Jury 2024

ADAR Vicepresident, Dealul Mare area, expert taster. Doctor in Oenology.

Engineer. Graduate of the Faculty of Horticulture at USAMV Bucharest, graduate of the Master’s program in Vitivinicultural Performance Technologies, Management and Marketing. Ph.D. student – currently at the same university in the winemaking sector. Technical Director and Oenologist at Pietroasa Research Station.

President of ADAR (Romanian Authorized Wine-Tasters Association). Oenologist engineer.

Milan-based Italian wine journalist and wine critic, editor-in-chief of Winemag.it – one of the most read italian wine magazine – and contributor to wine-searcher.com. Davide Bortone is also a judge for major european international wine competitions such as Mundus Vini. He is involved in the selection of Italy’s leading wine importers. Davide is well known in Europe for his pragmatic approach and his independence as a journalist and wine critic.

• Journalist and PR professional with 30 years experience in the global wine industry
• With his own PR agency xenos-comm he now helps wine producers especially from Eastern European countries to get better known in markets like Germany, Benelux, UK and Scandinavia
• Member of wine competitions all around the world
• Ambassador for Eastern Europe for Concours Mondial de Bruxelles
• He writes as an author for various magazines, e.g. Vinum, Meininger’s Wine Business international and others

Certified state taster of the Republic of Moldova. Secretary General of the Oenologists Union from the Republic of Moldova. Director of ONVV (National Office for Vine and Wine of the Republic of Moldova). European sommelier ACE Member. 

Wine-journalist. Between 2001 and 2014 he was editor in chief at Connaisseur and Vinul.ro wine magazines. FIJEV member. ADAR (Romanian Authorized Wine-Tasters Association) member. WSET Level 3. Organizer of several wine competitions and wine events. “Benchmark Taster” award – Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2019. Riedel Ambassador for Romania. Marketing sales consultant.

Graduate in communications and public relations. Author of the wines blog www.finewine.md. European Sommelier Association Member.

Oenology and Ampelography lecturer at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Iasi. Ph.D. in Oenology and Viticulture. Member of ADAR (Romanian Authorized Wine-Tasters Association).  Juror in various national and international Wine Contests.

Professor at University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Iași. Scientific Secretary of the OIV Oenology Commission. OIV taster and delegate to numerous international wine competitions under the auspices of the OIV. Expert wine taster since 1997. Corresponding member of the Romanian Academy.

Degree from the Faculty of Horticulture at the University of Agricultural Sciences – Oenology Specialization. Professional Member of the Romanian Authorized Winetasters Association (ADAR). Member of the Wine Industry Inspection Board for the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture. Has her own consulting company Oenoconsult Com SRL.

• Wine market expert and chief winemaker for wineries in Bulgaria and Turkey
• Member of the Union of Enologists in Bulgaria
• Juror in various international wine competitions
• Master of Science in enology and viticulture

Ph.D. in oenology (Faculty of Horticulture of IANB- Bucharest). Master in Sensory Analysis of Wines at the Department of Oenology in Geisenheim. Former Senior Agricultural Officer at the Directorate for Vine and Wine of the Ministry of Agriculture of Cyprus. Former Scientific Associate at the Cyprus University of Technology – Department of Viticulture and Winemaking. Founder of the Oenophile Association of Cyprus. Founder and Honorary President of the Cyprus Sommelier Association. Member of ADAR (Association of Authorized Tasters Romania). Member of the Gastronomos Committee (Great-Taste-Awards- Cyprus).

DipWSET and Weinakedemiker title (first from Romania) obtained at Weinakademie, Rust, Austria. He owns a master in viticulture and winemaking at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV) from Bucharest, Romania. Collaborator for wine blogs vin2.ro and viesivin.ro, member of #winelover community.

ADAR (Romanian Authorized Wine-Tasters Association) Vicepresident. Engineer in food technology. Expert Authorised wine & spirits taster. Winemaker and Wine creator. Wine consultant and winery management Advisor.

Founder (2007) and editor-in-chief Vinul.ro, the only monthly wine magazine in Romania. Organiser of hundreds events which promote local wine varieties (Vinul.ro Days, Feteasca Circle, Spring in Rosé, Autumn in Red, Summer in White etc). Journalist, blogger, activist of traditional gastronomy, coauthor of “Romanian Gastronomy in the XXIst Century”). Founder of “Revolutiei Plescoi”, a concept which wishes to bring romanian gastronomy in the public eye.

Neslihan Ivit is the Head of Unit Oenology and Methods of Analysis at the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV). She manages the OIV’s scientific and standardization activities within the Oenology Commission, the Sub-Commission of Methods of Analysis, and groups of experts in technology, microbiology, and specifications of oenological products. Neslihan is a wine professional with international work experience in numerous grape and wine-producer countries. She worked as an oenologist in France, Spain, Chile, Turkey and the USA. In Canada, she worked as a Winemaking and Innovation Specialist, providing consultancy services to the local wineries in the province of Nova Scotia.

