STEVEN SPURRIER - CHAIRMAN


THE 2012 REGIONAL CHAIRS THE AMERICAS


47 years in wine. Steven Spurrier is one of the wine world’s legendary names. In 1973 he opened L’Academie du Vin, France’s first private wine school, and went on to stage the famous Paris Tasting of 1976, which changed the perception of New World wines. In 1988 Spurrier returned to the UK where he became a wine consultant and journalist. Today his roles include a director of The Christie’s Wine Course, which he founded with Christie’s Education in 1982, wine consultant to Singapore Airlines and consultant editor to Decanter. He has received several international awards for wine writing and is one of the wine world’s most respected figures.


ITALY (left to right)


PIEDMONT & SOUTHERN ITALY – RICHARD BAUDAINS 20 years in wine. Richard has spent most of the last 20 years in Italy. He has written on Italian wine for Decanter since 1989 and today contributes to various Italian wine publications and the California-based Italian Wine Review.


REGIONAL ITALY– IAN D’AGATA 26 years in wine. Ian is the past winner of the “Best young Italian journalist” award by the Comitato Grandi Cru d’Italia. He is the author of The Ecco Guide to the Best Wines of Italy and the co-author of the annual D’Agata & Comparini Italy’s Best Wines guide.


VENETO – JANE HUNT MW 37 years in wine. Jane started in the wine trade with Cantine Lungarotti in Umbria before joining John Harvey & Sons in Bristol, becoming a Master of Wine in 1985.


TUSCANY – ROSEMARY GEORGE MW 39 years in wine. One of the first female Masters of Wine, passing her exams in 1979, Rosemary is a frequent contributor to Decanter and the Wine Quarterly Review.


FRANCE


(left to right)


USA – STEPHEN BROOK 29 years in wine. Stephen is a Decanter contributing editor, wri author of more than 30 books, including The Wines of California


CANADA – TONY ASPLER 35 years in wine. Tony was the Toronto Star’s wine columnist fo Wine Atlas of Canada and writes the Canada section of The Win


ARGENTINA – MARINA GAYAN MW 18 years in wine. Originally from Argentina, Marina moved to Lo In 2006 she set up Marina Consulting, a company focused on ide


CHILE AND SOUTH AMERICA, EXCL. ARGENTINA –


PETER RICHARDS MW 12 years in wine. Award-winning writer, broadcaster and Decante as the youngest (and tallest) Regional Chair at the DWWA.


(left to right)


LANGUEDOC ROUSSILLON – ANDREW JEFFORD 23 years in wine. In addition to his Decanter column, Andrew has written several books, and writes on wine, beer, spirits and travel for The Financial Times, Waitrose Food Illustrated and other publications.


BORDEAUX – JAMES LAWTHER MW 27 years in wine. A contributing editor to Decanter, James is an independent wine writer, lecturer and tour guide based in Bordeaux.


BURGUNDY – MICHAEL SCHUSTER 29 years in wine. Michael studied wine tasting in Bordeaux. After


creating an award-winning retail business in the early 1980’s he went on


to work independently as a wine writer and lecturer and now runs his own wine school in North London.


LOIRE – JIM BUDD 23 years in wine. Jim changed careers in 1988 when he went from education to wine. Since then he has written for a wide variety of magazines and newspapers, including Decanter, The Financial Times, The Independent Pocket Wine Guide and A Travellers Wine Guide to France.


ALSACE & CHAMPAGNE – TOM STEVENSON 35 years in wine. Tom has written 23 books and received an impressive 32 literary awards. He has specialised in Alsace and Champagne since the early 1980s.


REGIONAL FRANCE – GERARD BASSET MW 28 years in wine. Gérard is an award-winning sommelier, who co-founded Hotel du Vin. He is currently the Court of Master Som- meliers World Wine President and the only person in the world to be a Master of Wine, Master Sommelier and Wine MBA.


RHONE – JOHN LIVINGSTONE-


LEARMONTH 39 years in wine. Honorary citizen of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, John is author of The Wines of the Northern Rhône. As well as the Rhône, he has written about the wines of the Loire, Beaujolais and Bordeaux, and has had articles published in a broad range of British magazines.


For all our DWWA judges profiles, vis


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