Judge profile: Danny Cameron

Danny Cameron is a wine consultant specialising in Portuguese wines. He started his career at London’s Café Royal. He subsequently held head sommelier and food and beverage director positions before specialising in the wines of Portugal as a director with Raymond Reynolds Ltd. In 2015, he was made a Commander of the Order of Prince Henry by the President of Portugal for his contribution to the industry.

He founded the Dyfi Distillery with his brother in 2016, and is the only producer to have won the best British Gin Trophy twice at the Great British Food Awards.


What are you looking for when you’re judging wines?

For something to take a Bronze medal, it needs to be delicious, engaging and fun to drink. For a Silver, it needs to have a sense of the place it’s made and a degree of seriousness. Those elusive Gold medals really belong to a category that makes them world class. 

What do find most interesting about Portuguese wine?

What’s fascinating about Portugal is its indigenous grape varieties – this great range of grape varieties that you don’t find anywhere else on the planet. For me, it’s a marriage between that and the heavily influenced Atlantic climatic conditions. Where Portugal is often thought of as a red wine region, the white wines are equally interesting.
 

How can awards from the IWSC help producers?

The IWSC has got a highly international reach. It goes way beyond the UK market, and I think it can have a real influence in markets around the world.