A wine with a difference, and now with a Gold medal too, this was ‘a brighter style than others, heading towards Bordeaux’, began Joseph Lunn of Suave Wine, highlighting its ‘oak spice and red and black fruit’, while Timothy Connor of Core by Clare Smyth found it ‘great to drink, with bright black fruits, soft spice and herbs, almost like a diluted Antica Formula vermouth – smooth and complex’. ‘A soft, elegant nose, with coffee and liquorice’ led, according to The Pig Hotel’s Jacopo Mazzeo, to ‘bright acidity and a remarkable freshness’.

£23.46 Bibendum

Seeing Gold in this Tempranillo’s future, team leader Lionel Periner had praise for its ‘dark fruit, plum, floral and light spice aromas’, finding it ‘well-balanced on the palate and ready to drink’, while for Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason it was ‘very smooth, with good structure, depth and elegance, and aromas of haricot bean, floral dark chocolate and mahogany leading to an equally complex palate’. For team leader Annette Scarfe MW, this all made it an obvious choice for suckling pig.

£18.23 DOMINIO BASCONCILLOS

There was ‘freshness and concentration of fruit with a balance of oak and acidity’ for Timothy Connor of Core by Clare Smyth, while Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason found ‘mulling spices, lots of clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla with juicy plum and dark chocolate, a value wine and good, wintry by-the-glass option’.

£6.45 EWGA

‘Opens up as it goes along; raspberry fruit almost jumps out at you,’ began Joseph Lunn of Suave Wine, noting that it was ‘slightly light in body and tannin but fresh and fruity’, while Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason picked up ‘dark chocolate, fennel notes and meaty aromas, full body but subtle, understated elegant fruit’.

£13.33 Charles Wells, The Haciendas - Company, Ltd.

Joseph Lunn of Suave Wine enjoyed this wine’s ‘good nose of dark plum, red cherries and currants, with an interesting, full palate balancing grippy tannins with notes of chocolate, slightly milky coffee’. ‘Dark fruit and black olives, good structure with a hint of spice,’ added team leader Lionel Periner.

£9.94 Fine Wines Direct

Coworth Park Ascot’s Michael Fiducia found ‘very perfumed aromas with white flowers, winter jasmine, and an elegantly soft creamy palate’, while Gymkhana’s Valentin Radosav noted ‘ripe yellow fruit, consistency of fruit on the mid-palate and a mineral, medium-length finish’.

£9.07 Bibendum

Coworth Park Ascot’s Michael Fiducia enjoyed this wine’s ‘tropical stone fruit and sandalwood aromas, leading to a soft, rounded and warming mouthfeel’, and team leader Laurent Richet MS highlighted ‘a touch of oak to give extra dimension, hints of butter and hazelnut, yellow plum and apple juice’.

£7.59 Boutinot

‘Soft, with gentle tannins and smooth body,’ said Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason, enjoying the ‘ripe fruit of damson, plum and blackberry, power and elegance’, and finding it ‘understated and complex’, while team leader Lionel Periner noted ‘dark cherry, green bell pepper and floral notes, black pepper and spice on the palate with coffee hints’.

£19.70 Eurowines

A fuller style, and ‘less floral, with more body and texture, good length and minerality’, began Gymkhana’s Valentin Radosav, while Coworth Park Ascot’s Michael Fiducia enjoyed its ‘creamy French toast, camomile and yellow plums, passion fruit and cashew leading to a creamy, rounded palate’.

£14.88 Boutinot

A ‘vibrant’ style, said team leader Laurent Richet MS, who found notes of ‘guava, pomegranate, kiwi and yellow plum on a soft, delicate and rounded palate’.

£6.25 EWGA

Team leader Laurent Richet MS highlighted the ‘sherbet, lemon popsicle, mango and papaya’ character of this wine, cut by ‘lovely acidity all the way through’, and Giuseppe Longobardi of The Cross Kenilworth and Simpsons Edgbaston found ‘white flowers and citrus on the nose, finishing fresh with a hint of camomile’.

£6.66 Charles Wells, The Haciendas - Company, Ltd.

‘Like a chocolate gateau with 85% cocoa, black cherry, plums and damsons,’ began Cheese at Leadenhall’s Robert Mason, who found it ‘smooth and complex, delicious, with great integration of punchy alcohol, fine tannins, lots of coconut and American oak’.

£24.68 Milénico

£10.73 Boutinot

£13.13 Boutinot

£6.25 EWGA

£10.98 Bibendum

£20.47 Enotria&Coe

£9.87 Berkmann Wine Cellars

£5.95 EWGA

£6.40 Boutinot

£15.65 Milénico