The World’s Best Wine Lists Awards created in 2014, now in its eleventh year. Organized by award-winning publication The World of Fine Wine, these awards are the most prestigious and rigorous global wine lists awards program.
Assembling a panel of some of the world’s most respected experts, including Masters of Wine, a Master Sommelier, and a World Champion Sommelier, to guarantee the credibility and integrity of the competition and to put each submitted list through an intensive independent judging process.
The awards evening is open to both entrants and readers of the World of Fine Wine and promises an unforgettable experience as we unveil the Global Category Winners from among our esteemed Regional Winners. An extraordinary opportunity to sample exceptional wines from around the world while mingling with fellow enthusiasts, esteemed restaurant leaders, and international sommeliers.
AWARDS TIMELINE
15th January
Award Entries Open
31st March
Entries Close for Judging
11th July
Regional Winners Revealed Online
16th September
Global Winners Revealed in London
AWARDS TIMELINE
JUDGES
JUDGES
Ch’ng Poh Tiong
Ch’ng Poh Tiong, a lawyer by training, is a highly influential and prolific publisher, writer, consultant, lecturer, and wine judge. The Singaporean is recognised internationally as a Bordeaux specialist and posts daily on his website chngpohtiong.com and on Instagram. His contribution to the world of wine includes founding the International Congress of Chinese Cuisine & Wine and acting as Regional Chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards. He is a columnist for The World of Fine Wine magazine, contributes to academieduvinlibrary.com and to Hugh Johnson Pocket Wine Book, as well as publishing '100 Top Chinese Restaurants of the World' in 2019 and 2020. He somehow found time to obtain a postgraduate certificate in Chinese art from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Elin McCoy
Elin McCoy is an award-winning journalist and author, focusing on the world of wine. She is a wine and spirits columnist for Bloomberg News, where she writes a bimonthly column for their global news wire and a monthly column for Bloomberg Markets, and a columnist at Zesterdaily.com. She is also U.S. Editor for The Wine Conversation, the international podcast launched by Sarah Kemp, former publisher of Decanter. McCoy’s most recent book is The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M Parker Jr and the Reign of American Taste, which garnered international praise and has appeared in seven foreign editions. She is also the coauthor of Thinking About Wine and is currently working on a new book set in California. McCoy serves as a wine judge in American and international competitions, appears on radio and television, and is a frequent speaker at wine festivals and industry events.
Francis Percival
The World of Fine Wine’s food editor Francis Percival read history at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before embarking on a career in professional food. After stints as a chef and fishmonger, he now dedicates his time to writing on food and gastronomy. He was recognized as Columnist of the Year in the 2013 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards, and Food and Wine Writer of the Year in the 2015 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards. He lives in London.
Heidi Mäkinen MW
Heidi Mäkinen is a Master of Wine (MW) and President of the Finnish Sommelier Association with a career built in the restaurant industry in the UK and her homeland in Finland. She is a now based in Helsinki where she works as a portfolio manager, and wine educator teaching students of all levels at the Wine School Perho PRO.
James Tidwell MS
James Tidwell, Master Sommelier (MS), is a writer, speaker, educator, and wine event producer. He is co-founder of the world’s leading wine education conference, TEXSOM, and producer of one of the country’s leading wine competitions, the TEXSOM International Wine Awards. He is a writer and editor, a member of the editorial committee of the Classic Wine Library, consultant on The World Atlas of Wine 8th Edition, and freelance journalist. He was nominated for the Person of the Year in Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s 2019 Wine Star Awards.
