Judges - Global Fine Wine Challenge

Meet our Judges

Wines entered are curated & evaluated by 5 of the most prominent and well known Wine Judges in the New World – and 4 leading Masters of Wine for 2021, including:

Bob Campbell MWNew Zealand

One of New Zealand’s most experienced wine critics, judge and educator. He is wine editor of Taste magazine and the Air NZ In-flight magazine Kia Ora as well as being New Zealand editor for Gourmet Traveller Wine. Over 22,000 people have attended his wine certificate courses in New Zealand, Australia, Asia and Europe

Michael FridjhonSouth Africa

South Africa’s most highly regarded international wine judge, the country’s most widely consulted liquor industry authority, and one of South Africa’s leading wine writers. Michael also teaches and directs the Wine Judging Academy run in association with its Graduate School of Business.

Huon HookeAustralia

One of Australia’s major wine writers and critics, Chair of the Vin de Champagne Awards, judge of the Australian Winemaker of the Year and a number of other major wine competitions. Huon tastes wines blind and writes for Decanter, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Sydney Morning Herald and occasionally The World of Fine Wine.

Patrick ComiskeyUSA

Patrick Comiskey is a Senior Correspondent for Wine & Spirits Magazine, where he serves as chief critic for the wines of the Pacific Northwest. He is also an instructor on the wine business at UCLA, and a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Lucky Peach, Food & Wine, Bon Appetite, Decanter, The Hollywood Reporter, the Robb Report, and other publications.

Christopher WatersCanada

Christopher is the co-founder and editor of VINES Magazine and author of the weekly wine column, Waters & Wine. Christopher is head judge of the InterVin International Wine Awards and a WSET-certified instructor and Wine Appreciation Co-coordinator at the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.

Eduardo BrethauerChile

Eduardo is one of the foremost journalists in the Chilean wine industry. He is owner and Wine Editor of VITIS Magazine, the only technical and international wine magazine in Chile, and Associate Editor of several international wine magazines.

Toni Paterson MWMaster of Wine

Toni Paterson MW is one of Australia’s leading wine commentators. Paterson, at the age of 28, passed the rigorous Master of Wine (MW) examinations in 2001 on her first attempt and was awarded the prestigious Madame Lily Bollinger Medal for tasting excellence. Paterson has judged at many international and local wine shows including, but not limited to, the Decanter World Wine Awards, International Wine Challenge & International Wine and Spirit Competition.

Andrea Pritzker MWMaster of Wine

Andrea Pritzker is the founder of Wine inTuition a wine education & corporate events business in Sydney Australia. She is also an independent wine consultant, Certified Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) educator, writer and public speaker. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, she obtained a diploma in Wine Commerce in Bordeaux, France, before moving to Sydney, Australia in 2003.

Alison Eisermann MWMaster of Wine

Alison is a Sydney based Master of Wine working primarily in wine education roles with WSET in Sydney and Hong Kong and the Institute of Masters of Wine. Alison has been a wine judge for over 25 years judging throughout Australia, the US and UK International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) and as a Panel Chair for the past 12 years at the International Wine Challenge (IWC). Alison has travelled extensively through the worlds key wine regions.

Andrew Caillard MWMaster of Wine

Andrew Caillard MW was born and educated in the UK. Worth School (1978). He is a wine marketing graduate of Roseworthy Agricultural College, South Australia (1984) and passed the Master of Wine examination (winning the prestigious Madame Bollinger Medal for excellence in wine tasting) in 1993. In 1989 he founded Langton’s Sydney and played a key role in establishing Langton’s as Australia’s leading wine auction house. Langton’s Classification of Australian Wine, now in it 8th edition, is regarded as the reference for wine collectors. Since 2009, Andrew has worked with Pinnacle Drinks a division of Endeavour Drinks Australia’s largest retail drinks group. His role as Fine Wine Principal involves sourcing, new product development and advisory work across the business. In 2020 he moved into a non-exclusive consultancy position allowing him to work outside Endeavour Drinks on other projects including media and wine industry projects.

Andrew is a longstanding columnist and tasting panellist for Australia’s Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine. He chairs Shanghai’s Wine 100 competition, judges at the Japan Wine Challenge and has participated in various shows including the Adelaide, Barossa and Margaret River Wine Show’s provenance prize. He is the author of the reference books Penfolds ‘The Rewards of Patience’ (now In it’s 8th edition), Marques de Riscal A Travel through Time and Imagining Coonawarra – the story of Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2011 he was the recipient of the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award. Andrew also holds the rare distinction of being a ‘Baron of the Barossa’. In addition to his multi-media work as an author, wine critic and historian Andrew Caillard is the associate producer of the Australian Academy Award winning feature documentary, Red Obsession; a film that explores the economic shift in power from the west to the east though the prism of Bordeaux’s wine trade with China. Another documentary Blind Ambition, about four Zimbabwe Sommeliers in their quest to compete in the World Blind Wine Tasting Championship in Burgundy, is now complete with plans to release it in early 2021.