Justin Knock MW Becomes Decanter Regional Chair

Justin Knock MW, Oeno’s Chief Wine Analyst, has recently taken up the post of Regional Chair for Australia at the prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). The DWWA is the world’s largest and most important competition which brings together tens of thousands of bottles from across the globe to be judged blind by leading wine experts.

“I have been involved with the Decanter World Wine Awards for over a decade,” commented Australian-born Knock. “I was previously offered this post, but was unable to accept at that time due to my role as UK Director of the California Wine Institute. DWWA is the most prestigious wine competition in the wine world and I’m very happy to contribute my Australian wine expertise in a new way as Regional Chair.”

Each year the wines that are entered are put through a rigorous tasting procedure by an expert panel who are amongst the world’s top sommeliers, wine journalists, and wine buyers. Many, like Justin Knock, have passed the notoriously difficult Master of Wine or Master Sommelier exams. 

The awards are judged by regional category so wines are only tasted by experts in that particular region. Every wine that is awarded a gold medal must be tasted three times by the respective regional panel. The gold medal winners are then tasted again to select the Platinum medal winners, and a final round of tasting reveals the “Best In Show” wines.

Knock will be overseeing the Australia panel alongside the renowned Australian wine writer Huon Hooke. Knock joined Oeno in the summer of 2019 and brings over 20 years of experience and expertise to the fine wine team. As well as sourcing outstanding wines from California and Australia, Knock advises the sales team on all aspects of the fine wine world.

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