Richard Mayson is the Regional Chair for Port & Madeira at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2025.
Richard Mayson
Richard Mayson’s interest in wine began at University when he completed a dissertation on the micro-climate of the vineyards of the Douro. He began his career working for The Wine Society, winning the Vintner’s Company Scholarship in 1987 during his time there.
Specialising in the wines of Iberia, especially fortified wines, until 2018 he owned a vineyard in the Alto Alentejo, Portugal. His is the author of five books, including Madeira: The Islands and their Wines, and Port and the Douro, Mayson also writes regularly for Decanter, contributes to The Oxford Companion to Wine and lectured on Port over many years for Leiths School of Food and Wine and the WSET in London.
In 2024, he was promoted to Fidalgo of the Confraria do Vinho do Porto in recognition of his services to the Port wine trade. He is currently series editor for the Academie du Vin Wine Library and writes at www.richardmayson.com. He was Pro-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield until his retirement from the post in 2021. Richard was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2023.
Follow Richard on X at @richardmayson
