Matthieu Longuère MS of Le Cordon Bleu London was impressed with this excellent Gold winner’s ‘floral and ripe nose, showing cherry and lifted herbal aromas, then understated and juicy on the palate’, describing it as ‘really fresh and elegant – a lovely wine in a low-oak impact style’. ‘Herbal, eucalyptus and savoury notes combine with sweet, dark fruits and some sweet spices. Amazing intensity, complexity and concentration – a match for rib-eye or sirloin steak,’ suggested Stamatis Iseris of The Strathearn at The Gleneagles Hotel.

£15.78 Viña I Wines SpA

Spicy, fruity and exceptionally good value, this took home not only the Gold, but a By The Glass Trophy, too. Tanya Mann of Linden House Stansted found it a ‘friendly wine with jammy black berries and sweet fruit character’, with Jacopo Armenio of Vinarius finding ‘fragrant, punchy, ripe red and black fruits, showing really good value for money’. ‘Full-bodied style with spices and lovely black fruit, and a touch vegetal,’ added Matthieu Longuère MS of Le Cordon Bleu London.

£10.62 North South Wines

Taking Gold for its spicy, savoury character, this Kiwi Syrah had ‘bacon and black pepper notes, with grippy, ripe tannins’, began JKS Restaurants’ Sunaina Sethi, while team leader Olivier Marie described it as ‘a complex wine, with cured meat and an animalic, tertiary note, like leather’. Andre Luis Martins of the Cavalry & Guards Club also noted ‘sweet cassis with vanilla and smoked aromas, elegant with gentle, fresh mineral style on the finish’, while team leader Annette Scarfe MW highlighted its ‘lovely aromatic, concentrated fruit’.

£23.68 Enotria&Coe

‘Tobacco, chocolate, tomato leaf and spicy character, and a lovely, elegant finish,’ said Sebastian Agnello of The Don Restaurant, while Jason Atherton Group’s Stefan Kobald found ‘Ribena, cassis, cooked black fruits, vanilla and clove, with aniseed notes and a vibrant palate with youthful vigour’. ‘Elegant, silky wine with class,’ concluded Michael Fiducia of Coworth Park Ascot.

£22.84 Bibendum

Sebastian Agnello of The Don Restaurant noted its ‘deep, dark bramble fruit with herby savoury notes and a well-structured palate’, and Stefan Kobald of Jason Atherton Group liked its ‘heavy extraction, braai meaty, smoky, burnt wood character with a long and pleasant finish’.

£12.59 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

‘Nice light spices on the nose with a touch of oak, good plummy length of fruit on the palate, and it will continue to develop in the bottle,’ said Tanya Mann of Linden House Stansted, with Matthieu Longuère MS of Le Cordon Bleu London finding it ‘spicy, smoky, peppery with lovely palate elegance’.

£11.72 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

Team leader Andrea Briccarello enjoyed its ‘gutsy and animal, wild herbal nose with nice texture on the palate’, finding it ‘complex and structured, long and spicy’, while Sebastian Agnello of The Don Restaurant found it ‘big, bold and powerful, with black cherries and slight coconut notes from the oak; overall very interesting’.

£10.13 Liberty Wines

‘Savoury, dark nose, some minerality and the fruit is ripe but not overdone; great value,’ said Vinoteca’s Charlie Young, with Jason Atherton Group’s Stefan Kobald noting its ‘black fruit and sour cherry, cassis and bacon spice aromas with good balance on the palate’.

£7.00 Davy's Wine Merchants

‘Fresh and perfumed on the nose, bright palate with plenty of lovely fruit flavours, followed by a pleasant touch of sweetness on the finish,’ said Guillaume Mahaut of ETM Group, with Andre Luis Martins of the Cavalry & Guards Club noting ‘plum liqueur notes, perfumed aromas and hints of toffee apple with a light herbal finish’.

£9.93 Castelnau Wine Agencies

‘Full of white pepper and jammy raspberry character on nose and palate, with spicy plum notes on the finish,’ said Kelvin McCabe of Yauatcha, with Guillaume Mahaut of ETM Group finding it ‘a little flinty, delicate yet firm, with blueberry on a fresh, ripe finish’.

£13.37 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

‘Lovely lifted aromatics, floral palate style with soft, ripe tannins; a perfumed and crowd-pleasing style,’ said team leader Annette Scarfe MW, with Guillaume Mahaut of ETM Group noting ‘blueberry and blackcurrant fruit, fresh and simple but well made, with a firmness on the palate’.

£9.96 Bibendum

Team leader Annette Scarfe MW found ‘lots of cedar oak with ripe black plums underneath on the nose, hints of violets on an aromatic and juicy palate, food-friendly with defined, ripe tannins’, with Andre Luis Martins of the Cavalry & Guards Club finding ‘fresh raspberry, light flower aromas, sweet spices, and clove notes with an elegant finish’.

£11.98 Berkmann Wine Cellars

‘Chocolatey, inky, spicy and dusty on the nose, with a full-bodied and extracted style on the palate, yet enough fruit and freshness on the finish to balance,’ said Matthieu Longuère MS of Le Cordon Bleu London.

£10.70 Enotria&Coe

£11.28 Bibendum

£10.99 Frederic Robinson

£14.00 EWGA

£13.43 Boutinot

£12.79 Boutinot

£13.23 Bibendum

£18.58 Bibendum

£18.12 Bibendum

£12.25 Bibendum

£15.79 Liberty Wines