For Decanter’s New Asia Chair, Judging Wine Is a Conversation, Not a Verdict

Edward Ragg MW has built one of the most multifaceted careers in the wine world — educator, critic, competition judge and, unexpectedly, published poet. After reviewing wines for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, Ragg now serves as Regional Chair for Asia at the Decanter World Wine Awards, where he oversees panels evaluating thousands of wines from the region.

In a conversation with Vino Joy News, Ragg explains what really separates judging from criticism, why collaboration matters more than personal preference, and how competitions manage fairness when dozens of panels work simultaneously. He also reflects on what drew him to Decanter, the rising quality of Asian wines, and the advice he believes winemakers most need to hear before submitting a bottle to the world stage.

Q: You’ve reviewed wines for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and now serve as Regional Chair for Asia at the Decanter World Wine Awards. How does the experience of judging in a competition differ from reviewing wines as a critic?

ER: Both in reviewing and judging you are making an informed statement about quality as well as conveying how a wine tastes and at what point in its maturity it is. But in my judging experience, beginning as an Associate at the IWC in 2005 through to Australian regional/national shows and now more recently for the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), you have to assess quality relatively swiftly. You don’t have the luxury of being able to revise notes extensively, as you sometimes have when reviewing.

But judging is also much more collaborative: yes, you are assessing wines personally and writing suitable notes, but you are part of a panel open to achieving consensus as to which wines are medal-worthy and which aren’t, as well as arriving at fair scores.

So judging is a collaborative process relying on several individuals’ experience and on different palates. That’s not just on a panel basis, but also involves interacting, in the DWWA, with a Regional Chair and/or Co-Chair where you can get clarification and different viewpoints from judges often with greater experience (who are also seeing the other medal-winning wines across other panels).

Personally, I really love the judging process, especially at the DWWA, where there are enough panels to ensure time for discussion. It’s a very big show of around 17,000 wines. However, on certain days, there are upwards of 50 panels working. So it means no panel is judging too many wines per day; which is better for the process overall and fosters discussion.

A show of that size also means high Silvers (awarded 94) get re-tasted several times to establish whether they really are Silvers or Golds (95/95+); and all the Golds are also re-tasted to determine Platinum medals and Best in Show medals. You can only do that with a show of that scale.

Wine reviewers, by contrast, even when working in a team of other critics, are arriving at personal conclusions as to quality, albeit benchmarked against international scores. They also, typically, review ‘fine wine’, whereas in large international competitions quality varies considerably.

I’d add not every judging context is the same. For Australian regional/national shows the note is designed predominantly to give feedback to producers on quality; and on a system like ShowRunner (developed by the AWRI) all notes are shared directly with fellow judges and, ultimately, with producers. Whereas the DWWA is using the judges’ notes to convey to consumers the quality, style and potential of any given wine.

So I find I am writing slightly differently when composing notes for the DWWA and, of course, the note allied with the result are critical for consumers and producers alike.

Q: There are many wine competitions around the world. What drew you to Decanter, and why did you decide to take on the role of Regional Chair?

ER: I’ve had a long association with Decanter, going back to enjoying the magazine as a wine consumer myself and attending the very first Decanter Fine Wine Encounter in London over 20 years ago. I also knew Sarah Kemp when she explored how to bring Decanter to China and judged with Steven Spurrier in the former China Wine Challenge. I’ve written for the magazine and reviewed some of the sessions at previous Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounters. So I had a very positive sense of what Decanter represents.

When I finished reviewing for Wine Advocate,I was free to judge Chinese wines in competitions again and Decanter appealed to me because of its professionalism and the international judges it attracts: numerous MWs/MSs as well as other very experienced palates devoted to specific areas. I’m also grateful to Co-Chair Beth Willard who encouraged me to apply.

When I was judging Asia and Australia for the 2025 DWWA I also really enjoyed interacting with other Co-Chairs such as Sarah Jane Evans MW, Andrew Jefford and Michael Hill-Smith MW, as it’s always fascinating to glean insights from highly experienced palates like these.  

I took on the role of Regional Chair for Asia at Decanter’s invitation; and being based in mainland China since 2007, speaking some degree of Mandarin and having been tasting and reviewing Chinese wines for almost 20 years, I was well-placed to take on the role, also given my overall judging experience.  

The 2025 DWWA also exposed me further to wines from Japan, India and Thailand. So I’m happy to be developing experience across the different countries of production relevant to this role.

Q: As Regional Chair for Asia, what exactly does your role involve? Does it focus on wines from or for the Asian market, or is “Asia” more about the judging panel and regional representation?

ER: It focuses on wines produced in Asia and involves working with judges who broadly represent expertise in these countries and regions. So I will be supervising the panels judging the various Asian wines submitted; panel chairing myself but also ensuring the panels judging Asia are operating well. I will be simultaneously liaising with the Co-Chairs. This is especially important where additional opinion is needed or to resolve other issues.

Q: You’ve judged wines from across the world — how do you approach ensuring fairness and objectivity when tasting such a diverse range?

ER: Judging diverse ranges of wines does require having groups of palates experienced in assessing different styles, grape varieties, regions and different winemaking approaches. So there is a strength in numbers aspect.

The best judges are those who harness experience whilst being open to discussion and willing to revise their views; where personal preferences are suspended, as preferences have nothing to with quality.

You also need to shift how to assess quality in relation to specific wine styles. Whilst all wines are judged on length or persistence of flavour, different aspects become more important for assessing quality, as with typicity of regions and grape varieties. Does a wine taste like a Marselan or Malbec should? If you were tasting an Ice Wine from Liaoning, is the wine expressive of that style and how well does residual sugar integrate with flavour? You have to treat wines holistically.

Q: Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to winemakers submitting their wines to international competitions, what would it be?

ER: It’s important to have the courage of your convictions and submit wines in which you believe, which can compete with the very best. Don’t second guess what judges or panels might make of a particular wine or submit a wine you think ‘show worthy’. Because in big international competitions, with a large number of experienced judges involved, wines are not judged with bias; as, for example, lauding less new oak for itself or conforming to certain wine trends merely in vogue.

This is especially important for wineries which do not export or which have not yet achieved recognition. Everyone in the Chinese wine world remembers when Helan Qingxue won the first major award of any Chinese winery at the 2011 DWWA with its 2009 Grand Reserve Jiabeilan. It put China much more on the map and led to the further development of Ningxia’s Helan Shan.

And, as I find as a poet, if you never submit anything, how will you ever know if you could win an award? Conviction, persistence and a drive for quality go a long way.