The New World’s emerging white wine categories have been patchy in previous SWAs. But this year, there were some genuinely impressive – and cheap – wines

Solid, rather than great wines, and a return to dominance for South Africa

A smallish but dynamic section, our sommeliers found some really good, food-friendly wines here at prices that make them all well worth a look

Lots of wine, plenty of freshness, but not, for the most part, enough ambition. New World Sauvignon Blanc is a category that is rather treading water at the moment

Plenty of decent bottles and very few dogs meant that our tasters were positive about New World Chardonnay, though genuine excitement was in short supply

The usual mixture of styles, and a mixed bag of results too, with harsh criticism from the judges, but also more Gold Listed wines than ever before

New World Pinot’s strongest showing yet – and heartening signs of winemakers finding their feet with the grape as big fruit gets replaced with a more restrained style

Some very good wines here, with our tasters generally favouring those from the cooler climates and the mid-price points over expensive blockbusters

Chile, again, was the country to catch, with Gold Listed wines throughout the price points. On this evidence, the Kiwis and Aussies need to pull their socks up

Big wines and big prices abounded here, and although there were some worthy winners, our tasters would generally have preferred both wines and price tags to be smaller

Arguably the best performance from Kiwi Sauvignon since the start of the Sommelier Wine Awards, with variety and decent value too