Twenty wines were awarded a prestigious ‘Best in Show’ medal at the Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2018 (DAWA 2018), with Georgia and Moldova sharing the limelight alongside Australia, France, Italy, New Zealand and Portugal.
More than 50 expert judges, including Masters of Wine and leading palates in the Asia region, gathered in Hong Kong earlier this month to blind taste 3,138 wines at DAWA 2018 judging week.
Andrew Jefford, one of six vice-chairs at the awards, said: “There is no tasting I go to every year that is better organised than this one, so it’s really easy to look for excellence which is the job of any tasting.”
Andrew Jefford has been a judge and vice-chair in the Decanter Asia Wine Awards since the launch of the competition in 2012.
Li Demei, who has been judging at DAWA since 2014 and who was also a vice-chair in this year’s competition, said: “There is no question that the quality of wines being entered continues to get better.”
The number of wines deemed worthy of a Best in Show medal was five more than in 2017.
Best in Show medals at DAWA 2018
Australia took the lead at this year’s DAWA, winning seven Best in Show medals. These included:
- Campbells’ Merchant Prince Rare Rutherglen Muscat
- Wolf Blass’s 2015 White Label Chardonnay
- McGuigan’s 2007 Bin 9000 Semillon
New Zealand scooped two Best in Show medals for the Saint Clair Pioneer Block 20 Cash Block Sauvingnon Blanc and Wild Earth Pinot Noir and two Platinum medals for the Amisfield Pinot Noir and Rochburn Pinot Noir.
France continued its strong performance from last year with Languedoc-Roussillon Rhône, Provence and Alsace each being awarded Best in Show medals. The region of Jura also received its first top accolade in the competition. Champagne earned two Best in Show medals, both for Piper-Heidsieck wines.
For a full list of medals, visit www.decanter.com