FIJEV member. Freelance wine journalist since 1998, actually writing for Japanese press agency „Kyodo News”, wine magazine „Winart“, Japanese newspaper in Germany „Doitsu News Digest“ and others. Freelance translator for various companies and projects since 1985. Since 2001 specialized in wine tours, buyer’s visits, and travel agencies. Lecturer for wine seminars since 2005. WSET Diploma, Weinakademiker. www.junkoiwamoto.com. 

Consulting oenologist for IOC (Institut Oenologique de Champagne) in the southern Rhône Valley since 2000.

Juror in several international and national wine tasting competitions.

Master of Wine (since 2020) holds also an BSc in hospitality management and an MBA. After a career as a sommelier with award of the best restaurant wine list in Finland 1999 and completing his WSET Diploma in 2003, he worked in sales and product management positions at various wine importers in Finland. Pasi has partner and board member experience and has consulted in an advisory role on strategy, customer relationship management and start-up company development. He has also represented Finland in Nordic sommelier championships and international blind tasting competitions. in 2019 started as the commercial director at Viinitie Oy.

Commercial Director at Vaziani Company LTD.

International wine judge, Georgian Wine Ambassador.

Deputy director, wine & tourism industries team leader within the Moldova Competitiveness Project (founded by USAID and Sweden). Professional Master in Law, Economics and Management of the Wine Industry, Montesquieu-Bordeaux IV University, France. General Secretary of the Association of European Sommeliers (ASE). PhD in Law. University Lecturer. Moldova State University.

Oenological Engineer with over 25 years of experience in the wine industry. ADAR member and certified wine taster. Has worked with and for global wine brands/producers: Antinori, Taittinger, Gallo, Freixenet, Peter Lehmann. Currently General Manager of Via Viticola SRL and Coordinator of the Oenologist team of the Vintruvian Estates group which owns the wineries: Viticola Sarica Niculițel (producer of Caii de la Letea brand), Crama deMatei (producer of Prince Matei brand), Crama Mennini SRL.

Judith is a seated member of the WBA think tank which seeks to assist in realising the digitisation of the wine sector.

Judith is a board member of the Academy of Chocolate (AoC), a grand jury member of the AoC awards and delivers educational training.

She has written about wine tourism for a number of publications including the Huffington Post, and has a social presence at This Foodie Travels.

She has been a Master of Wine since 2017. She lives in Oslo, Norway. She started working in the wine business in 2005 for Pernod Ricard and continued to work for some of the main wine importers in Norway with both global brands and fine wines. In 2015, she founded her company Heyday Wines together with Scandinavia’s leading wine group Anora, where she is managing director. In 2023, she became a Certified Cava Educator (The Regulatory Board of Cava) and completed The Advanced Course of Jerez (The Regulatory Council of Jerez). In addition to her daily work as a wine importer, Aina is also a freelance journalist, writing for some of the largest media outlets in Norway.

Anne-Wies has obtained the degree Register Vinoloog of the Wine Academy® in The Netherlands, followed by successfully completing the international WSET Diploma level 4 and obtaining the title Weinakademiker with her thesis about the ‘Development and Future of Wine Tourism in Transylvania’. She is a member of the ‘Verenigde Vinologen Nederland’ (United Wine Specialists of The Netherlands) the FIJEV (International Federation of Wine and Spirits Journalists and Writers) and the Circle of Wine Writers. She passionately shares her insights and knowledge on Wine & Food on her own website Anne-Wies.nl, and as a guest writer on several other wine & food websites.

Graduated in Tourism, has a post-graduate degree in “Local and Regional Development” and holds a Master Business Administration in Tourism Destination Management. He is a certified IEFP trainer. He teaches at various professional and higher education establishments in the areas of Tourism, Gastronomy and Wine. He is “Madeira Wine Educator”, he is likewise “Porto Wine Educator”. He is responsible for promoting the Gastronomy and Wines product of the Regional Tourism Entity of Porto and Northern of Portugal, where he operates. He is the Technical Coordinator of the Wine Route and Enotourism in Porto and Northern Portugal. He is a micro-entrepreneur, and owner of the only Portuguese sparkling wine store in Portugal. He is the President of the Association of Tourism Professionals of Portugal. He is also President of the Abbot’s Gastronomic Confraternity. He is a member of the Marketing Council of the Wine Commission of Trás-os-Montes Wines. Writes opinion articles for “O Escanção” Magazine everything about wine, wine service and gastronomy, and write also to “Vinho Grandes Escolhas” Magazine, about wine tourism. He is also a jury for several national and international wine competitions.

Has a specialization in Physical-Chemical Analysis Laboratory Techniques. In 2011, she finished the Environmental Engineering degree. She has a Master’s in Viticulture and Enology Engineering / Vinifera Euromaster, from Instituto Superior de Agronomia (University of Lisbon). In 2012 she founded the winery project “Casal Martins”, where until today, in addition to management, she performs technical tasks in oenology. She is also a trainer and teacher. With a strong activity in the Associação dos Escanções de Portugal (national Sommelier Association), she is an official taster of the Tasting Board in the Tejo Region Certification Wine Entity.

