13th September 2016, London – The 12th annual Louis Roederer International Wine Writers Awards (LRIWWA) ceremony, held in the dramatic Fine Rooms in the Royal Academy of Arts, brought together last night the great and the good of the Wine Trade to celebrate the winners of the 2016 edition of the internationally acclaimed competition.
The evening opened with introductory speeches from Richard Billett, Managing Director of Maisons Marques et Domaines, Charles Saumarez Smith, Secretary and Chief Executive of The Royal Academy of Arts, Michel Janneau, Executive Vice President of Champagne Louis Roederer and Chairman of the LRIWWA judges, Charles Metcalfe.
Brut Premier en magnum flowed all evening, with the addition of wines from the LRIWWA sponsors available all night from the bar. The wines were Domaine Faiveley Mercurey Framboisière 2014, Domaines Ott* Blanc de Blancs 2013, Ramos Pinto 10 yr old Tawny Port and Pio Cesare Barolo 2012.
Champagne Louis Roederer and the 2016 judges are delighted to announce this year’s winners, as below. A huge congratulations again to all winners and shortlisters!
CHAMPAGNE LOUIS ROEDERER ARTISTRY OF WINE AWARD 2016
– Frances Andrijich
– Leif Carlsson
– Herbert Lehmann
– George Rose
– Matt Wilson
– Jon Wyand
CHAMPAGNE LOUIS ROEDERER EMERGING WINE WRITER OF THE YEAR 2016
– Lauren Eads
– William Kelley
– Emily O’Hare
– Zachary Sussman
– Kelli White
RAMOS PINTO ONLINE COMMUNICATOR 2016
– Jane Anson
– Andrea Frost
– Andrew Jefford
– Yolanda Ortiz de Arri
– Ronald Washam
– Alder Yarrow
PIO CESARE FOOD AND WINE WRITER OF THE YEAR 2016
– Nina Caplan
– Dave McIntyre
– Lucy Shaw
– Qin Xie
DOMAINE FAIVELEY INTERNATIONAL WINE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016
– The History of Wine in 100 Bottles – Oz Clarke
– The Wine Hunter – Campbell Mattinson
– Thirsty Dragon: China’s Lust for Bordeaux and the Threat to the World’s Best Wines –Suzanne Mustacich
– My Kind of Wine – John Platter
– Exploring & Tasting Wine: A wine course with digressions – Berry Bros & Rudd
DOMAINES OTT INTERNATIONAL FEATURE WRITER OF THE YEAR 2016
– Jane Anson
– Felicity Carter
– Michael Edwards
– Anne Krebiehl MW
– Margaret Rand
CHAMPAGNE LOUIS ROEDERER INTERNATIONAL WINE COLUMNIST OF THE YEAR AWARD 2016
– Jon Bonné
– Michael Fridjhon
– Andrea Frost
– Andrew Jefford
– Guy Woodward
In exceptional years, the judges agree on an individual whose efforts impressed the panel enough to cause debate, resulting in an additional Award being granted –The Chairman’s Award. Such was the case this year, with Campbell Mattinson’s highly lauded book, The Wine Hunter. He received a magnum of Cristal 2007 and a trophy.
The Judges
CHARLES METCALFE – CHAIRMAN
Charles’ past careers as a tour guide, security guard, freelance cook, investment analyst and opera singer were the perfect preparation for co-founding Britain’s second consumer wine magazine (Wine International) and the International Wine Challenge. He served a 12-year term as drinks expert on Richard & Judy’s ‘This Morning’ and has presented wine and food on many TV shows. He is also a wine consultant to the Corporation of London. His book, ‘The Wine & Food Lover’s Guide to Portugal’, won the 2008 Louis Roederer International Wine Writer’s Book Award, and he is Honorary President of the Association of Wine Educators.
Charles often tastes (and spit out, of course) 100 or more wines per day, all over the world. He is based near Gatwick, with a wife, children, two cats and a varying number of chickens, and still sings in the shower, the local village hall and, occasionally, at wine tastings.
TIM ATKIN MW
Tim Atkin MW is a wine writer, presenter and photographer. He writes for Harpers, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Woman and Home, Jamie Magazine, Imbibe, Decanter and The World of Fine Wine, is a co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge and one of the Three Wine Men, as well as his own award-winning website, timatkin.com.
Tim has won over 30 awards for his journalism and photography, including the 2015 Louis Roederer Feature Writer of the Year Award. In 2012 he was recognised as one of the ten most influential people in the wine world by Wine Intelligence. Tim enjoys collecting photography, keeping fit and singing. A fluent French and Spanish speaker, he was a European Union fellow on the Paris-based Journalists in Europe programme in 1993. In 2001 he passed the Master of Wine examination, winning the Robert Mondavi Award. He is a Caballero del Vino, a Chevalier du Tastevin and a member of the Ordre du Bontemps.
FIONA BECKETT
Fiona Beckett is an award-winning food and drink journalist, author and web publisher with 25 years of experience of writing for the UK’s top newspapers and magazines.
She started her career on the features desk of Today and has since spanned the world of tabloid and broadsheet journalism, writing weekly columns for the Times, Guardian and Daily Mail, and regular features for The Telegraph and The Sunday Times food pages. In addition she is the contributing editor of Decanter magazine and a contributor to the wine magazine Le Pan. She has also written 23 books on a subjects ranging from beer to student cooking. In 2014 she was voted Blogger of the Year by the IWSC and was ranked no. 8 in the UK’s top 10 food and drink journalists by the UK Press Gazette.
She is recognised as one of the UK’s leading experts on food and drink pairing with her own award-winning website matchingfoodandwine.com. Fiona also has a natural wine blog Wine Naturally.
SARAH JANE EVANS MW
Sarah Jane Evans MW is an award-winning journalist who began writing about wine (and food, restaurants, and chocolate) in the 1980s. She started drinking Spanish wine – Sherry, to be specific – as a student of classics and social and political sciences at Cambridge University. This started her lifelong love affair with the country’s wines, food and culture, leading to her appointment as a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino for services to Spanish wine.
In 2006 she became a Master of Wine, writing her dissertation on Sherry and winning the Robert Mondavi Winery Award. Currently vice-chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine, Sarah Jane divides her time between contributing to leading wine magazines and reference books, wine education and judging wines internationally.
BILLKNOTT
Bill Knott started his career as a chef before co-founding the food and drink magazine Eat Soup in 1995. He has since written for a host of magazines and newspapers including the Daily Telegraph, BBC Good Food and BA High Life and – presently – The Gannet in the Financial Times. He is also the author of Con Gusto. He has written the monthly Masterclass column in Restaurant magazine for the last ten years, featuring a host of top chefs cooking their favourite dishes. He has led food and wine tours to Champagne, Bordeaux, the Rhône, the Loire and Sicily, and writes the wine lists for the two Modern Pantry restaurants in London. Bill has also featured frequently on television and radio, frequently as a judge on The Great British Menu as well as on Radio 4’s The Food Programme and Today. When not travelling the world in pursuit of great food and wine, or as an ambassador for the international humanitarian charity Action Against Hunger, he lives in West London, surrounded by cookbooks. He never skips lunch.
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For further information about the competition, or the awards presentation, please contact:
Marinel FitzSimons Champagne Louis Roederer Brand Manager / Maisons Marques et Domaines Ltd
T : 020 8812 3380 E : marinel.fitzsimons@mmdltd.co.uk
www.theroedererawards.com www.louis-roederer.com