Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2017 winners revealed
See all the winners of this year’s Decanter Asia Wine Awards, including strong performances from Australia, New Zealand, France and several other wine producing countries, and top medals for China and Argentina.
Results of the Decanter Asia Wine Awards 2017 (DAWA 2017) are now published on Decanter.com, with Chinese medals also appearing on sister site DecanterChina.com.
All DAWA 2017 results include wine tasting notes and stockist information on where to buy the medal winning wines across Asia, where possible.
More than 50 expert judges, including Master Sommeliers and leading palates in the Asia region, judged 3,235 wines during DAWA judging week in Hong Kong earlier this month, the most since the competition launched five years ago.
Fifteen wines were awarded the Platinum Best in Show medal – the highest accolade.
Steven Spurrier, chair of the DAWA, said, ‘Originality and terroir are the most important for a wine to win an award.’
Chair Steven Spurrier and Vice-Chair Gerard Basset MS MW in discussion at judging week.
Bhatia Dheeraj, judge at the DAWA, and 2017 winner of the Ruinart Cup in Australia, said that ‘customers feel at ease and less intimidated, and added confidence’ when they see a DAWA medal on a bottle.
The DAWA 2017 Results
Argentina was the front runner at this year’s DAWA, winning three Platinum Best in Show medals, including:
Argentina also won one Platinum Best in Category and four Gold medals.
Australia continued its success from last year’s competition by scooping two Platinum Best in Show medals for the Best Single White-Varietal and Best Chardonnay, both won by McGuigan.
Australia has won Best Chardonnay for the second year, and this year’s goes McGuigan’s The Shortlist Chardonnay 2016.
China had exceptional performance this year, winning one Platinum Best in Show for Best Red Single-Varietal. The medal goes to a Marselan from Grace Vineyard in Shanxi. China received a total of 69 medals.
France remained a strong contestant with Bordeaux, Champagne, and Rhône winning a Best in Show medal each.
Italy also received a top medal for Best Red Italian Varietals for a red wine from Campania, nine Platinum Best in Category medals and six Golds.
Spain won a Platinum Best in Show for Best Red Spanish Varietals which went to a wine from Rioja’s Bodegas Olarra, while Germany won one for Best Dry Riesling.
South Africa shone among Old World contestants by winning a Platinum Best in Category for Best South African Red Bordeaux Varietals.
The USA also scooped two medals for Best USA Red Bordeaux Varietals and Best USA Sweet in Platinum Best in Category.
Where to taste the DAWA winners
New winners will be promoted at both trade and consumer events this year.
Wine lovers will have the opportunity to taste a selection of 2017 winning wines in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul this winter, including the Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter on Saturday 18 November.
DAWA wines will also be featured at retail stores, restaurants and hotels across Asia. Decanter will be hosting further tastings in Melbourne and Beijing in 2018 for DAWA winners.
About DAWA Judging Week
More than 50 top wine experts from across Asia joined our judging panel this year, led by Chair Steven Spurrier, and vice-chairs Ch’ng Poh Tiong, Shinya Tasaki, Gerard Basset MW MS OBE, Michael Hill Smith MW, Andrew Jefford and DecanterChina columnist Li Demei.
Most judges work at top establishments in Asia and joining the judging panel this year was:
- Sonal Holland MW, India’s first Master of Wine
- Tan Ying Hsien, Singapore’s first Master of Wine
- Adrian Zhang, director of Wine at the Park Hyatt Shanghai
- Arnaud Bardary MS, head sommelier at the Black Sheep in Hong Kong.
How the wines are tasted
All of the wines are blind-tasted against their peers and are given individual scores.
Wines that meet the required quality are given a seal of approval (commended), or a bronze, silver, or gold medal.
All gold medal-winning wines within each category are re-tasted and a platinum medal is awarded to the best wine in each category.
Each platinum medal winner from around the world is then pitted against each other to win the Platinum Best in Show accolade.
