A welcome return to our global judging panels
Decanter|September 2022
It was the DWWA’s first time back at full strength since 2019, and it broke all records. An astonishing 18,244 wines were assessed by 237 judges, but the selection process was as tough as ever. Our Co-Chair explains the process of awarding the sought-after medals
ANDREW JEFFORD, DWWA CO-CHAIR
A welcome return to our global judging panels

Great to be back! After two years of dislocated schedules, two years without our vital overseas judges and two years without the social interaction that makes the Decanter World Wine Awards a kind of informal wine-world summit, this 2022 edition of the competition re-established the familiar pattern we last enjoyed, pre-Covid, back in 2019. Everyone loved it: thank you, vaccines and those scientists who worked so hard to create them.

Once again, we broke records with our entry this year: 18,244 wines tasted from 54 countries. Some 3,379 wines went home with no medal, and there were 8,074 Bronzes awarded to ‘sound and satisfying’ wines. Silver medals (where we hope you will find ‘excitement and personality’) numbered 5,900, or 32.34% of the total – but it is with Gold medals (‘outstanding and memorable’ wines) that we get really picky.

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