Ch’ng Poh Tiong
Ch’ng Poh Tiong, a lawyer by training, is a highly influential and prolific publisher, writer, consultant, lecturer, and wine judge. The Singaporean is recognised internationally as a Bordeaux specialist and posts daily on his website chngpohtiong.com and on Instagram. His contribution to the world of wine includes founding the International Congress of Chinese Cuisine & Wine and acting as Regional Chair of the Decanter World Wine Awards. He is a columnist for The World of Fine Wine magazine, contributes to academieduvinlibrary.com and to Hugh Johnson Pocket Wine Book, as well as publishing '100 Top Chinese Restaurants of the World' in 2019 and 2020. He somehow found time to obtain a postgraduate certificate in Chinese art from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Elin McCoy
Elin McCoy is an award-winning journalist and author, focusing on the world of wine. She is a wine and spirits columnist for Bloomberg News, where she writes a bimonthly column for their global news wire and a monthly column for Bloomberg Markets, and a columnist at Zesterdaily.com. She is also U.S. Editor for The Wine Conversation, the international podcast launched by Sarah Kemp, former publisher of Decanter. McCoy’s most recent book is The Emperor of Wine: The Rise of Robert M Parker Jr and the Reign of American Taste, which garnered international praise and has appeared in seven foreign editions. She is also the coauthor of Thinking About Wine and is currently working on a new book set in California. McCoy serves as a wine judge in American and international competitions, appears on radio and television, and is a frequent speaker at wine festivals and industry events.
Francis Percival
The World of Fine Wine’s food editor Francis Percival read history at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before embarking on a career in professional food. After stints as a chef and fishmonger, he now dedicates his time to writing on food and gastronomy. He was recognized as Columnist of the Year in the 2013 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards, and Food and Wine Writer of the Year in the 2015 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards. He lives in London.
Heidi Mäkinen MW
Heidi Mäkinen is a Master of Wine (MW) and President of the Finnish Sommelier Association with a career built in the restaurant industry in the UK and her homeland in Finland. She is a now based in Helsinki where she works as a portfolio manager, and wine educator teaching students of all levels at the Wine School Perho PRO.
James Tidwell MS
James Tidwell, Master Sommelier (MS), is a writer, speaker, educator, and wine event producer. He is co-founder of the world’s leading wine education conference, TEXSOM, and producer of one of the country’s leading wine competitions, the TEXSOM International Wine Awards. He is a writer and editor, a member of the editorial committee of the Classic Wine Library, consultant on The World Atlas of Wine 8th Edition, and freelance journalist. He was nominated for the Person of the Year in Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s 2019 Wine Star Awards.
Achaval Ferrer
Achaval Ferrer has one single passion: to craft world class terroir-driven wines from Argentina. Achaval Ferrer produces the most critically acclaimed Malbecs from Mendoza, sourced from single vineyards with low yielding, old ungrafted vines. Achaval Ferrer’s premium reputation as a creator of elegant and atypical Malbecs, was forged in 1998 when Santiago Achaval, Manuel Ferrer and the prestigious Italian winemaker Roberto Cipresso realised an ambitious dream - to create world class Argentinean wine from high altitude vineyards in Mendoza. Their first release, Finca Altamira 1999, was the first Argentine wine to receive five stars from Decanter and the following vintages continue to impress knowledgeable palates across the globe. With vineyards planted in 1910, 1921 and 1950, and at 730-1110m above sea level, the wines’ potential is set in the vineyard and the team remain focused on terroir. The winemaking philosophy that guides Gustavo Rearte and his team, is based on three main pillars: old ungrafted vines, deliberately low yields and minimal intervention.
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses is an award-winning, fourth generation family cheesemaker established in 1932 in rural Lancashire. Butlers combine traditional skills, love and innovation to hand make specialist British hard, blue and soft cheeses with milk from its own herd of cows and goats. Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses makes some of Britain’s best-loved cheeses, from classic Lancashire like ‘Sunday Best’, to ‘Kidderton Ash’ goats and creamy, soft ‘Button Mill’. Butlers is best known for flagship brand ‘Blacksticks’, a two-star Gold Great Taste Award winner with its creamy, smooth texture, unmistakable orange colour and irresistible blue bite. Butlers supply all major UK supermarkets and independent retailers. Its online cheese store is a one-stop shop for all your cheese eating and gifting needs, delivered nationwide, direct from the dairy, straight to your front door.
