A poorly performing category in previous SWAs, this year sparkling rosé managed to provide a string of good examples across all the price points

While the kick-out rate was high, the wines left at the end served as a blunt reminder to sub-standard also-rans of just how good the pink stuff can be

The magnificent 2009 vintage left its gilt-edged fingerprints all over this year’s Loire submissions, with spectacular, seductive reds and vibrant Chenin Blancs in particular

Arguably the standout category of this year’s SWA, Beaujolais delivered some terrific wines at fantastic prices

Food Match Awards

A smorgasbord of styles and an awful lot to get excited about right the way through the medal categories

Despite having definite regional character, the number of Golds for the South of France continues to decrease, with ‘decent’ rather than ‘amazing’ the order of the day

With the pricier wines often still a little on the austere side, our tasters contented themselves this year with an affordable yet typical example for the Gold List

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

A depressing paucity of white entries, but the best red showing since the birth of the SWAs, with high-quality, individual wines right across the price points

Once again, the Rhône was one of the standout categories of the competition, with great wines – red and white – across the region and across the price points

The Sommelier Wine Awards doesn’t give out trophies per category because we’re worried that tasters will feel under pressure to dispense extra awards in categories where they may not believe the wines are up to it. Instead, in keeping with the whole ethos of the competition, we leave the judgement up to the sommeliers…

With a general lack of great available vintages to call on, this was a category that polarised the opinions of the tasters

A good, rather than great, year for white Burgundy with the 2008s often too tight and 2009s fractionally too young

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