The judges have been revealed for London Wine Fair’s Judgement of London, which takes place on the first day of the show next week. Judgement of London pays homage to the late Steven Spurrier’s landmark Judgement of Paris, but with an updated format; judges will taste pairs of European icon wines with their non-European equivalents; eight pairs of white wines, followed by eight pairs of red wines.
The judges have all been selected from the UK wine industry and are considered leaders in their fields; more than 70% are either Masters of Wine or Master Sommeliers. They are:
Elliot Awin, Partner at ABS Wine Agencies
Isa Bal MS, Consultant Sommelier, Trivet Restaurant
Richard Bampfield MW, Wine Consultant
Stephen Brook, Contributing Editor of Decanter and Author
Alistair Cooper MW, Writer, Consultant and Judge
Dawn Davies MW, Buying Director, Speciality Drinks
Gearoid Devaney MS, Director of Flint Wines and Cabotte
Sarah Jane Evans MW, Wine Writer
Tina Gellie, Content Manager for the Decanter brand
Aleesha Hansel, Wine Writer
Daniel Illsley, Founder of Theatre of Wine
Anne Krebiehl MW, Wine Writer
Kathrine Larsen-Robert MS, Head of Fine Wine, Enotria
Adam Lechmere, Publishing Director, Académie du Vin Library
Regine Lee MW, Indigo Wine, Managing Director
Margaret Rand, Wine Writer, General Editor of the Pocket Wine Book
Laura Rhys MS, Head of Wine – Communications, Education and Style, Gusbourne
Jancis Robinson MW OBE, Wine Writer of The FT and JancisRobinson.com
Patrick Schmitt MW, Editor-in-Chief, The Drinks Business
Matt Wilkin MS, Director, H2Vin
Clem Yates MW, Founder of English Pink rosé
Judgement of London has been curated by Ronan Sayburn MS, CEO of The Court of Master Sommeliers, alongside Sarah Abbott MW, MD of Swirl Wine Group; they will run the tasting and present the results on Centre Stage with Hannah Tovey, Head of London Wine Fair on Tuesday, 21st May at 16h45.
Head of London Wine Fair, Hannah Tovey, commented: “We are delighted with the response we have had from those invited to join our judging panel. The fact that we have such a high calibre of judges and that this tasting has become something of a ‘hot ticket’ is testament to the longevity of the original 1976 Judgement and appetite for this updated version almost half a century on.”
