Loire Cabernet Franc can be elegant, well-priced and food-friendly. Clinton Cawood calls together an Imbibe panel to see whether the grape can stand on its own two feet and achieve the same success as its big brother cabernet Sauvignon

Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Priorat all make much of their aristocratic roots. Clinton Cawood joins a team of tannin-hardened sommeliers to put their top wines to the test and find out which region has the strongest claim to the Spanish throne

Some great-value wines on the Gold List together with a few top-end ones, too. With more controlled oak use, in future years this is a category that could really fly

A broad selection of decent, well-made wines, but far fewer for our tasters to get really excited about

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

Somewhat under-powered compared to previous years, our tasters would have liked to see a bit more evidence of this country’s famous quirky individuality

With good value evident across the range and a variety of styles on show, there was something for every restaurant in these must-stock medal-winners

Food Match Awards

High quality came hand in hand with high prices, with the best examples combining a strong regional character with a more approachable modernity

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

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

An interesting and diverse category, Tuscany seemed to have everything from ‘affordable and local’ to ‘blinged up and international’

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