The World’s Best Wine Lists Awards, established in 2014, are now celebrating their thirteenth year. Organized by the award-winning publication The World of Fine Wine, these awards represent the most prestigious and rigorous global wine list recognition program.
Bringing together a panel of the world’s most respected experts, including Masters of Wine, a Master Sommelier, and a World Champion Sommelier, ensures the utmost credibility and integrity of the competition. Every submitted list undergoes an intensive, independent judging process.
After the resounding success of the 2025 walkaround tasting and gala dinner, we’re delighted to confirm the event will return in 2026 in the same exclusive format at The Savoy, London.
Open to both entrants and readers of The World of Fine Wine, this is a not-to-be-missed night in the wine industry calendar featuring some of the biggest names in the industry, where we will proudly reveal the Global Category Winners from among our esteemed Regional Winners. Guests will also enjoy outstanding wines from across the globe while connecting with fellow enthusiasts, acclaimed restaurant leaders, and international sommeliers.
The 2026 Regional Winners have been announced.
Secure your ticket to the 2026 World’s Best Wine Lists Awards Ceremony
Watch 2025’s highlights here
2026 AWARDS TIMELINE
November 5
Award entries open
December 31
Early bird offer ends
March 13
Entries close
July 15
Regional Winners Revealed Online
September 21
Global Winners Revealed in London
2026 AWARDS TIMELINE
November 5
Award entries open
December 31
Early bird offer ends
March 13
Entries close
July 15
Regional Winners Revealed Online
September 21
Global Winners Revealed in London
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) with the first part of her 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, consultant and wine educator teaching WSET.
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) with the first part of her 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, consultant and wine educator teaching WSET.
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.
2026 Headline Sponsor
Laurent-Perrier
Laurent-Perrier is a family-owned house that has always had a pioneering and innovating role in Champagne, with a distinctive style marked by aromatic complexity and exceptional fullness and length. This style is achieved by focussing on the 3 main wine-making principles of the House: the assemblage of reserve wines, maceration and zero dosage. Laurent-Perrier is the only house whose Prestige cuvée, Grand Siècle, is not single vintage but an assemblage of three in order to recreate a perfect year. Second, the maceration technique, which offers to our Cuvée Rosé champagnes unequalled aromas, revealing the best expression of Pinot Noir. Finally, zero dosage; Laurent-Perrier has been a pioneer in the brut nature category since 1981, revealing the true minerality of the Champagne region’s terroir.
Laurent-Perrier
Laurent-Perrier is a family-owned house that has always had a pioneering and innovating role in Champagne, with a distinctive style marked by aromatic complexity and exceptional fullness and length. This style is achieved by focussing on the 3 main wine-making principles of the House: the assemblage of reserve wines, maceration and zero dosage. Laurent-Perrier is the only house whose Prestige cuvée, Grand Siècle, is not single vintage but an assemblage of three in order to recreate a perfect year. Second, the maceration technique, which offers to our Cuvée Rosé champagnes unequalled aromas, revealing the best expression of Pinot Noir. Finally, zero dosage; Laurent-Perrier has been a pioneer in the brut nature category since 1981, revealing the true minerality of the Champagne region’s terroir.
2026 Partners & Sponsors
Bodega Bouza
Ca'del Bosco
Casa Ferreirinha
Churchill's
Gaggenau
Isole e Olena
Josephinenhütte
Lamole di Lamole
Pyramid Valley
Ridge Vineyards
Weyborne
T-Oinos
Elixir Tormore
