Bright and expressive, and undoubtedly deserving of Gold, The Sign of the Don’s Carlos Ferreira liked this Chardonnay’s ‘stone fruits on the nose and slightly spicy oak, very well-balanced palate and very fresh finish’, while team leader Tom Forrest highlighted its ‘mineral freshness and a touch of exotic lychee fruit, zingy lemon and zesty texture betraying a touch of sur-lie, and more fresh smoky mineral elements’. Team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW enjoyed its ‘green herbs and crunchy acidity, making this a good partner for grilled seabass with sauce vierge’.

£7.31 Peter Graham Wines

‘Elegant, precise and refreshing, easy-drinking white or paired with summer foods,’ began Sumi Sarma of Sumilier in praise of this versatile, great-value Gold, finding ‘green apples and pears, floral and mild spice hints with herbs and minerals, pleasant style with a lemon finesse’. Adam Michocki of Chez Bruce noted: ‘Pleasant apples and lemon zest with subtle minerality, but mouthfilling and rounded with a clean and fruity finish,’ while team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW concluded: ‘Good with oysters.’

£6.83 House of Townend

‘Fresh, crisp and light on the nose, a lifted and balanced palate with lime-lemon citrus, and green apple notes with some chalky mineral,’ said Sake No Hana’s Tobias Brauweiler MS of this Gold winner, while team leader Sam Caporn MW found it ‘restrained on the nose, with light hints of elderflower on the palate, quite phenolic but with juicy acid’. ‘Lean, clean and mineral, with a long finish,’ added team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW, pairing it with a mackerel and cucumber salad.

£12.36 Boutinot

Ripe and refreshing, this Gold medal and Food Match Trophy winner was described by Sumi Sarma of Sumilier as having ‘soft lemon sorbet aromas with crisp, slightly honeyed green and red apple notes, zingy acidity and good structure, some weight and concentration’, finding that the palate was ‘off-dry to medium, but well balanced with extremely graceful acidity and fruit’. Frances Bentley of Individual Restaurant wanted to see this served alongside pan-fried foie gras.

£9.96 Bibendum

‘A very aromatic, straightforward Sauvignon with a nice edge of minerality, good at the entry level,’ began Dan Cohen of Cépages Wine Bistro, while Mike Best of the WSET felt it was ‘competing with the New World and doing a good job, very bright and fruit-driven, with very ripe fruits and citrus acidity’.

£6.45 Matthew Clark

‘Fresh and fruity with a lot of quince and white peach on the nose,’ began Adam Michocki of Chez Bruce, who found it ‘lovely on the palate, with a good balance between acidity and a touch of fruity sweetness, which empowers the flavours, then a long-lasting finish’.

£11.95 Boutinot

Soliciting a ‘Wow!’ from team leader Sam Caporn MW, who thought it showed ‘unusual, almost botrytis character with tropical fruit and spice notes, and is simply delicious’. Sake No Hana’s Tobias Brauweiler MS pointed out its ‘fumé style, vanilla oak and caramel, rich yellow fruit flavours with apple, good balance from start to finish’.

£20.40 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

‘Fresh tropical notes of pineapple on the nose,’ began Julien Sahut of Sexy Fish, finding a ‘dry palate with good aromatic profile, apple and stone fruit flavours, fresh citrus and apricot on the finish with long-lasting acidity’. ‘Juicy fruit with weight and texture on the palate, lovely acidity and finish,’ agreed team leader Laura Rhys MS.

£12.18 Hatch Mansfield

Mike Best of the WSET enjoyed this ‘smoky, toasty, oaky style of Sauvignon, showing very ripe citrus and baked apple fruit, with saline complexity on the palate, an impressively ambitious style’, while team leader Laura Rhys MS picked up on its ‘bold fruit, citrus and tropical style with some toasted complexity and creamy texture’.

£20.40 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

Carlos Ferreira of The Sign of the Don felt this was a ‘very good choice for seafood, with its beautiful aromas of orange mousse and cooked apple, a touch of sugar on the palate and very soft acidity, all very nicely balanced’. ‘Ripe pears, quince jam, very mouth-filling in an off-dry style, and keeps the bracing acidity on the palate,’ added Adam Michocki of Chez Bruce.

£6.97 Boutinot

Damien Trinckquel of Galvin Brasserie de Luxe Edinburgh enjoyed its ‘rich yet compact style with superb delineation of freshness, purity of fruits and minerality, rounded off with hazelnut and cheese rind notes on the finish, great for food matching’.

£14.26 Bibendum

‘Concentrated and precise fruit on the nose, with flavours of green apple and fresh pear, long finish with mineral notes, a classically styled example,’ said Adam Michocki of Chez Bruce, while team leader Tom Forrest also enjoyed its ‘lemon mineral aromas, light yeasty prickle, saline and stony palate with a juicy green fruit finish’.

£8.99 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

‘Restrained initially but has some exotic passion fruit character, too,’ began team leader Sam Caporn MW, who found it ‘a pretty wine that is well balanced and long’, while for Sake No Hana’s Tobias Brauweiler MS it was a ‘classic style, fresh and open, with citrus and nettle aromas, wet stone and lime peel with notes of under-ripe melon on the palate’.

£15.02 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

‘Citrus, green and red apple, mineral notes with orange peel and floral character, nice restraint but bright acidity,’ said team leader Laura Rhys MS, while WSET’s Mike Best felt that it ‘never gets too intense but has great persistence’.

£7.72 Bibendum

For Julien Sahut of Sexy Fish, this had ‘very intense ripe fruit on a complex nose, stone fruit and citrus with mineral notes and white pepper on the finish, long and fruity, zesty and zingy’. ‘Very good, delicious fruit freshness, real elegance and class with gentle persistence, pristine fruit and acid, love it!’ said Mike Best of the WSET.

£20.32 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

£15.30 Levin Wines

£8.00 Boutinot

£13.93 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

£11.55 Bibendum

£13.98 Bibendum

£9.95 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

£17.25 Jascots Wine Merchants

£17.60 Jascots Wine Merchants