Josephinhütte
INSPIRED BY THE HISTORICAL ART OF GLASSMAKING Our role model: the former Josephinenhütte. A Silesian glassworks in the Sudeten Mountains, founded in 1842 by Count Leopold von Schaffgotsch and named after his beloved wife Josephine. The glassmaker Franz Pohl, head of Josephinenhütte, was a gifted creator and artistic pioneer who went beyond the boundaries of what was thought possible in glassmaking at the time. Thus, were created glass objects of technical sophistication and absolute beauty, which made the historic Josephinenhütte one of the most significant glassworks in Europe and the New World. Three friends, fascinated and inspired by the value of true craftmanship, want to bring Josephinenhütte back to life. The dream is to create glasses that are delicate and light, sophisticated and exquisite and which re-establish the exceptional Josephinenhütte standards. The keystone to completing this vision: Kurt Josef Zalto, possibly the most gifted glass designer of our time. He should, and has, become the creative director of Josephinenhütte. This is the new Josephinenhütte, committed to traditional craftsmanship and absolute sophistication: The World’s finest glasses.
Sainte Marguerite en Provence
Since it was founded in 1977 by the Fayard family, Sainte Marguerite en Provence has never ceased to reinvent the codes of rosé, while at the same time honouring work that respects the vines and the environment. In 2022, on the basis of shared values, the Fayard family and Pernod Ricard joined forces to continue the development of the House.
Achaval Ferrer
Achaval Ferrer has one single passion: to craft world class terroir-driven wines from Argentina. Achaval Ferrer produces the most critically acclaimed Malbecs from Mendoza, sourced from single vineyards with low yielding, old ungrafted vines. Achaval Ferrer’s premium reputation as a creator of elegant and atypical Malbecs, was forged in 1998 when Santiago Achaval, Manuel Ferrer and the prestigious Italian winemaker Roberto Cipresso realised an ambitious dream - to create world class Argentinean wine from high altitude vineyards in Mendoza. Their first release, Finca Altamira 1999, was the first Argentine wine to receive five stars from Decanter and the following vintages continue to impress knowledgeable palates across the globe. With vineyards planted in 1910, 1921 and 1950, and at 730-1110m above sea level, the wines’ potential is set in the vineyard and the team remain focused on terroir. The winemaking philosophy that guides Gustavo Rearte and his team, is based on three main pillars: old ungrafted vines, deliberately low yields and minimal intervention.
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses is an award-winning, fourth generation family cheesemaker established in 1932 in rural Lancashire. Butlers combine traditional skills, love and innovation to hand make specialist British hard, blue and soft cheeses with milk from its own herd of cows and goats. Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses makes some of Britain’s best-loved cheeses, from classic Lancashire like ‘Sunday Best’, to ‘Kidderton Ash’ goats and creamy, soft ‘Button Mill’. Butlers is best known for flagship brand ‘Blacksticks’, a two-star Gold Great Taste Award winner with its creamy, smooth texture, unmistakable orange colour and irresistible blue bite. Butlers supply all major UK supermarkets and independent retailers. Its online cheese store is a one-stop shop for all your cheese eating and gifting needs, delivered nationwide, direct from the dairy, straight to your front door.
Josephinhütte
INSPIRED BY THE HISTORICAL ART OF GLASSMAKING Our role model: the former Josephinenhütte. A Silesian glassworks in the Sudeten Mountains, founded in 1842 by Count Leopold von Schaffgotsch and named after his beloved wife Josephine. The glassmaker Franz Pohl, head of Josephinenhütte, was a gifted creator and artistic pioneer who went beyond the boundaries of what was thought possible in glassmaking at the time. Thus, were created glass objects of technical sophistication and absolute beauty, which made the historic Josephinenhütte one of the most significant glassworks in Europe and the New World. Three friends, fascinated and inspired by the value of true craftmanship, want to bring Josephinenhütte back to life. The dream is to create glasses that are delicate and light, sophisticated and exquisite and which re-establish the exceptional Josephinenhütte standards. The keystone to completing this vision: Kurt Josef Zalto, possibly the most gifted glass designer of our time. He should, and has, become the creative director of Josephinenhütte. This is the new Josephinenhütte, committed to traditional craftsmanship and absolute sophistication: The World’s finest glasses.
Sainte Marguerite en Provence
Since it was founded in 1977 by the Fayard family, Sainte Marguerite en Provence has never ceased to reinvent the codes of rosé, while at the same time honouring work that respects the vines and the environment. In 2022, on the basis of shared values, the Fayard family and Pernod Ricard joined forces to continue the development of the House.