Effusive in their praise, judges didn’t hesitate in handing over the Gold here. Finding the nose ‘very spicy with dried fruits, leather, tobacco and cinnamon’, The Don’s Carlos Ferreira admired a palate that was ‘very beautiful, perfectly fresh and balanced’, with team leader Tom Forrest highlighting ‘soft raisin and fig aromas, dates and light caramel notes, smoky coffee and toffee on the finish’. ‘Pretty and balanced, with great fruit, tannin and balance,’ concluded team leader Jade Koch.

£35.42 Size: 75cl Hallgarten & Novum Wines

The Don’s Carlos Ferreira was absorbed in this Gold’s ‘caramel biscuit aromas, dried figs and cherry liqueur notes, and lots more of that caramel biscuit on the palate with cinnamon spice notes’, and further praising it for being ‘very well balanced and creamy in texture’. ‘Dry cherries, pastry and toasted almonds’ made Giuseppe Longobardi of The Cross Kenilworth and Simpsons Edgbaston think this the perfect partner for ‘chocolate, almond parfait and cherry sauce’.

£31.90 Size: 75cl Hayward Bros

This outstanding tawny, judges agreed, deserved nothing less than Gold. ‘Beyond complex,’ began Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason, finding it ‘eternal and astounding, with woody orange peel, caramel, ginger, raisins, toffee – a good rum profile – and smooth, silky, elegant and rounded’. Team leader Lionel Periner couldn’t resist its ‘full, rich, orange peel and Christmas cake, balsamic’ aromas, declaring the palate ‘elegant and perfumed, lighter in style but with beautiful integration: a violin playing quietly, but with feeling’.

£261.11 Size: 37.5cl Quinta da Boeira

Voted a unanimous Gold by our judges, with Vinoteca’s Charlie Young describing aromas of ‘nuts, dried apricots, sweet spices, then good power and acidity on the palate with more finely ground nut notes, followed by loads of dried apricot flavour’. Suave Wine’s Joseph Lunn also admired its ‘long, subtle nose of bitter orange and baked plum pudding, earthy complexity on the palate with notes of ceps, saffron and juniper’, recommending it as ‘perfect with a spiced cherry pie’.

£27.50 Size: 75cl Hayward Bros

As this snapped up Gold, team leader Jade Koch found ‘Earl Grey tea aromas, with warm, juicy elegance with sweet tea notes on the palate’, while Vinoteca’s Charlie Young complimented ‘a lovely stoniness to balance the sugar’, following ‘celery and dark plum on the nose, powerful with lovely definition of fruit, and a scented and pure finish’. ‘Very well balanced and fruit forward,’ thought The Don’s Carlos Ferreira, particularly liking ‘spicy cherry, jasmine and mint’.

£18.04 Size: 75cl Atlantico UK, Top Selection

A hit with our judging panel, with team leader Jade Koch saying she ‘could sit with this for hours’, to explore its ‘lighter, hotter fruit and spice and great texture, with delicious sweet tea, honey and oily putty character, fruit and chocolate notes – very moreish’, while for Vinoteca’s Charlie Young it was ‘a quality act, with touches of marzipan, candied red fruit and lovely development of fruit, with the spices beginning to show on the palate’.

£35.45 Size: 75cl Atlantico UK, Top Selection

Judges, unsurprisingly, had no shortage of praise for this Gold winner. For Manuel Ribeiro of The Bybrook at The Manor Hotel it stood out for its ‘elegant, clean style and complex oaky length’, while Christoph Hons of Park Chinois highlighted ‘a fine body, good balance of sweetness and smoky herbal flavours’. ‘Supple, with gentle, juicy spice, this is long and generous, with real depth and freshness,’ concluded team leader Simon Woods.

£92.11 Size: 75cl Liberty Wines

With a ‘light intensity and great balance’, this had ‘a lovely flavour of dried leaves and a long finish’, began team leader Lionel Periner, with Manuel Ribeiro of The Bybrook at The Manor House Hotel noting ‘raisins, Christmas fruit and nuts with honey and smooth balance’.

£16.30 Size: 75cl Hayward Bros

This impressed Michael Fiducia of Coworth Park Ascot with its ‘lifted candied and dried fruits, great freshness on the nose, wonderfully rounded and soft palate with great concentration of flavours’, while team leader Tom Forrest declared it a ‘never-ending story of pepper and spice, bonfire toffee and treacle with notes of fig, date and dried pepper complexity’.

£75.62 Size: 75cl Hallgarten & Novum Wines

A combination of ‘floral notes, nuts, mixed dried fruits and orange peel’ on the nose, said team leader Lionel Periner, who found a ‘full palate, well balanced with cacao and delicate spice notes’, and Bleeding Heart Group’s Chris Delalonde MS liked its ‘gingerbread and clove spice, balsamic hints and savoury character’.

£37.16 Size: 50cl Bibendum

Bleeding Heart Group’s Chris Delalonde MS found ‘good complexity with plummy fruit and spice notes of clove and sweet ginger’, while Manuel Ribeiro of The Bybrook at The Manor Hotel highlighted its ‘chocolate toffee and roast nut aromas, fruity style with good balance’.

£18.17 Size: 50cl Bibendum

Coworth Park Ascot’s Michael Fiducia was keen on this port’s ‘condensed Christmas cake and dried fruits with concentration and an opulent palate’, while team leader Tom Forrest indulged in ‘clean varnish aromas, toffee and caramelised beignet fritters, dried orange and fig on the palate with hints of pepper’.

£25.63 Size: 75cl Enotria&Coe

Despite its ‘purple and dark appearance, massive fruit and acid’, team leader Jade Koch found this port ‘juicy and warm, lean with good tannin and length’, while Vinoteca’s Charlie Young highlighted ‘pure, sweet red fruit and subtle spice, big power but there’s good balance here to be better over time’.

£29.70 Size: 75cl Liberty Wines

‘Sweet, stewy fig and dark fruit aromas, hot spice notes and pepper on the palate with some treacle and toffee elements,’ said team leader Tom Forrest, with Typing Room’s Alex Pitt assessing it as a ‘great value for money, pub cheeseboard port’.

£13.50 Size: 75cl Boutinot

Alex Pitt of Typing Room enjoyed the ‘cinder toffee, dates and figs’, adding it would be a ‘lovely end to a meal, drinking so well but will have an extremely long life’. Meanwhile The Don’s Carlos Ferreira noted ‘spiced leather, pear and dried figs, a palate of creamy coffee and After Eight mints’ for a ‘classic, really good port’.

£23.48 Size: 75cl Hallgarten & Novum Wines

‘A quirky LBV,’ thought Frédéric Billet of Luton Hoo Hotel Golf & Spa, enjoying its ‘spicy, pungent nose with lots of depth, confit cherries and rounded tannins on the palate, black pepper notes and very long finish, showing good potential to age’.

£10.97 Size: 75cl Liberty Wines

£24.60 Size: 75cl Hayward Bros

£21.48 Size: 75cl Amathus

£66.90 Size: 50cl Bibendum

£23.33 Size: 75cl Davy's Wine Merchants

£41.83 Size: 75cl Liberty Wines