Wine Style Asia Award 2009

Judging

The Judging System

The Scoring System is based on 100 points system. Not more than 45% of the total submission will be awarded a medal. Below score ranges are the minimum for a wine to be considered for the respective medals. The judges have the full discretion to give their final recommendations.

> 85.0 points          –           Consideration for Gold (not more than 10% of the total submission will be awarded gold)
> 77.5 to 85.0        –           Consideration for Silver
> 70.0 to 77.5        –           Consideration for Bronze

All gold medals will qualify for the Trophy round of judging where the Top of the categories will be chosen by all the judges to be awarded Trophies.

Assessment

The judges will be looking out for quality wines which express a good and appropriate flavour intensity, balance between the key elements in the wine and a good length and quality in aftertaste. Wines will additional vow factors would stand out further.

The assessment will be based on:

Sight

•	Clarity
•	Colour

Nose

•	Bouquet
•	Genuineness
•	Quality

Taste

•	Intensity
•	Genuineness
•	Quality
•	Finish
•	Appeal

Overall Impression

•	Typicality
•	Quality

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Distinguished Panel of Judges

The panel of judges consists of both international and regional judges. The former (which comprises Master of Wine like Kym Milne and Lisa Perrotti-Brown) brings to the panel their international judging experience while the latter will be able to represent the expectations of the markets. The Asian judges comprise of Asian wine sommeliers, wine educators and wine journalists.

Heading the WSAA panel is wine guru John Chua, a well-known international wine judge and accredited lecturer for L'Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux for Asia.

The panel consists of:

•	Kym Milne MW
•	Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW
•	Subhash Arora
•	Fumiko Arisaka
•	Suzie Wu
•	Tran Ngoc Chau
•	Roderick Wong
•	Derrick Lim CWS CS
•	Cletus Lim

Chief Judge

John Chua

A wine veteran, John is a holder of numerous international wine certificates and an accredited lecturer for l’Ecole du Vin de Bordeaux (Bordeaux Wine School) for Southeast Asia.

Since 1991, John has trained 27 fully-qualified sommeliers to deliver the first-class service that is expected on board Singapore Airlines. He was also a consultant and trainer on wine and spirits for the cabin crew of various airlines. John has been involved in wine appreciation advisory in many prestigious country clubs.

In 1996, John was inducted into the International Wine Judging Panel and had been judging in international and regional wine competitions since. Some of the major competitions include:


Selections Mondiales Concours Mondiale de Bruxelles China Wine & Spirits Competition Catad’Or Hyatt Mondial du Pinot Noir Malaysian Winex-1	Mundus Vini Internationale Weinakademie Gmbh Michelangelo International Wine Awards Spirits and Wines Asia Wine Style Asia Award Korean Wine Challenge Sydney International Wine Competition

John was named “Wine Personality of the Year” by The Wine Review in June 1994. He runs his own consulting firm - Chinelli Consultancy, and his objective now is to share his knowledge and hands-on experience on viniculture and local cuisines and make it a rewarding and an enriching experience for all.

Kym Milne MW

Kym first made a name for himself in New Zealand where, over a nine-year period from 1984, the last five as Chief Winemaker, he was involved with the restructuring of the Villa Maria Group.

He spent the latter part of 1992 as a freelance contract winemaker in Hungary and France before joining the UK-based International Wine Services in 1993, where he was appointed Director of Winemaking Operations, managing winemaking projects in a dozen or more countries around the world.

After 19 years living abroad, Kym and his family returned to Australia in late 2002 and he now conducts his own winemaking consultancy, Global Wine Solutions, from a base in the Adelaide Hills.

Kym has a first degree in Applied Science (Oenology) from Roseworthy Agricultural College. He took the British Master of Wine (MW) examination in 1991 and was one of the few examinees to pass all phases at the first attempt.

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

A growing passion for wine experiences enticed Lisa to pursue wine studies at London’s Wine and Spirit Education Trust. She worked in sales and marketing roles in the London wine trade for more than twelve years.

When she moved to Asia, Lisa worked as a wine buyer for one of Japan’s top fine wine importers and a part-time wine educator for Tokyo’s Academie du Vin. Next stop - Singapore. Lisa achieved her Master of Wine qualification joining an elite group of only 277 wine experts to have passed this rigorous series of exams in the world. Lisa is Singapore’s only MW and one of just three in Asia.

Lisa writes for eRobertParker.com, reporting on Asian wine markets, key events and assessing the wines available in Asia. Most recently, she has taken up the position of Contributing Wine Editor for Cuisine & Wine Asia Magazine.

Lisa was born and raised in Maine, USA.

Subhash Arora

Subhash is President of the Delhi Wine Club which primarily promotes wines and educates people about wine. Through www.delhiwineclub.com, India's first wine webzine, he organises wine events which includes presentations, seminars, tastings and food and wine pairing.

With his expertise, Subhash has been invited to judge at various international wine competitions, namely; Vinitaly, Mundusvini, India Wine Challenge, Concours Mondial, BT More, South African Airways Wine Selection etc.

Subhash also organises wine delegations, for importers and journalists to visit major wine exhibitions and events. A wine journalist himself, he travels extensively to Italy, France, Germany, and Spain to visit the vineyards.

