Seeing Gold in this Spanish red, James Franklin of Fenwick loved its ‘cracking nose of ripe, delicate fruits and cured ham, with soft warming spice and jammy rich notes on the palate’, while team leader Sam Caporn MW thought it ‘characterful, with tight black fruit and nice balance, plums, cassis and bramble fruit’. ‘Crushed-velvet tannins, wet earth and leather’ combined with ‘dark fruit and black pepper’ sealed the deal for Woodhead 17’s James Fryer.

£11.77 Bodegas Luzon

An ‘excellent by-the-glass’ choice, suggested Fenwick’s James Franklin, with its ‘great purple haze, layered spice and fruit and good, grippy tannins’. For Coworth Park Ascot’s Michael Fiducia it had ‘intensely perfumed cherry fruit leading to a crunchy palate with mocha touches’.

£8.15 Bodegas Luzon

James Franklin of Fenwick found ‘maturity on the nose, smoke with ash and mushroom, earthy spice notes’ and then a palate with ‘well-integrated tannin and a long finish’, while Christoph Hons of Park Chinois noted ‘smooth tannins, fresh and aromatic, unusual style, bold with cassis and floral notes’.

£15.00 Fine Wines Direct

Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte found appeal in this wine’s ‘tobacco and charred earth, extra-ripe black fruits and liquorice, with a bit of salt’, while team leader Tom Forrest highlighted its ‘leafy red and black berry notes, spicy pepper and juicy finish’.

£11.25 Liberty Wines

A ‘distinctive’ style, said team leader Sam Caporn MW, with its ‘attractive, lifted fruits of the forest, apple and raspberry’, while Coworth Park Ascot’s Michael Fiducia enjoyed its ‘simple, easy-drinking, plummy and crunchy fruit with hints of mocha’.

£6.82 Boutinot

‘Dense and dark, and a wine you could cellar,’ said Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte, picking up on ‘lots of spice with liquorice and star anise, good quality’, while team leader Tom Forrest noted ‘stewy ripe dark berries, cinnamon and clove spice with drying tannin and black pepper notes on the finish’.

£23.10 Bancroft Wines

This earned a ‘Wow!’ from team leader Sam Caporn MW, for its ‘very distinctive aroma of oak, spice, fragrant floral and bacon notes’, with Christoph Hons of Park Chinois admiring ‘lots of spices and good body with mouth-drying tannins but a bold, spicy finish’.

£10.76 Fine Wines Direct

Antóin UáRuairc of UK Midland Sommelier Ltd felt this was ‘very oaky but kept expanding, warm and fruity on the palate, jammy and very pleasant’, while Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte noted ‘dusty cocoa, red cherry and tart currants, simple but decent for the cost’.

£6.87 Boutinot

‘Starts with cherry, then moves on to jams and syrups on the nose, and a very interesting set of red fruits on the palate with light tannins,’ began Antóin UáRuairc, of UK Midland Sommelier Ltd, while Coq d’Argent’s Andrés Ituarte found it ‘easy drinking but hard to fault, with layered black fruits and balanced acids’.

£8.37 Bibendum

A leesy, lactic, oxidative style, our judges found, offering a palate of cooked stone fruits, honey, acacia and camomile floral character with hints of orange and nuts, minerals and stony spice, though very persistent on the palate and original in style: a handsell.

£13.06 Bibendum

£8.93 Bodegas Luzon

£9.88 Liberty Wines

£7.21 Berkmann Wine Cellars

£7.59 Boutinot

£7.45 Liberty Wines

£8.04 Boutinot

£7.37 Boutinot

£8.50 Liberty Wines

£8.75 Liberty Wines