Vice President of ADAR (Authorized Wine Tasting Association) – Dobrogea Region. Member of the DOC/IGT/Varietal wine classification – Dobrogea. 12 years of wine cellar top-management – wine production and marketing (2004-2016). 6 years of management consultancy in wine production and sales (2016-2021). Wine juror in multiple national and international contests.

Mihai Popescu is a seasoned wine professional with a WSET Level 4 Diploma and Wine Judge experience at Sélections Mondiales des Vins Canada for four years. Mihai co-founded the Salon des Vins Roumains Montréal, organizing the first Romanian Wine Fair in North America and promoting over 100 Romanian wines across Canada. As a wine consultant, he manages sales for renowned Romanian brands in the SAQ wine monopoly network.

For over more than two decades Janna is an all over wine expert, wine-entertainer and journalist.

In 1996 she got her certificate VINOLOOG of the Dutch Wine Academy, and a certificate of the Gastronomy Academy.

She became one of the first Dutch woman winewriters of columns, articles and winetravels for newspapers (De Telegraaf en Spits and Financial Times), internet and glossy magazine’s.

She is a member of the BOARD of the F.I.J.E.V. and is judge in international wine competitions. She runs her own platform www.NOMOH.nl.

Vice-President of the City of Anadia. President of the wine route of the Bairrada region, from 2006 to 2021, currently President of the Wine Routes of Portugal and President of the General Assembly of the World Wine Tourism Association. DWM partner in the coordination of the Portugal Wine Trophy (wine competition) and member of the jury of several Portuguese and international wine competitions (Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and South Korea).

ADAR Member. Co-founder of the wine blog vin2.ro – stories with wine. #winelover community Ambassador for Romania. Collaborator Vinul.ro – wine magazine. Organiser of Rose Wine Contest. Initiator of the course Wine at School- Romanian varieties course. Co-founder Winelover Romania Association.

Professional Sommelier (Italian Sommelier Assoc.) President of OSR 2011 -Romanian Sommeliers Organization.

Oenologist, wine consultant, wine and spirits taster, ADAR member.

Founder of GlassofBubbly.com and ChampagneCollectors.com, Christopher has spent the last ten years as a wine professional helping to discover and sharing his passion for amazing sparkling wines from across the globe.

A regular judge at international wine competitions and speaker at celebrated wine events, he is also a top contributor for Vivino with over 6500 wine reviews.

Working alongside key industry professionals to include Master of Wine’s and Master Sommelier’s, his recent project sees him aiding smaller wineries to enter the UK market.

Sparkling Wine Consultant and Director of Glass of Bubbly.

Engineer. Certified taster. ADAR (Romanian Authorized Wine-Tasters Association) member. Supplier of wine-making techniques. Consultancy in vineyard management. Wine producer.

Student of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest, Faculty of Horticulture and of Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Agrifood and Environmental Economics

Experienced winemaker and an enthusiastic supporter of Romanian Wine culture, Adrian Dolghin dedicated his career of almost 20 years to quality wines and continuous development of this industry. ADAR (Association of Authorized Tasters Romania) Member and Food Industry Technology Engineer, currently proudly signing ‘Caii de la Letea’ and all the other wine brands in Viticola Sarica Niculitel portfolio, part of Vintruvian Estates Group.

ADAR (Romanian Authorized Wine-Tasters Association) member.

Certified ADAR taster, sommelier, liquor store manager. Experience in HORECA.

Wine producer.

Master Student in Wine Technologies at University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest.

Coming from tourism industry where she has been working since 2006, Carmina discovered wine during her travels around the world and decided to study it. She holds WSET Level 3 Wines Certified qualification. In 2020 she launched Winesday.ro, a project made around wine where she writes articles about wine and organizez themed wine tastings. Winesday App is a mobile app that puts on Romania’s map everything that is of interest for wine lovers (wineries, accommodation units, restaurants, wine shops, wine bars, wine courses organizers and wine events organizers).

Engineer. Graduate of the Faculty of Horticulture from USAMV Bucharest,
2018. Assistant winemaker at The Iconic Estate (2018-2021), currently
Oenologist Engineer at Domeniile Valea Calugareasca. ADAR Member
(Association of Authorized Tasters from Romania).

Sommelier

Graduate of the Faculty of Horticulture of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Iasi. PhD in Viticulture and Oenology. Member of the Association of Authorized Tasters of Romania (ADAR). Specialist inspector of ONVPV Iasi.

Authorised ADAR (Romanian Authorized Wine-Tasters Association) wine taster. Viticulture, oenology and fruit growing consultant. Develops viticulture and fruit growing technical projects.

Co-owner OENOCONSULT COM – oeno-viticulture consultancy