‘Held back… but in a good way!’ began consultant Charles Pashby-Taylor on encountering this obvious Gold winner, enjoying its ‘pretty floral notes, with bright red cherry and some blueberry’, while Mario Tomekovic of Smiths of Smithfield was attracted by its ‘earthy mushroom, red fruit, spicy and meaty aromas’, adding that its ‘firm tannins, balance and long aftertaste make it very meat-friendly’. ‘Very good value, with length, depth and complexity,’ concluded Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason.

£9.27 Enotria&Coe

As it took its rightful place on the Gold podium, Coq d’Argent’s Lazaros Engonopoulos heaped praise on this Malbec for being ‘young, juicy and concentrated, with black fruit, vanilla and incense, with big tannins and a good finish’. ‘Warm with a dry, lean elegance, bay leaf herb notes and a touch of coffee bean bitterness that calls for fatty food: very Malbec and very Argentina,’ concluded team leader Jade Koch.

£22.50 Enotria&Coe

A Gold winner through and through, this was full of ‘blackcurrant and plum, sweet spices on the nose’, began Richard Cavagin-Carey of The Harwood Arms, very much enjoying its ‘elegant tannins combining well with black fruit compote and earthy notes, and finishing well with more black fruits lingering on the palate’. ‘Fresh cassis with light herbal mint aromas, ripe plum with green peppery notes on a gentle palate,’ added Andre Luis Martins of Cavalry & Guards Club.

£15.84 Ellis of Richmond

In praise of the Gold medallist, Aurel Istrate of The Connaught highlighted ‘cherry scents, tannin grip and nice acidity’, while team leader Martin Lam found it a ‘more extracted, black fruit style with chalky tannins’. A great accompaniment for a burger, thought team leader Tom Forrest, who spoke of ‘warm, ripe aromas of berry and cherry, leading to red and black fruit with some peppery tannins, and leading to a well-balanced finish’.

£6.74 Boutinot

‘Vibrant and open,’ began team leader Simon Woods in his praise of this Malbec as it took the Gold, going on to describe it as ‘juicy and earthy’, with Grape Times UK’s Harry Crowther adding his appreciation for its ‘sweet fruit, with oak and cedar, and good structure’. Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm felt this was a ‘great value crowd-pleaser’, showing ‘smoky ripe fruit and violet notes, fresh, high acidity and beautiful tannins’.

£9.89 Boutinot

Flying the flag for the Uco Valley, and adding a Gold to Salentein’s collection of Silver and Bronze medals, this had ‘bright blueberries and a violet undertone, with good structure and nicely placed oak’ for consultant Charles Pashby-Taylor. The Harrow at Little Bedwyn’s Sue Jones was impressed by ‘rich, dark fruits and Christmas cake and pudding notes’, while consultant Chantal Serrano liked its ‘complexity, with plums, mint and cherries’.

£13.24 Matthew Clark

‘Baking spices and macerated cherries with singed pastry crust’ were this Gold’s highlights for Lime Wood Hotel’s Christopher Parker, while Gabriele Galuppo of Theo Randall at the InterContinental described it as ‘fruity with clear, ripe red and black fruits, and both tender and smooth on a rounded palate, with notes of vanilla’. For team leader Simon Woods it was ‘broad-shouldered, fleshy and fresh, with balanced liquorice and blackberry notes’.

£11.78 D&V Wines

Team leader Nigel Lister found ‘blackcurrant lozenge and rich dark chocolate with raspberry notes’ here, while fellow team leader Simon Woods found it ‘honest and open-hearted, with spicy dark fruit’. ‘Silky and rounded, with good acidity,’ concluded Grape Times UK’s Harry Crowther.

£14.99 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo found ‘black pepper, sour cherry fruit, high acidity and well-integrated oak’, placing this as a wine that will be at its best with food. This was confirmed by team leader Martin Lam, who also noted ‘quite grippy oak and a hint of bitterness among the fruit sweetness’.

£9.10 Enotria&Coe

Its ‘rich and plump nose is backed up by a full range of fruit’, said Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm, also finding ‘a touch of smoke and vanilla supporting the main act’. Team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW highlighted ‘all that plum fruit’, but found it ‘elegant and restrained, too’.

£8.30 Enotria&Coe

‘Inky, earthy, funky nose, iodine and ripe black fruits, velvet texture and chalk tannins on a big and bold palate,’ said Woodhead 17’s James Fryer, and team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW noted its ‘full body, fresh, savoury and salty character with an extra-long finish’.

£15.18 Enotria&Coe

The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo liked its ‘immediate style’, noting ‘cream, red cherry, cranberry and plum with liquorice hints’, and Aurel Istrate of The Connaught pointed to ‘stewed plums on the nose, hints of smoke, very well-integrated oak and elegant acidity’.

£14.15 Liberty Wines

Melania Bellesini of The Fat Duck liked this wine’s ‘easy-drinking style, pretty nose of red summer fruits and juicy red cherries, the palate with soft tannins and balanced acidity, then notes of beetroot on the aftertaste’, while team leader Jade Koch found ‘mulberry fruit, cool, inky and dark with a dusty finish and minty chocolate notes’.

£8.59 Ellis of Richmond

This had a ‘natural’ character, said Mario Tomekovic of Smiths of Smithfield, with ‘some notes of oxidation, but also ripe red fruit aromas, meaty and fruity on the palate with balance and elegance, and a hint of liquorice on the finish’, while team leader Jade Koch found ‘tea and purple fruit, lean and breezy, long and fine’.

£14.40 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

‘A gentle giant,’ began team leader Simon Woods, finding it ‘juicy, sweet, vibrant and easy, lovely and complete with layered flavours’, with Hakkasan’s Olivier Gasselin noting ‘leafy tapenade, plummy, but subtle and peppery with a savoury touch on the finish’.

