May 16th – 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
- 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.”
