‘Rose perfumed with fresh vanilla aromas, complex toffee and caramel roast notes on the palate,’ began Andre Luis Martins of Cavalry & Guards Club on encountering this deserving Gold winner, with Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm adding his praise for ‘caramel coffee and fudge, tempered by a suggestion of orangey character’. Team leader Angela Reddin further described generous notes of ‘millionaire’s cake and toffee-raisin chocolate bar, with a creamy, sweet palate that’s lasting and lovely, with nuttiness and balance’.

£24.59 Size: 50cl Liberty Wines

Euan McColm of Beaverbrook was taken with this Gold-winning Muscat’s ‘molasses and burnt orange notes, with bonfire ember aromas, raisins and prunes, dates and lingering coffee flavours on the palate’. ‘Deep, balanced, with a lovely savoury side, treacle and balsamic – glass-stainingly good!’ added an appreciative team leader Simon Woods. ‘An amazing, rich nose with plenty of aged characters and some Sichuan pepper, and treacly in the mouth, with good acidity,’ thought team leader Angela Reddin, adding: ‘This is a wine for beside the fire on a cold evening.’

£96.75 Size: 50cl Liberty Wines

This was a clear Gold winner made in a ‘rich and full-bodied style, really delicious’, said Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte, who was impressed by its ‘coffee, caramel and spice characters’, with Edgaras Kazokaitis of Roka Aldwych also highlighting ‘bruised caramelised apple and coffee notes’. Petri Pentikainen of Three Chimneys Restaurant added appreciation for ‘raisin, prune and walnut notes, with high acidity making the palate very fresh, with more dried fruit on the long finish’.

£24.11 Size: 75cl Liberty Wines

‘A true gem,’ praised team leader Angela Reddin as this Madeira picked up its Gold medal, describing ‘walnuts, figs, prunes and raisins, and a palate with amazing balance and length’. ‘A fuller style, rich and spicy with big character – good, and very yummy,’ said Andrés Ituarte of Coq d’Argent, while team leader Lionel Periner picked up ‘light toffee and an elegant palate finishing with dates, figs and a note of spice’.

£26.61 Size: 75cl Liberty Wines

‘Almost a savoury edge, to keep the bonfire and toffee elements in balance, and it’s deep and vibrant,’ began team leader Simon Woods, with Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm finding it ‘concentrated, almost painfully so, with deep burned toffee moving into salted caramel on the finish’.

£27.90 Size: 50cl Liberty Wines

A lot to like here for Manuel Ribeiro of The Bybrook at The Manor House Hotel: ‘Roasted fruit, some bright fig and date with toasted almond nuttiness, great complexity and balance of flavours, finishing with more notes of toast, smoke and dried fruit.’ ‘Deliciously mouthwatering, with orange and ginger notes, round and warm and very fiery,’ added team leader Jade Koch.

£22.70 Size: 37.5cl Liberty Wines

A ‘fresh and delicious’ style, began Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte, showing ‘baking spices, balanced acids and rich caramel’, while Edgaras Kazokaitis of Roka Aldwych also found ‘walnut, caramel and toffee notes with prominent acidity’.

£22.75 Size: 75cl Liberty Wines

This found favour with Andre Luis Martins of Cavalry & Guards Club, who highlighted its ‘perfumed roast coffee and cocoa beans with charming velvet character and toffee ice cream finish’, while Beaverbrook’s Euan McColm also found it ‘mouthwatering and opulent, with a long demerara finish’.

£24.22 Size: 37.5cl Bibendum

‘Wow, delicious!’ began Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte, very taken with its ‘fig and prune blended with apricot and melted brown sugar’ style, while team leader Lionel Periner highlighted characters of ‘marmalade and jammy fruit on a complex palate with hints of nuts’.

£59.00 Size: 37.5cl Liberty Wines

Team leader Lionel Periner highlighted its ‘nice dry style, grilled almonds and marzipan’, while for Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte it had ‘zippy acids, a good amount of caramel and cocoa making a great wine with good length’.

£26.53 Size: 75cl Justino's, Madeira Wines, S.A.

Team leader Laurent Richet MS was struck by its ‘amazing caramel, oloroso-style nose with a luscious sweet complexity yet dry on the palate, in between a sherry and a Madeira’, while Mattia Mazzi of Lutyens Bar & Restaurants equally enjoyed its ‘intense, nutty, charred caramel, oxidative notes, lovely dry Marsala/tawny-like style and yeasty feel with great length’.

£29.50 Size: 75cl Eurowines

Team leader Jade Koch found aromas of ‘ginger and candied fruit, a simple, sweet, grapey palate with crème caramel giving broad appeal’, and Manuel Ribeiro of The Bybrook at The Manor House Hotel enjoyed its ‘notes of baked apple, pear, quince and toffee with a hint of honey, then orange marmalade on a toasty, balanced palate’.

£7.31 Size: 75cl Atlantico UK

£7.43 Size: 50cl The Oxford Wine Company

£23.98 Size: 75cl Justino's, Madeira Wines, S.A.

£27.90 Size: 50cl Liberty Wines

£25.38 Size: 50cl Atlantico UK

£26.10 Size: 75cl Liberty Wines

£27.92 Size: 37.5cl Matthew Clark