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

For the first time, South Africa has finally dominated this category, with a decent spread of wines from cheap to pricey. A watershed year for the Saffers, perhaps?

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

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

Some weird and wonderful blends and, despite the lack of Golds, a generally positive reaction from the tasters

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

In the second of our three-part series on the basics of food and wine-matching, Hakkasan’s wine buyer Christine Parkinson tells us how to go about pairing wines with meat