‘Bright and elegant,’ began team leader Laura Rhys MS as this took home a well-deserved Gold, further describing ‘honeyed, soft fruit like peach and nectarine, with a lovely freshness’. The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo liked its ‘classic’ cut, revealing ‘petrol and honey aromas with dried orange peel, apricot and lime zest notes, then lime juice and marmalade on the palate’, while team leader Martin Lam was impressed by its ‘darker, golden colour, honeyed lime on the nose, complex sweetness and rich, developed style that calls for Roquefort!’

£20.00 Boutinot

Team leader Martin Lam was impressed by this Gold Lister’s ‘classic Pinot Noir nose, with some perfumed notes and lots of aromatics’, finding that the ‘palate is fresh and savoury-sweet’ and describing it as ‘a good Pinot all-round’. Woodhead 17’s James Fryer added his appreciation for its ‘smoky nose, with some white pepper and meaty notes in the background’, while The Cross Kenilworth and Simpsons Edgbaston’s Giuseppe Longobardi thought it an excellent match for ‘duck, barley and beetroot with a wine and orange sauce’.

£17.78 Boutinot

The judges were enamored of this Gold-worthy Riesling, finding plenty of aromatic appeal here, with consultant Charles Pashby-Taylor picking up ‘notes of fusel oil, bay leaf herbs, green apple and lavender’, while The Fat Duck’s Melania Bellesini enjoyed its ‘pungent, complex aromas of acacia flowers, honeycomb richness on the palate and long finish with fantastic acidity’. Sahar Gharai of La Dolce Vita Wine Lounge (California) found it ‘not traditional in style, with floral, aromatic notes, and some white pepper spice too’, thinking it a real crowd pleaser.

£16.08 Wine Traders

‘Rich and intense but balanced,’ began The Fat Duck’s Melania Bellesini as this took its place on the Gold podium, finding it ‘very fruity with beautiful acidity, quite juicy and savoury with a touch of sweetness on a long finish of white peaches and gooseberry’, while team leader Jade Koch was equally impressed with its ‘honeysuckle, lovely crunchy acid, pear and peach flavours on the palate with a saline touch’, adding that it would be ‘great with smoked eel’.

£24.60 Top Selection Ltd

‘An evolved nose, pungent and savoury,’ began team leader Martin Lam of this Gold winner, thinking it was ‘showing fresh lime juice and flowers on the palate, in a very linear and direct style’. ‘Lime, mango and pineapple on the nose, floral notes coming in on the palate and a hint of peach, and a touch of nuttiness on a long finish,’ added The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo. ‘Mouth-coating and silky, with well-integrated alcohol and acidity,’ concluded consultant Javier Azcona.

£17.51 Top Selection Ltd

This had all the Gold List qualifications, with team leader Martin Lam highlighting an ‘evolving savoury-sweet note on the nose, plus lime and honey’, going on to find ‘keen, zesty lime acidity balancing the residual sugar and lifting the ripe fruit’, while The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo picked up ‘kerosene, dried lime, peach and honey in a refreshing style’. Matthieu Longuère MS of Le Cordon Bleu London thought its ‘peachy and floral rather than mineral’ style perfect for ‘pork pie with orange marmalade’.

£11.97 Boutinot

Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason found ‘petrol, tar and graphite aromas, full flavour on the palate with earthy tones, ripe citrus, some bready notes, stone fruit and good minerality’, and described it as ‘complex and long’, while Sahar Gharai of La Dolce Vita Wine Lounge (California) thought it had ‘a great nose of traditional Riesling, with lots of diesel and stone fruit’.

£14.92 Top Selection Ltd

‘Complex, aromatic nose, intense lime juice and zest on the palate with good persistence,’ said team leader Martin Lam, while The Connaught’s Aurel Istrate enjoyed its ‘light jasmine aromas, hints of grapefruit and orange zest with a nice clean finish’.

£11.97 Boutinot

‘Viscosity’ was this wine’s calling card, said Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason, making the most of its ‘full body’ and ‘sweet fruits’. He described it as ‘luscious, savoury and honeyed at the same time, with notes of confit fruit and high acidity, but with great balance and smoothness’. ‘Powerful and complex, and will get better,’ added Suave Wine’s Joseph Lunn.

£30.33 Top Selection Ltd

‘The fruit is discreet, raspberry, delicate and fine on the palate with an earthy touch,’ began Geoffray Bénat of Cépage[s] Wine Bistro, with Woodhead 17’s James Fryer noting ‘cooked plums and peppery black earth on the nose, verging on inky with plenty of pepper and sandy tannin on the palate’.

£18.19 Bibendum

‘This is intense quality, and so linear,’ said an impressed Mike Best of the WSET, finding it ‘pure and pristine, with some terrific length too’, while Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason highlighted its ‘fresh, understated palate of tangy citrus and minerality with herbal notes’.

£17.02 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

‘Peppery on the nose, this has everything: fresh fruit, well balanced, complex and long on the finish,’ began Linh Ziolkowska of Yauatcha City, with Geoffray Bénat of Cépage[s] Wine Bistro finding it ‘intense on the nose, with cherry, ripe raspberry and a touch of leather, smooth and balanced on the palate with more cherry and raspberry, juicy and long’.

£24.85 Liberty Wines

After ‘pear drops on the nose with hints of jasmine flowers’, team leader Jade Koch found ‘juicy acidity, refreshing mineral mid-palate, excellent fruit and a very clean and zippy finish’, while Mario Tomekovic of Smiths of Smithfield described it as ‘complex and rich, elegant with dry texture and excellent balance’.

£21.36 Hallgarten & Novum Wines

While Mario Tomekovic of Smiths of Smithfield highlighted ‘juicy apple and peach aromas with a light hint of petrol on the palate’, team leader Jade Koch found it ‘taut, lean, spritzy and zippy’, with consultant Javier Azcona adding appreciation for its ‘stony minerality and silky palate, with a long finish’.

£8.39 Boutinot

This Riesling stood out for its ‘subtle aromatics, peach and tropical fruit with amazingly pungent minerality’, said Mario Tomekovic of Smiths of Smithfield, who also highlighted ‘flinty and petroleum characters so well integrated, amazing balance and a long aftertaste, to be enjoyed with food’.

£14.50 GK Wine House

This appealed to The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo, who described it as having ‘full, concentrated fruit, a bouquet ranging from green fruit to stone fruit and floral notes of blossom and geranium, followed by a nutty finish’, adding that it ‘will be able to age’, while team leader Laura Rhys MS liked its ‘minerality, with good weight and texture’.

£14.00 GK Wine House

This was all about the citrus for Aurel Istrate of The Connaught, who highlighted its ‘fresh and crisp nose, well-balanced acidity with plenty of lemon zest, fresh lime and a hint of orange on the palate’, while team leader Laura Rhys MS found ‘pineapple and guava, with some white pepper spice, too’.

£16.23 Bibendum

Consultant Charles Pashby-Taylor was taken with this Riesling’s ‘floral, magnolia nose with yellow rose petal notes, and a palate that has lovely fresh acidity with red apple fruit and a finish of jasmine tea’.

£9.00 Boutinot

£11.73 Wine Traders

£8.51 Boutinot

£14.08 Bibendum

£11.68 Bibendum

£8.97 Bibendum

£12.75 Bibendum

£14.64 Bibendum

£21.40 Bibendum

£17.65 Wine Traders

£11.91 Matthew Clark