The Decanter Asia Wine Awards is now open for entries.
The Decanter Asia Wine Awards, the Asian arm of the Decanter World Wine Awards, which is now in its 9th year, was launched today at Vinexpo Asia Pacific in Hong Kong.
The competition, under the chairmanship of Steven Spurrier and Jeannie Cho Lee MW, is open to wines from all over the world but focusses on those which are available in the Asian market.
In the first year, entrance into the Decanter Asia Wine Awards will be limited to a set number of wines. Any wine that is commercially available anywhere in the world can enter, but priority will be given to those wines already present in the Asian market
Key judges are already in place and include vice-chairs Gerard Basset MS MW, named World’s Best Sommelier in 2010, CH’NG Poh Tiong, publisher of the Singapore Wine Review and the world’s first Guide to Bordeaux in Chinese, Michael Hill-Smith MW AM, the first ever Australian Master of Wine, multi-award winning journalist Andrew Jefford, and Shinya Tasaki, chairman of the International Sommelier Association.
Other judges already appointed include Ignatius Chan of Iggy’s in Singapore, LU Yang, Best China Sommelier in 2010, Martin Hao, editor-in-Chief of Wine Press Magazine, and Yvonne Cheung, chef sommelier at Café Gray Deluxe in Hong Kong.
Judging will take place in Hong Kong in September 2012.
Cho Lee and Spurrier said they were delighted to be part of a competition that ‘arrives at the perfect time,’ Cho Lee said.
‘One area that I am particularly excited about is the training that Decanter Asia Wine Awards will provide wine professionals new to judging in large competitions,’ she added.
Spurrier said he was relishing the ‘challenge’ of the new competition, while Hill-Smith said, ‘I fully expect the Hong Kong judging to have the same professionalism [as the Decanter World Wine Awards] but with a distinctly Asian feel and personality that using the best local judges will bring.’
DecanterChina.com, the Asian arm of Decanter.com, which is dedicated exclusively to the Chinese wine lover and opens in the autumn, will be the home of the Decanter Asia Wine Awards and will be the platform for all the results, judging reports and news about the competition.
Enter the Decanter Asia Wine Awards at www.decanterasiawineawards.com.
For all other enquiries contact Christabel Lemke at asiawineawards@decanter.com or call +44 (0) 20 3148 4505.
Written by Decanter.com staff
