Off we go, into our third decade, and with a spring in our step. The year 2024 saw the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) Co-Chair team swell to five, with the appointment of accomplished wine buyer and consultant Beth Willard; we produced, for the first time, a written document outlining our Judging Guidelines, so that everyone involved in the competition can understand exactly how it works; we refined our price categories.
For the fourth year running, we judged more than 18,000 wines (18,143 this year, in the final reckoning), from 57 different countries. We welcomed 243 judges (from 33 nations) to our judging venue in London’s Docklands, and they included (a new record) 62 Masters of Wine and 20 Master Sommeliers.
Hard-earned rewards
What is it, though, that we do over the six days during which those 18,143 wines are scrutinised? We go on a journey of discovery.
The judges don’t come to London to venerate hierarchies, applaud long-won fame or hymn the virtues of wine’s chosen elect. We’re not here to massage egos or amplify hype. What we do is search out potential quality with open minds and honest expertise.
Above all, we hope to discover new producers and up-and-coming regions, promising grape varieties and precious if little-known styles, and thereby track all the ways in which the wine world might be changing.
Those who enter our competition do so for a reason. They want to make their mark, or assess their own performance against both regional and global benchmarks. Our expert judges approach the wines sensitively and acutely, implying that the cultural context of every wine is recognised and understood; but we judge fairly and rigorously at all times.
Our highest awards are true accolades: just 0.28% of all entries earned a place in our Best in Show selection of 50 this year, with 117 Platinum awards representing a mere 0.64% of entries (a little down from 125 and 0.68% last year) and 643 Gold medals just 3.54% of entries (appreciably down from 705 and 3.86% last year).
Every Gold and Platinum will have been tasted and scrutinised at least three times, and every Best in Show wine four times. (Our scores, as always, relate to the overall cohort of entries.)
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Expect the unexpected
Sure enough, there were discoveries in 2024.
It’s certain that none of the five Co-Chairs would, before the competition, have predicted that our Top 50 Best in Show selection would include a Greek Retsina (yes, really – and very subtle, too) or a white wine from Lazio made from the Bellone grape variety. A Japanese Koshu and a Swiss Petite Arvine expanded our Best in Show horizons further.
We might have expected that it was time to welcome our first Ribera del Duero wine into the Top 50… but not, perhaps, that it was going to be a 12.5% abv white (from the Albillo Mayor variety). Three different white Burgundies, meanwhile, bore witness to the quality of the 2022 vintage in that region.
There are producer discoveries, too – such as Thomas and Julie Collonge of Domaine de Colonat in Morgon, who sailed into the Best in Show selection with not one but two different Beaujolais cru wines.
As always, though, we also salute our most consistent performers. We tasted almost 800 different rosé wines throughout the course of the week, but in the end the still pink wine that fought its way into the Top 50 came from exactly the same cellar as last year’s Best in Show rosé: an astonishing performance for the Château d’Esclans team.
New horizons
Analyse the rest of the results and you’ll keep making discoveries. Ever tasted a red wine from the Turkish variety Öküzgözü? Perhaps it’s time; wines made from that variety won one of Turkey’s impressive three Platinum medals, and one of its five Golds.
How about a Chambourcin from Pennsylvania? Our judges found one meriting Gold with ‘enchanting rose-petal fragrance’ and ‘delectable purity of watermelon and strawberry fruit’ (and just 12% alcohol, too). Have you tried wine from Tasmania? We have two Best in Shows and three Platinums to offer, the island’s best performance to date. Any idea what a Fondillón is? Check out our Spanish Platinum winners to find out.
Maybe, though, you’re just seeking out the best value. The good news here is that we’ve been able to double our Top Value Golds selection, from 10 wines in 2023 to 20 in 2024 – and there’s plenty to be discovered here, too: Fiano, Albariño, Grüner Veltliner, a Kékfrankos blend, Teroldego, and even – wait for it – a Busuioacă de Buhotin (off-dry rosé from Romania’s Cotnari).
Welcome to the DWWA’s wide, wide world of wine.
