Annual wine report paints a gloomy picture

Not a vast amount in the way of bargains, but there were some decent, unusual wines here, proving that the New World still knows how to innovate

Some good-value wines but the relatively low ratio of entries to medals suggests a lot of bandwagon-jumping, too

Plenty of medals again for Chile, although the judges were most impressed stylistically with Australia and South Africa

There was little to excite the judges in this new category. Here’s hoping for better things from the pair in 2012

A good selection of medals from across the New World shows this is a category with real strength in depth

Good wines, good prices and a variety of styles, Syrah was one of the stand-out varieties for the New World

More ambitious pricing but some decent wines too, with Australia, Argentina and South Africa leading the way

Food Match Awards

Still no Golds for Viognier, though certainly lighter, fresher, more food-friendly wines than in previous years

Over 1,500 wines can be boiled down to this: the hallowed Sommelier Wine Awards Gold List for 2011...

Entries of this much-favoured grape may well have been more or less evenly split between Australia and New Zealand, but this year the latter definitely came out on top

Riesling is making itself at home in more and more countries, but where is it performing best? Clinton Cawood joins an eager sommelier panel for a top-notch tasting that pits Old World against New World and some acknowledged masters against hungry, young upstarts

With screwcaps to the fore, the quality of the whites (particularly) and the reds here was amazing for the price. Rosé was another matter entirely

Australia's De Bortoli is preparing a renewed thrust into the on-trade after securing a number of prestigious restaurant listings for its Yarra Valley wines.