To hear the judges describe this, it couldn’t have been anything but Gold, with Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte finding aromas of ‘black peppercorns and earth, then a medium-weight red fruit palate – so delicious, and great value’, while Vinoteca’s Charlie Young found ‘leafy, pencil-lead aromas leading to plenty of acidity and more graphite notes on the palate, with a ripe red-fruit character on the finish’. And at the price, Winexponent’s Simon Cassina thought it an excellent by-the-glass option.

£6.55 Levin Wines

As this took its place on the Gold podium, Davide Dall’Amico of Royal Automobile Club described an attractive nose of ‘chalk, grass, peach and a floral bouquet, leading to a palate with juicy acidity and good ripeness’, while team leader Tom Forrest spoke of a ‘laser-sharp wine streaked with minerality’. ‘Taut, with a pure, beautiful nose and bright, steely palate, with smoke, greengage and grassy notes,’ added Mediterroenean’s Leonie Loudon.

£19.02 Matthew Clark

It was an impressed judging panel that elevated this Loire Chenin to Gold, finding it ‘a great food wine’, according to team leader Annette Scarfe MW, and ‘well balanced and integrated, with delicate apple notes on nose and palate’. Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm found it to have ‘good weight and acidity, as well as complexity and texture’, while Eva Krenkova of Restaurant Sat Bains praised its ‘ripe style and lively acidity’.

£11.03 Bibendum

For team leader Laura Rhys MS, this combined ‘juicy, ripe citrus fruit, pineapple and kiwi fruit, as well as some minerality’, all leading to, according to Melody Wong of Ten Trinity Square Private Club, ‘a dry finish that makes this food-friendly’.

£11.25 Hatch Mansfield

Davide Dall’Amico of Royal Automobile Club had nothing but praise for this wine, finding ‘a delicate and mineral nose, leading to a more biscuity palate, and with some stone fruit notes, too. Quite a precise wine, with a long finish.’

£7.76 Wine Importers

‘A really fresh and clean wine, with some saline notes and bags of citrus’ was Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm’s summary, while Davide Dall’Amico of Royal Automobile Club enjoyed ‘stone fruit, chalk and oyster shell on the nose, with the palate reflecting those flavours in perfect balance’.

£10.40 The Oxford Wine Company

‘A lipsmackingly fresh wine, with lots of green fruit aromas like gooseberry, apple and green pear,’ said impressed team leader Tom Forrest, who went on to describe ‘a fresh, mineral palate with more of those green fruit notes’.

£15.89 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

This was a complex mix of ‘red apple, apple blossom, peach, honey and white flowers’, thought Melody Wong of Ten Trinity Square Private Club, who went on to find ‘good texture on the palate, with a touch of creaminess and a candied lemon finish’.

£14.04 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

Team leader Lionel Periner found ‘dark fruit, oak extraction and coffee beans on the nose, with a nicely balanced, youthful palate and drying tannins’, while Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte liked its ‘redcurrant skin, sour cherry and old wooden chest resonating on the palate, and long, toasty-leathery finish’.

£18.20 Levin Wines

‘A little earth and hints of manure on the nose, wet hay,’ began Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte, also picking up ‘red cherry and purple fruit, liquorice notes on a soft palate’, concluding: ‘Damn good.’

£16.04 Matthew Clark

Giuseppe Longobardi of The Cross Kenilworth and Simpsons Edgbaston found an appealing combination of ‘fresh mint, hay and honey, as well as gooseberry notes, culminating in a long finish’, which team leader Laura Rhys MS summed up as ‘a classic style of Sauvignon’.

£8.07 Jascots Wine Merchants

Coworth Park Ascot’s Michael Fiducia was drawn to this wine’s ‘lifted aromas of lemon and gooseberry, and well-balanced but mouthwatering palate’, while team leader Tom Forrest picked up on ‘mineral green aromas, some grassy notes, ripe fruit on the palate with a tropical pineapple hint, mineral freshness and lime on the finish’.

£10.42 Jascots Wine Merchants

£15.96 Hatch Mansfield, Matthew Clark

£16.39 Bibendum

£12.45 Boutinot

£12.95 Boutinot

£13.95 Boutinot

£11.04 Liberty Wines

£8.53 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

£9.38 Matthew Clark

£22.23 Matthew Clark