This year’s Imbibe Live event at Earls Court saw over two dozen sommeliers tasting some of the top wines from this year’s Sommelier Wine Awards competition to find out which bottles received the ultimate accolade. Chris Losh recorded the results

A somewhat muted performance after the high medal count of last year, with the much-vaunted Galicia, in particular, something of a disappointment in 2011

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

Food Match Awards

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

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…

The customers’ love of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc shows no sign of abating, and the strong performance of this category shows why they may have a point

In the past, a By The Glass award has gone to wines that match specific dishes – the theory being that they could be served by the glass as ready matches with a meal.