The English wine magazine with the self-definition "Decanter - the world's best wine magazine" was founded in London in 1975. It is part of the IPC-Media magazine group. Since 2007, the journalist and TV commentator on wine, Guy Woodward, who previously worked for the magazine, has been editor-in-chief. The content includes news from the wine and spirits industry, a wine guide and wine reviews according to the 5-star system by Michael Broadbent, who also provided a monthly contribution for a long time.
The magazine is published monthly and is distributed in over 90 countries worldwide. Every year, one personality is voted Decanter Man / Woman of the Year. The previous winners have all been legends of the wine industry, including Piero Antinori, Ignacio Domecq, Len Evans, Angelo Gaja, Hugh Johnson, Alexis Lichine, Robert Mondavi, Christian Moueix, Àlvaro Palacios, Émile Peynaud, Jancis Robinson, Max Schubert, Paul Symington and André Tchelistcheff.
The paper edition is supplemented by the online portal Decanter.com. There, there is a biennially updated "Decanter Power List" with the 50 most influential personalities from the wine industry worldwide. Users can vote for their candidates. Since 2004, the international wine competition "Decanter World Wine Awards" has been held annually, with the well-known wine critic Steven Spurrier as Chairman. In 2012, the largest ever number of 14,119 wines was tasted by over 200 renowned jurors, including 54 Masters of Wine and 11 Master Sommeliers. The first tasting will take place in flights of 12 bottles of wine each, divided by region and by type(red wine, white wine, rosé, sparkling wine, dessert wine). Eight price categories are distinguished: Up to 4.99, up to 6.99, up to 9.99, up to 14.99, up to 19.99, up to 29.99, up to 39.99 and over £40. Depending on the result, the wines are classified into the groups no award, commended, bronze, silver and gold. In a second round the focus is on Regional Trophies. Here the Gold Medal Wines, per type and region are compared.
Finally, in the third round, the winners of the second round compete against each other for each wine type, whereby the ultimate International Trophies are determined. A wine can therefore receive three awards at once. The regions are the countries Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Austria and the USA. As the only exception, France is divided into the regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Alsace, Languedoc, etc. Several countries are grouped together in the two large regions Central & Eastern Europe and Middle East, Far East & Asia. A special region is Port & Madeira. The regions are handled by permanently assigned jurors who have precise knowledge and experience of their region. See also under Awards and Wine Events.
