No Golds but an encouraging performance from a grape that is still largely finding its feet in the on-trade

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

A successful haul for this must-list variety, with Chile achieving a bit of a David versus Goliath giant-slaying

After a shocking first year in the SWAs, Carmenère found its feet with some style this year, delivering some great wines

Astonishing value for money from the Chileans, as you’d expect, but not enough wines with the wow factor

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

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

Plenty of entries, and plenty of ambition, too, for this hot, new category. Just not quite enough balance in the wines

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

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

A frankly disgraceful showing by Italy was largely redeemed by a surprise hit from an unexpected quarter

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

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.