Judges 2025

Sake Samurai
JSS Overseas Support Desk (Asia)
The ‘Future 50’ Wine & Sake Winner
Co-founder of the Hong Kong Wine Academy
DipWSET, CS, CSW, 酒サムライ, きき酒師

Mr. Micky Chan is an experienced wine & sake educator and international judge, covering the Greater China area for more than 15 years. In 2018, he was awarded as Sake Samurai and “The Future 50” wine and sake winner; moreover, he was appointed as JSS Overseas Desk (Asia) and Japanese wine ambassador, in order to recognize his contributions to the related industry.

In the year 2021, he started up the Federation of Japanese Sake industry of Hong Kong and the Oriental Sake Awards in the next year, in order to unite sake professionals among the regions together and assist high quality sake / brands to be named and promoted to those markets.

Born in Yokohama, 1960.
After graduating from the Faculty of Foreign Studies at Sophia University, he joined Seibu Department Store. (In charge of liquor division, buyer).

He started a new career as a liquor journalist and consultant in 1997 and has written several books including; “Textbook for Sake” (Doyukan), “Sake Guidebook” (Shibata Shoten), and “the SAKE BOOK (with English translation)” ( Jitsugyo no Nihonsha).

Judge of Prefectural Sake Appraising and Deliberating Fair. (Fukushima, Shizuoka, and Ehime Pref.)

He is the member of the judging committee for Protection of Geographical Identifications. (Nagano and Saga Pref.) Judge of international sake competitions; “The U.S. National Sake Appraisal” and “International Sake Challenge”. Also, he is the chairman of the Sake Export Association.

In November 2004, she started her career selling Japanese alcoholic beverages at City Super Group in Hong Kong.

She was a Manager of purchasing Japanese sake and other Japanese alcoholic beverages until May 2015. After leaving Hong Kong in the same year, she moved to Okinawa. She runs her freelance business “sakeand” as well as preparing a new project “fermentrip” in Japan. Throughout her career as a Japanese liquor specialist, she works relentlessly to raise the joy of drinking Sake, Shochu and Awamori for overseas markets.

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.

Professional Experience:
2000 to 2011: Research and development on the flavor science of alcoholic
beverages National research institute of brewing
2011 to 2018: Office of Analysis and Brewing Technology National tax agency
2018 to date: JAPAN SAKE AND SHOCHU MAKERS ASSOCIATION

Sake judge:
International Wine Challenge, Sake Awards; 2012, 2016, 2018 US National Sake
Appraisal; 2002, 2006, 2011, 2023 Sake selection; 2018 Oriental Sake Awards; 2024

Books:
Whisky and Other Spirits, Chapter 3. Sake and Shochu, Academic Press (2022)
Sake pairing, Marie Chiba and Hitoshi Utsunomiya, Asahiya Publishing (2019)
A comprehensive guide to Japanese Sake, Japan sake and shochu makers association (2011)

Benny is one of the pioneers in professional sake education in Hong Kong, and has involved in the translation and editing of teaching materials for SSI and WSET. He is the official trainer of ‘Dassai’ and supports events held in Asia and Australasia.

He has been judging sake in international competitions since a decade ago, and restlessly organising and participating in sake events and composing articles on social media as well as conventional publications, so as to raise the popularity and knowledge level of sake.

Zach is one of Hong Kong's most celebrated wine and spirits experts.

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

In 2013, Zach was named Standout Sommelier of the Year by The Foodie Forks. He was appointed as a wine judge for the "Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA)" in 2012, "The Hong Kong Cathay Pacific and International Wine and Spirits Competition (HKIWSC)" in 2016-2019 as well as the Oriental Sake Awards (OSA) in 2022. In 2019, Zach was invited by the Bordeaux Wine Council to participate in the "Somm' Like it Bordeaux" blind tasting competition, where he beat 47 sommeliers and wine industry professionals to become the champion in Hong Kong.

In 2014, he established his own company, SommTech, which specializes in providing wine and spirits consulting, private tastings, corporate training, and online wine tasting chatbot services. He regards wine and spirits as a lifelong career and is committed to promoting the culture of wine tasting.

With more than 30 years of Sake brewery industry experience, Kenji Ichishima continues to move forward to achieve the goal, that is to make the SAKE to be the one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world.

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 started his sake journey in 2013 when he worked part-time as a translator for a sake brewer at an exposition. Since then, he has developed a strong passion for sake and pursued a career in this industry. He firmly believes that sake can enhance the enjoyment of gourmet experiences and improve our lifestyle. Over the years, he has organized numerous sake promotions, tasting activities, and food-pairing events for his company. Frank is currently a sake buyer for a major importer and retailer in Hong Kong, and he holds the WSET® Level 3 Award in Sake.

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.

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