Meet Paz Levinson, DWWA 2027 Resident Co-Chair

For Paz Levinson, Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) is familiar territory. She has spent more than a decade judging at the competition, assessing flight after flight alongside her fellow judges. In recent years, she has served as Regional Chair for Argentina and the Rest of South America (excluding Chile).

In 2027, she will take that involvement a step further. The decorated Argentine sommelier has been appointed Resident Co-Chair, a one-year role that brings her into the team responsible for the competition’s final decisions.

The Resident Co-Chair rotates annually, sitting alongside Co-Chairs Andrew Jefford, Beth Willard, Michael Hill Smith AM MW and Ronan Sayburn MS. Together, the team oversee every stage of judging and act as its final arbiters. Levinson succeeds Caro Maurer MW, the first to hold the position in 2026.

As befits a sommelier, she would mark the moment at the table. ‘I would love to celebrate with Champagne,’ she says, ideally at the restaurant of a chef she admires, with a bottle of Olivier Horiot’s Métisse Brut Nature. She describes Horiot’s wines as ‘profound, balanced and subtly oxidative, with a strong gastronomic character’.

From Buenos Aires to Paris

Levinson began her career in her native Argentina, working as head sommelier at a number of top-end Buenos Aires restaurants, including Restó, while completing a BA in literature. She earned her professional sommelier diploma from the Centro Argentino de Vinos y Espirituosas (CAVE) in 2006 and also taught there for five years.

She became the first Argentine to pass the Court of Master Sommeliers’ Advanced Sommelier examination and was named Best Sommelier of Argentina in 2010 and 2014. In 2016, she finished fourth at the A.S.I. Best Sommelier of the World contest – held, fittingly, in Mendoza.

By then, she had already followed her nose to France. Levinson worked alongside Marco Pelletier at Hotel Le Bristol’s three-Michelin-star restaurant in Paris before joining Groupe Pic. There she became the first woman to hold the role of Executive Beverage Director across Anne-Sophie Pic’s restaurants.

Away from the table, she co-founded Argentina Reloaded, a series of events showcasing Argentine wine in the world’s gastronomic capitals. She also co-wrote Crónicas del Vino Argentino (2023), a portrait of the country’s winemakers drawn from a road trip across its wine regions.

A sommelier’s perspective

Her years on the restaurant floor are central to what she brings to the role. ‘I believe I can bring the perspective of someone who works with wines across different restaurants and markets, where the constant pursuit of quality, value for money and relevance is essential,’ she says.

Choosing which new releases earn a place on a wine list, she explains, requires ‘curiosity, an open mind, and, above all, a commitment to quality’. Much the same is true at the judging table. She is also ‘particularly interested in the current evolution of natural wines’, especially in France.

South America’s progress

Through her work judging South American wines, Levinson has watched the continent’s progress first-hand.

‘Ten years ago, I remember it was relatively easy to eliminate wines or find entries that did not quite meet the standard for a medal,’ she says. Today, she finds the wines more balanced and better made.

Brazil has particularly impressed her. Of its entries, she says, ‘many are genuinely exciting wines that surprise the entire panel’. The country’s DWWA 2026 results underline that progress: Brazil won 225 medals, including its highest-ever totals of Golds and Silvers.

For Levinson, the joy of judging lies in that sense of discovery: finding wines that ‘may otherwise go unnoticed’.

‘Our role is to recognise their quality, bring them to light and give them the visibility they deserve.’ In 2027, the panels for Argentina and the Rest of South America (excluding Chile) will be led by two Acting Regional Chairs. Regine Lee MW is managing director of UK importer Indigo Wines. Eduardo Milan is a Brazil-based wine consultant and former Wine Editor of Revista ADEGA.

What makes a great wine

Naturally, her answer starts in the glass. ‘When I taste a wine, I can often recognise very quickly on the nose the potential for greatness,’ she says. Aroma and colour offer the first clues; the palate confirms them. Above all, it must be delicious.

And then there are the wines that stop a panel in its tracks. ‘Some wines simply make us say, “Wow!”’ she says. ‘They have character and personality, and they stand out from the crowd rather than getting lost among a sea of similar wines.’

The big picture

Having already participated in Platinum judging, Levinson will now join the Co-Chairs in making the final Best in Show selections.

‘This opportunity allows me to follow the entire selection process through to the very end,’ she says. ‘Being able to see the bigger picture and understand how the final results come together is incredibly rewarding.’

Her advice to producers weighing an entry is equally direct. Wines, she notes, are tasted in ideal conditions, in excellent glassware and by a highly qualified panel. In the initial judging rounds, wines are tasted blind alongside their peers, grouped by region, style, vintage and price band (find out more about how DWWA judges wine).

‘Receiving direct, honest and fair feedback is extremely valuable for any producer,’ she says.

In 2027, Levinson will help make the final decisions on DWWA’s most exceptional wines. The next wine to make her say ‘Wow!’ could be yours.

Follow Paz on Instagram at @pazlevinson or visit her website.

Entries for Decanter World Wine Awards 2027 open on 4 November 2026. Find all dates and details at enter.decanter.com and sign up to the DWWA newsletter here to receive all updates and information.

See all Regional Chairs for DWWA 2027

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