Subhash is the Editor of delWine, an online newsletter. He is also the India Correspondent of Meininger's Wine Business International, and a contributor to many international wine magazines and reports. Subhash co-authored ‘Italian Wine Guide 2006’, which was commissioned by the Italian Trade Commission to showcase Italian wines that are available in India.

Subhash is conferred the prestigious ‘Order of the Star of the Italian Solidarity’ by the President of the Italian Republic.

Prior to joining the wine business, Subhash was an IT entrepreneur. He has an MS and MBA from University of Minnesota, USA.

Fumiko Arisaka

As the founder, publisher and editor of wine magazine Vinoteque for over 20 years, Fumiko is Japan's premier wine journalist. With her expertise and background, Fumiko also translates specialist wine books into Japanese and writes her own books on the subject.
With the increasing popularity of wine today, Japan Airlines consulted Fumiko on selecting and providing passengers with appealing in-flight wine choices. She now advises JAL's approximately 1,000 flight attendant sommeliers in this area.

Fumiko has served as a judge at various wine competitions, and has received frequent invitations to vineyards for wine tasting and reviews.
Fumiko was awarded the Chevalier de Tastevin, Commendarie de Bordeaux, by France, Germany, and Portugal. She is an adviser to Academie du Vin Tokyo and a director of Aqua Minerale association in Tokyo. She is also a member of the Academie international du Vin in Switzerland and the FIJEF.

Suzie Wu

Suzie has been a wine journalist for 13 years. She has contributed numerous articles to the fine-dining and luxury lifestyle publications in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. With the proliferation of nightlife and wine culture in the Chinese cities, Suzie’s articles became a weighty medium in educating and updating wine enthusiasts in these regions.

Suzie’s articles are not merely reviews and critics pertaining to wine quality, diversity and preferences. She has voiced her concerns on standards in wine category, vintage region and grape variety proportion in her articles, which had influenced the authorities to define and enforce strict classification in wine.

Since 2005, Suzie has published 9 books about wine, and launched her website www.wushuxian.com which is a very helpful and informative portal for her readers and a huge community of Chinese-educated wine lovers.

Suzie studied at the Bordeaux at Bordeaux wine university and school. She has spent much time learning, visiting and tasting wine at the chateaus in the Bordeaux and Bergerac Wine regions.

Tran Ngoc Chau

Tran Ngoc Chau is the director cum editor-in-chief of FBNC Television ( Financial and Business News Channel) in Ho Chi Minh City. He is also senior editor of the Saigon Times Group. He has a Ph. D in journalism and mass communications from the University of Washington, USA. He is a member of the organizing board for the Vietnam Wine Festival 2007 and also a judge for the international wine contest 2007 at Vinitaly.

Roderick Wong

Roderick Wong started his wine career in 1993 and has been involved in various sectors of the industry from wine retailing, distribution, to consultation, education and judging.

Trained by the Court of Master Sommelier in the United Kingdom, Roderick holds an Intermediate Certification with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. He is the Founder & President of The Sommelier Association of Malaysia (SOMLAY). Roderick organised the first Malaysian Wine Challenge in 2001, and receives regular invitations to judge in international wine competitions. He is an active participant in Sommelier events worldwide.

Roderick was the winner of the “Malaysia Wine Personality of the Year” for two consecutive years in 2007 and 2008. He keeps himself abreast with the developments of the wine world by visiting vineyards in Australia, Italy, Spain and France.

Since joining Hilton Kuala Lumpur in 2003, Roderick has trained over 185 F&B service members and manages a team of 8 wine agents. He is also an F&B consultant and trainer in some of the regional Hilton branches.

Derrick Lim CWS CS

Derrick is the youngest Singaporean who was certified by both the Court of Master Sommeliers UK and Society of Wine Educators US. He currently works as a freelance wine writer and international wine judge besides his commitment as Chef Sommelier of The St. Regis Singapore.

Derrick has participated on judging panels in local and regional wine competitions such as, Wine Style Asia Awards, St. Emilion Wine Challenge, American Express Tower Club Annual Wine Competition, Alsace Meet Asian Culinary Challenge and others.

He has also contributed articles in a wide range of magazines locally and internationally, which include - Prestige, The Peak, Wine and Dine, Moods.sg, Appétit, L’Officiel Paris, Citi Belle, Cuisine and Wines, SC Global, JIJI Press, The Executive and others.

His passion for wine aside, Derrick has created many signature cocktails for various establishments and brands. In his free time, he consults for some boutique wineries around the world, which has successfully proven his capability in products marketing.

Derrick is currently writing his first book, “Champagne, the Asian Interpretation”, to be published in late March 2010, where all proceeds will be donated to “Make A Wish Foundation”.

Cletus Lim

Cletus is the first Singaporean to hold a Diploma in Wines and Spirits (Merit) from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET), London. He is currently an Associate member of the Institute of Wines and Spirits (IWS) U.K. His wine training included a stint at the Ecole du Vin du Conseil Interprofessional du Vin du Bordeaux (CIVB), France.

Cletus has years of supervisory experience in customer service. He is presently a sommelier and beverage trainer for an international airline. He is also a certified tutor and an internal assessor for the WSET Advanced Certificate course.

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