Decanter (magazine)

Decanter is a wine and wine-lifestyle media brand. It includes a print and digital magazine, fine wine tasting events, a news website, a subscription website - Decanter Premium, and the Decanter World Wine Awards. The magazine, published in about 90 countries on a monthly basis, includes industry news, vintage guides and wine and spirits recommendations.

History and profile
Following the success of wine columns in British newspapers, the Decanter magazine was founded in London in 1975. Decanter is the oldest consumer wine publication in the United Kingdom. According to author Evelyne Resnick, it has a comparable function in the UK as the Wine Spectator has in the United States. As of 2011, it was published in 91 countries, including China. Columnists and regular contributors include several Masters of Wine.

The magazine focuses mainly on wines available in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States. While it is aimed at consumers, a significant part of the magazine's audience consists both of traders and producers. Its contents include news, topical commentary, travel surveys, interviews, analysis and market reports. Unlike other magazines, which focus on many wines from various regions and countries, Decanter issues offer in-depth reviews of wines from two regions at a time. The readers of Decanter are generally younger than the readers of similar publications, with 41% of readers under 45 years of age.

Decanter launched its website, Decanter.com, in 1999. The website is one of the largest globally, based on traffic figures. In 2017 it launched a subscription service called Decanter Premium.

Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) is a wine competition founded in 2004 by Decanter and the late Stephen Spurrier. With over 18,000 wines entered annually from around 60 countries, it has solidified its standing as the world's largest wine competition.

Acclaimed for its rigorous judging process, judging is carried out by hundreds of leading wine experts who evaluate wines based on country, region, colour, style, vintage and price point – to accurately benchmark wine quality.

Judges only evaluate wines based on their areas of expertise. Split into regional and country-specific panels of three or four, judges assess no more than 90 wines per day to avoid palate fatigue. The meticulous process relies on impartiality and all bottles are covered to ensure judges cannot identify the wines.

Decanter World Wine Awards results are published on Decanter.com and alongside Decanter's September issue as a standalone supplement.