A full and rounded style, with everything it needed to earn Gold. Team leader Tom Forrest found ‘buttery lemon aromas followed by a creamy-textured palate with soft pickled lemon notes, spicy oak and malo character on the finish’. ‘Ripe pear, unctuous and expressive with lemon shortbread and physallis notes,’ added consultant sommelier Rebecca Coates. Team leader Angela Reddin thought this was ‘all about the purity, and a good match for sea bass’.

£23.95 Bancroft Wines

Gold was the only outcome for this complex, fascinating wine, with ‘plums and blackcurrant, leather and coffee notes, good spice and black pepper character on the palate with a great finish’, according to an impressed Frédéric Billet of Luton Hoo Hotel Golf & Spa, who concluded: ‘Certainly a foodie wine, but would also be great on its own by the fire.’ ‘Great flesh, fruit and poise, broad-perfumed with fine purity and character,’ agreed Hakkasan Group’s Olivier Gasselin. A perfect match for wild boar, thought team leader Sam Caporn MW.

£17.49 Boutinot

A full, fruity character elevated this to Gold, with consultant sommelier Rebecca Coates noting ‘pear and apple, spice and ginger hints – oily and mouth-filling’. Buddha Bar’s Piotr Artur Tomaszewski found ‘creamy honeysuckle, camomile, fresh grapefruit, banana, pineapple and a long, herbaceous finish’. For Tate Catering’s Hamish Anderson, there was ‘some honey and spicy oak with tropical fruit, and a rich, creamy palate with lemon peel and more spice – good for spicy prawns’.

£12.26 Indigo Wine

This Gold Lister was ‘delicious for the price – just what people want and expect from Spain’, began Marcin Oziebly of The Wild Rabbit, finding ‘strong vanilla and notes of coconut oak, lovely ripe fruit and a long finish’, while team leader Angela Reddin highlighted its ‘dark black stone fruits with some cassis notes, a generous, fleshy and spicy palate, with great balance and length’. Frances Bentley of Individual Restaurants thought it ‘refined and elegant, with spice, balance and finesse on the palate – a match for lamb shoulder’.

£7.77 Berkmann Wine Cellars

‘Big and chunky, with very dark berry fruit on a finely balanced, fleshy palate with notes of dark chocolate,’ said Hakkasan Group’s Olivier Gasselin in praise of this clear Gold winner, while Benoît Poulain of Adam’s Restaurant enjoyed its ‘lovely blackcurrant nose, slightly rustic style but smooth, gentle oak and good balance of ripe fruit on the palate’. Team leader Sam Caporn MW found ‘fragrant spice and oak’, making this ‘a very commercial style’.

£8.04 Liberty Wines

Flying the flag for Valdejalón, and taking home Gold in the process, this was ‘a nice, refreshing, summer breeze wine’, began J Corey Evans of St Swithins Wine Shippers, finding ‘floral notes and fruit well integrated with the oak’, while team leader Tom Forrest picked out ‘aromatic notes, pear and green apple and lemon acidity’. Fellow team leader Angela Reddin found ‘Asian pear on the nose, leading to lemony spritz on the palate, with clean lines and a well-driven, mineral finish – a match for goose barnacles’.

£8.36 Jascots Wine Merchants

Bleeding Heart Group’s Christopher Delalonde MS was impressed with this wine’s ‘dark fruit, berries and ripe tones with earthy and mineral lift on the nose, complex palate with layers and plenty of class, oak spices and notes of cured meat complemented by lively, bright acid structure with great, integrated oak’.

£23.95 Bancroft Wines

Cristian Sanchez of Hotel du Vin Cambridge found ‘cooked cherry and plum with notes of violet and black pepper, lots of concentration on the palate’, while team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW found it a ‘cheap and cheerful style, with meaty, brambly aromas and a juicy, spicy palate, rich syrupy palate and savoury finish’.

£5.90 Liberty Wines

‘Silky mouthfeel, notes of Ovaltine and iodine with juicy red fruits shining through, moderate tannins and zippy acidity,’ said Andrés Ituarte of Coq d’Argent, with Cristian Sanchez of Hotel du Vin Cambridge specifying ‘ripe black cherry, plum, blackberry and black pepper with sweet spice notes’.

