Judges 2024

DipWSET, CS, CSW, Sake Samurai, Kikizakeshi (SSI)
JSS Overseas Support Desk (Asia)
The Future 50 Wine & Sake Winner
Co-founder of the Hong Kong Wine Academy
Principal Lecturer & Wine and Sake Educator.

A renowned wine and sake expert based in Hong Kong, he is active across multiple fields including education, writing, international judging, and consultancy. He also serves as a member of the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association’s Overseas Support Desk (Asia).

As an educator, he co-founded the Hong Kong Wine Academy and delivers numerous educational programs across Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and China. As a professional judge, he has served in various international competitions, including the IWSC, IWC, Berlin Wine Trophy, and Asia Wine Trophy.

Born in Yokohama in 1960. After graduating from the Faculty of Foreign Studies at Sophia University, he joined Seibu Department Stores, where he worked in both retail floor operations and as a buyer. In 1997, he became independent as a liquor journalist and consultant.

His publications include “The Textbook of Japanese Sake” (Doyukan), “Japanese Sake Guidebook” (Shibata Publishing), and “The SAKE BOOK” (with English parallel translation, Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha).

He has served as a judge for sake appraisal competitions in Fukushima, Shizuoka, and Ehime prefectures, as well as a judging committee member for geographical indication (appellation) management committees in Nagano and Saga prefectures. Internationally, he has acted as a judge for sake competitions such as the U.S. National Sake Appraisal and the International Sake Challenge. He also serves as Chairman of the Japan Sake Export Association.

Hitoshi Utsunomiya was born in Ehime, Japan, in 1959. He worked for 25 years in the technical division of Japan National Tax Agency. He also researched the flavor of Sake at National Research Institute of Brewing for 10 years. He established the flavor terminology and reference standards for the sensory analysis of Sake. He also studied the food pairing of Sake from a scientific perspective. He is renowned as one of the most knowledgeable persons in Japan for the technology of brewing science and tasting skills of Sake. He has been invited as a judge in many sake contests worldwide.

Currently, he is a director of Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association. He is in charge of technical issues related to Sake and Shochu and overseas promotion.

In November 2004, he began his career in Japanese alcoholic beverage sales at the City Super Group in Hong Kong, where he worked as a Japanese sake and spirits buyer for retail stores until May 2015. In the same year, he relocated from Hong Kong to Okinawa.

He currently operates the freelance business “sakeand,” working as a coordinator for overseas alcohol exports and market development, while also being active as a writer specializing in sake and awamori. Leveraging his international experience in the sake industry, he continues to make tireless efforts to enhance global recognition of Japanese alcoholic beverages.

over 30 years of experience in the sake brewing industry and also works as a consultant supporting companies from other industries and overseas entering the Japanese sake business. He serves as a judge for international sake competitions such as the IWC, and is dedicated to promoting sake with the goal of making it one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world.

Zach is one of Hong Kong’s most celebrated wine and spirit experts. Zach started his career as sommelier in 2004. In 2010, he was appointed Head Sommelier / Beverage Manager at 5-star Langham Place Hotel. He built and opened the hotel’s wine room, now recognized as one of the most innovative in Hong Kong. He revamped the hotel’s wine list, and introduced ground-breaking food & wine pairings for the hotel’s Michelin starred restaurant, for which he won numerous prestigious awards, local and international.

Rebecca, who holds a WSET Diploma, is now a WSET Certified Educator, providing professional wine tasting courses for wine lovers and industry insiders; she has her own wine tasting blog “Wine is Beautiful”, and has written wine tasting columns in many newspapers and magazines, and is also the host of radio shows.

In order to turn her interest into practical experience and knowledge, Rebecca has visited wineries in many countries in the past years, and has traveled to countless wine regions, and even served as a judge of international wine competitions.

Mr. Benny Lee, who has worked as media and graduated from the Institute of Japanese Studies at Chinese University, has several professional qualifications, including JSA Sake Diploma, Sake Sommelier Institute (SSI) Sommelier, Shochu Sommelier<br>and Lecturer, SSI International Lecturer, UK Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Japanese Sake and Wine Instructor, Hong Kong’s first Sommelier of Japanese Sake Sommelier Association (SSA), etc. He is also the official trainer for “Dassai”.

Matt Hui DipWSET, CS, CSW, FWS Sommelier Wine  Sake Education Centre Principal Educator Matt Hui has been teaching WSET wine and sake courses for many years. With his strong tasting and teaching experiences students are able to learn theory through tasting. Apart from WSET wine and sake qualification Matt is also a candidate for Master of Wine (MW) and judge in IWSC for years.

Frank has over 8 years of experience in the sake industry and is currently a sake buyer in a major sake distributor and retailer in Hong Kong. Before joining the industry, Frank has been working in Japanese companies for years. Since he tasted sake for the first time, he has become strongly interested in it. He is the holder of the WSET®️ Level 3 Sake Certificates and the Sake Sommelier Institute of Japan (SSI) International Kikisake-shi qualifications. 

Andrew has been working in the F&B industry over 14 years. He has been engaged in related work since completing the sommelier & Kikisakeshi course in 2014. Since 2017, he has been participating in various wine & sake competitions including Young Sommelier Competitions (Top 6), world Kikisaki-shi competitions (one of the HK Winner & Representative), East Asia blind tasting competitions (Finalist) etc. Now he is working in F&B company as a General Manager, managed a wine & sake menu of all outlets, he is also one of the founders of “Sake Project”.