Agnese Gintere is a judge at the 2025 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).
Agnese Gintere
Agnese Gintere is one of the leading wine experts in the Baltic States, with 18 years of experience in the wine industry.
Her journey began as a wine waitress at Riga’s first wine bar, where she was mentored by Raimonds Tomsons, the current ASI World Sommelier Champion. Under his guidance, she entered the Latvian Sommelier Championship, an experience that, despite disappointing results, fuelled her determination to deepen her wine knowledge. This led her to earn the WSET Level 3 Advanced in Wines and Spirits qualification.
In 2017, Agnese became the first female winner of the Latvian Sommelier Championship. She later completed the prestigious WSET Diploma in Rust, Austria, and is currently a Stage 2 student at the Institute of Masters of Wine.
Throughout her career, Agnese has held various positions in restaurants, wine importers, and distributors. After beginning as a wine waitress, she rose to become head sommelier at Vīna Studija, one of Latvia’s leading wine importers and retailers with five locations at the time. She then transitioned into a key-account role as a HoReCa sales representative for another importer. Today, Agnese works alongside Raimonds Tomsons at Barents Wine Collectors, a curated fine wine importer that has received accolades such as the Baltic Wine & Drinks Award for Best Premium Wine Retailer in the Baltics and Best Value-for-Money Retailer in Latvia.
Agnese has been an active member of the Latvian Sommelier Association since 2018, where she has served on the board and contributed to the development of the Latvian wine scene. She has helped organize courses, masterclasses, guest lectures, and sommelier competitions in both Latvia and the Baltics. Agnese is also deeply involved with the local winemaking community, particularly in the development and assessment of hybrid grape varieties and fruit wines. Her role includes consulting and evaluating wines before they enter the market.
In 2022, Agnese launched the YouTube channel No Sediment, now one of the largest wine education platforms in the region, with over 26,000 subscribers and 2 million total views. In 2023, she expanded No Sediment to include a podcast, featuring prominent guests such as Gaia Gaja, Andrew Jefford, Michael Schuster, and Peter Liem. The podcast is available on YouTube and all major podcast platforms.
Follow Agnese on Instagram and YouTube.
See more judges for the 2025 DWWA.