£7.62 Boutinot

‘Very appealing spicy and vegetal nose with cherry notes,’ began Benoît Poulain of Adam’s Restaurant, noting its ‘very intense red fruit flavours, medium-bodied style and ripeness’, while team leader Laura Rhys MS found it ‘brooding and rich with some spice and black cherry and berry fruit’.

£7.67 Bibendum

‘Salty fresh pear and grape aromas with some pineapple hints,’ said team leader Tom Forrest, finding more on the palate: ‘Pineapple flavours a little confected, but grape and pineapple freshness on the finish.’ ‘Juicy, unctuous, bright and vibrant,’ added consultant sommelier Rebecca Coates.

£7.34 Enotria&Coe

‘Elegant, lovely complexity on the nose with a touch of barnyard character,’ said The Wild Rabbit’s Marcin Oziebly, who enjoyed its ‘very ripe black cherry, plums and blueberry, and a long-lasting finish with touches of Garrigue herbs’, concluding that it was a ‘classy wine that earns its place on a fine dining list’.

£14.46 Liberty Wines

‘Red fruit aromas with violet floral notes, fresh and warm on the palate with floral and smoky touches,’ began Tamarind of Mayfair’s Chantal Serrano, while Robert Mason of Cheese at Leadenhall found ‘perfumed, liquorice and anise notes, juicy bramble fruit and soft tannins’.

£5.50 Boutinot

‘A hand sell, but a delicious food wine,’ began team leader Sam Caporn MW, adding: ‘Nice full and rounded honey notes, great texture and weight.’ ‘Mineral elegance with wet stone and salty-crisp complexity,’ added Alessandro de Angelis of Jamavar.

£19.13 PAGO LOS BALANCINES, S.L.

The Sign of the Don’s Carlos Ferreira found ‘a bit of age on a complex, very elegant nose of tobacco, leather and spice’, followed by ‘black fruits on the palate, hints of mushroom, good spice with lots of tannin, too’, adding that it ‘needs more time, but will become a great wine’.

£24.87 PAGO LOS BALANCINES, S.L.

‘Showing some age, this has a touch of volatility on it, but it’s good, with nice black tea notes, tar and worn leather, hints of old wood and very bright acids,’ said Andrés Ituarte of Coq d’Argent.

£33.25 Bancroft Wines

Cristian Sanchez of Hotel du Vin Cambridge found ‘cooked plums, black cherry and blackberry aromas, notes of toast and smoke with vanilla and coconut oak, sweet spices on a full-bodied palate, high ripe tannins and high acidity with a long finish’.

£15.73 Bodegas Vegalfaro

‘Creamy vanilla oak leads into ripe, red and black fruit aromas, with spicy, juicy fruit on the palate, vanilla and soft tannins,’ said team leader Tom Forrest, with Robert Mason of Cheese at Leadenhall also noting ‘red apple and stewed prune on the nose, with chocolate and sour cherry notes on the palate’.

£12.25 Top Selection Ltd

‘Spicy, Worcestershire sauce notes on the nose, complex aromas, then tobacco and leather on a full palate with slightly green tannins, but finishing with pleasant acidity,’ said Frédéric Billet of Luton Hoo Hotel Golf & Spa.

£11.50 Enotria&Coe

‘Savoury style with red and dark cherries and plums,’ began Damien Trinckquel of Galvin Brasserie de Luxe Edinburgh, continuing: ‘Has a vibrant purity of spice such as cardamom, good structure and freshness, all in harmony.’

£14.46 Liberty Wines

While Street XO’s Raphael Thierry noted its ‘citrus and stone fruit with orange peel hints, and mouthwatering, clean long finish’, Alessandro de Angelis of Jamavar found ‘rich and warm yellow peach aromas and a freshly herbaceous character’.

£7.26 Barwell & Jones

£13.50 PAGO LOS BALANCINES, S.L.

£7.60 Chozas Carrascal UK

£3.79 The Haciendas - Company, Ltd.

£15.95 Bancroft Wines

£6.80 Liberty Wines

£6.38 Bodegas y Viñedos Casa del Valle

£4.37 C&D Wines

£6.38 Bodegas y Viñedos Casa del Valle

£9.99 Boutinot

£6.50 EWGA

£6.50 Hayward Bros (Wines) Ltd

£15.23 Boutinot

£7.95 Boutinot

£7.09 Bibendum

£11.78 Enotria&Coe

£8.50 Enotria&Coe

£9.43 Liberty Wines

£11.64 Barwell & Jones

£6.39 Barwell & Jones