Fancy tasting 18,000+ bottles of wine in a week? Humping and dumping 73,000+ bottles? Herding 250+ international wine judges? Dodging bottle crushers and giant wormeries?

And, after all that, the real question is: what's it all for?!

We go behind the scenes at the world's biggest wine competition, the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), to tackle these very questions and issues.

What even is a wine competition? What's the point? What does it mean when you see a medal or award on a bottle? What really goes on behind the scenes? And how do you start minimising the environmental impact of a giant operation like this?

We dive in with the help of DWWA co-chair Michael Hill-Smith MW plus members of the Decanter team including Events & Awards Director Victoria Stanage, Head of Logistics Simon Wright and Awards Executive Shivani Tomar.

To spice things up, Susie references Peter's 'legendary stamina' (deep breath) and threatens divorce. There's also mention of anaerobic digestion, violent disagreements, a heart-warming wine story from Ukraine, the dirty topic of making money and the world's biggest ever party. All that, and some brilliant wines.

We hope you enjoy the show! Do let us know your thoughts on Instagram or Twitter. Or send us a voice message via Speakpipe.

Here's the link to all the headlines & results from the Decanter World Wine Awards 2022. And to the Guardian piece on the Ukrainian winery that won gold.

As ever, all wine details, links, photos and more are on our website: Show notes for Wine Blast S3 E23: The World's Biggest Wine Competition.

Cheers!

Wines mentioned in this episode

• Georges de la Chapelle Champagne Cuvee Nostalgie Brut NV, France
• Attis Embaixador Albarino 2018, Galicia, Spain
• Hacienda Lopez de Haro Rioja Gran Reserva Rosado 2009, Spain
• Albert Bichot Hospices de Beaune Cuvee Cyrot-Chaudron Clos de la Roche Grand Cru 2020, France
• Madame Veuve Point Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chenes 2019, Burgundy
• Mossi 1558 Impetuoso Classico Gutturnio Superiore 2019, Emilia Romagna
• Bulas Cruz Diwine Douro 2020, Portugal
• Domaine Verzier St Joseph Empreinte 2020, France
• Bisquertt Crazy Rows Carignan 2020, Maule, Chile
• Morrisons Gran Montaña Malbec 2020, Argentina
• Vagabond Wines Chardonnay 2020, Essex, UK