awards. The very best of the gold medal winners from a particular region are awarded regional trophies, and the very best of the regional trophies go on to win international trophies.

The results are released on Decanter.com in October each year and are supported by a series of retail promotions and special events. Results include detailed wine information and are published alongside available stockist information so that readers wanting to enjoy the wines themselves know where to purchase them.

Read more about the credentials of individual Decanter Asia Wine Awards judges.