£9.88 Berkmann Wine Cellars

Team leader Jade Koch noted ‘strawberry and vanilla notes on the nose, refreshing bright strawberry fruit with balanced acidity’ for a ‘good, quaffable New World style with crunch’. ‘Good for a second-cheapest pub wine,’ agreed consultant Charles Pashby-Taylor.

£6.12 CyT UK

‘Medium-bodied, but with big iodine and rich red fruits,’ began Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte, with Antóin UáRuairc of UK Midland Sommelier Ltd finding ‘complex fruit, spices and toast on the nose, smooth and very fruity flavours with warm, balanced alcohol and long length’.

£7.17 Majestic Commercial

Noting ‘jam, cherry, cedar wood and liquorice’ on the nose, The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo enjoyed ‘well-integrated oak, crunchy berries and firm tannins on a toasty palate’, and team leader Martin Lam found it ‘spicy, rich and liqueur-ish, with sweet black berry fruits and a concentrated, saline finish’. Best to decant, or cellar for a few more years.

£31.20 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

Team leader Tom Forrest found ‘light raspberry and blackcurrant aromas, and a slight leafiness, with soft red and black fruit on a palate that’s quite light, with floral hints on the finish’, while consultant Chantal Serrano thought it ‘easy to drink, with plums, cherries, rose petals and chocolate, with a savoury leather note’.

£10.93 Bibendum

‘This is really the bees knees,’ began team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW, supported by Woodhead 17’s James Fryer, who loved its ‘old-school Malbec style, with super oaky spice over dark, jammy fruits’, and Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm, homing in on its ‘blueberry nose, simmering with potential’.

£17.11 Berkmann Wine Cellars

‘Great fruit extraction,’ began Gabriele Galuppo of Theo Randall at the InterContinental, admiring its ‘richness balanced with a touch of sourness, and oak flavour well integrated, then a long aftertaste with pronounced notes of leather and tobacco’.

£19.13 Daniel Lambert Wines

‘Dark, brooding nose, deep purple-black-saline fruit palate, intense,’ began team leader Martin Lam, while The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo enjoyed its ‘good extraction, complex violet and berry bouquet and toast, revealing notes of cedar, leather and game as it warms up’.

£15.20 Enotria&Coe

‘If I were a winemaker, I’d be proud of this,’ said Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm, approving of its ‘dark chocolate, coffee, plum and blueberry, depth and richness’, with team leader Sarah Jane Evans MW finding it ‘explosively fruity in the mouth, bramble fruit pie’, and rating it ‘best by the glass’.

£22.68 Enotria&Coe

‘Rich style with red and black fruit, earthy with some elegance,’ began Mario Tomekovic of Smiths of Smithfield, while consultant Charles Pashby-Taylor felt it was ‘what people expect from Argentinian Malbec, with raspberry, ripe strawberry and black fruit, good by the glass and with pork belly’.

£7.50 Enotria&Coe

Antóin UáRuairc of UK Midland Sommelier Ltd enjoyed this Malbec’s ‘range of aromas up to tobacco, in a very fruity style, with lightness and low tannin making it a very good drinker, with a very pleasant aftertaste’.

£10.97 Bibendum

Woodhead 17’s James Fryer found ‘blackcurrant jam and baking spices on the nose with hints of fresh sawdust, super-ripe palate with fruit compote richness but some tautness in the end-palate’. ‘Cherry, violet, plum… a good pub wine,’ added Euan McColm of Beaverbrook.

£5.81 Majestic Commercial

While The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo found this ‘austere, with cherry, black pepper and smoky plum character’, The Connaught’s Aurel Istrate enjoyed ‘hints of smoke on the nose, black and red fruits with minty notes, grippy tannins, leather and tobacco, and a long, elegant finish’. One for the decanter.

£19.50 Eurowines

‘Granular tannins with coffee and chocolate notes with black forest fruits make this a bargain,’ declared Christopher Parker of Lime Wood Hotel, while team leader Simon Woods enjoyed its ‘toasty, vibrant and supple character, juicy and chunky but has freshness with the berry and plum’.

£7.72 Hatch Mansfield

This left an impression on the whole team, with Hakkasan’s Olivier Gasselin pointing to its ‘modern spicy blackberry, rich and ripe aromas, dark cacao and black pepper notes with plummy, savoury fruit and juicy tannins’.

£9.45 Hatch Mansfield

‘Black pepper and currants’ stood out on the nose for Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte, who also enjoyed its ‘touches of Christmas spices and herbaceous character’, while team leader Tom Forrest noted ‘vanilla and coconut aromas, ripe dark berries and pepper spice’.

£17.64 Bibendum

This left an impression on Rémi Cousin of Le Gavroche with its ‘intense, deep nose of black fruit to coffee and spice’, and he found it a ‘big wine with chocolate flavours, velvety and elegant but with huge power’. ‘Very good, lots of oak, but the body and seductive vanilla and spice hold it well,’ said Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte.

£33.46 Matthew Clark

Team leader Martin Lam enjoyed its ‘funky, savoury nose, sappy and fresh, juicy palate with a savoury element giving it more complexity’, and The Connaught’s Aurel Istrate picked up ‘dark and red fruits, hints of tobacco with a long and pleasant finish’.

£12.48 Matthew Clark

£12.97 Enotria&Coe

£14.14 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

£14.97 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

£12.28 Bibendum

£11.52 Zonte's Footstep

£6.44 Hatch Mansfield

£10.70 Boutinot

£8.87 Matthew Clark

£11.85 Matthew Clark

£10.14 Bibendum

£8.40 Bibendum