For local grape varieties make up the blend here – Arinto, Folgazão, Rabigato and Viosinho – sourced from vineyards on the southern side of the Douro Valley in their Quintas de Ervamoira and Bons Ares. An appealing counterpoint to the more powerful reds and fortifieds of the region, this has lovely freshness, aromas of fennel, citrus and oatmeal and a youthful, tangy, deftly wooded palate. Should develop further in bottle.
Food Match: Fish
2019 Pepe Mendoza Pureza Moscatel Abargués, Alicante
( £15.50, 12.5% )Coastal Alicante – with a marked marine influence – is the source of this stunning, amphora fermented and aged, old-vine Moscatel de Alejandría from the region’s most exciting producer, Pepe Mendoza. Fresh, tangy and salty, with mouthwatering acidity, flavours of pear, citrus and orange water, amazing focus and some grip from partial skin contact.
2017 Pepe Mendoza Macabeo-Merseguera Ánforas Tinajas de Padilla, Alicante
( €16, 13.5%, Available from the winery )Production is small on these Pequeñas Vinícolas wines, alas, but the quality is very impressive indeed. This is an experimental cuvée of Macabeo and Merseguera, aged in amphora under a veil of the flor yeast. It’s an engagingly complex white with notes of wild flowers, camomile tea, tangerine peel and a hint of sea salt. Yeasty and long, it’s one of Spain’s greatest Mediterranean whites. Utterly delicious.
2017 Viñas del Cámbrico Rufete Blanco Granito, Sierra de Salamanca
( £24.99, 12.5%, All About Wine )Made with organic grapes grown on granite soils in the little-known Sierra de Salamanca at 700 metres, this is a very rare Spanish white with incredible texture, focus and minerality, especially at only 12.5% alcohol. Salty, yeasty and beeswaxy, with a bracing, mouthwatering finish. No oak, just fruit intensity and texture.
2018 Cuatro Rayas Cuarenta Vendimias, Rueda
( €8.50, 13.5%, Available from the winery )The vines used to produce this impressive, well-priced Verdejo from the go-ahead Cuatro Rayas co-operative are “only” 40 years old, but that would be considered ancient in some parts of the world. Rich and almost exotic, with notes of lychee and white peach, some subtle oak from 20% barrel fermentation in 500-litre barrels and zesty, crunchy acidity.
2017 Cuatro Rayas Amador Diez Cuvée, Rueda
( €29, 13%, Available from the winery )One of the most ambitious Rueda whites, this comes from a selection of pre-phylloxera vineyards and is built to age. The oak is better integrated than on the 2015, which is also available in the market right now, supporting a wine with amazing intensity and focus. Nutty and intense, it has flavours of pear, citrus and marzipan, with undertones of fennel and cinnamon, good structure and racy, palate-cleansing acidity.
2019 Cuatro Rayas Viñedos Centenarios Verdejo, Rueda
( £9.15, 13%, Vinvm )Superb, lightly wooded Verdejo from 100-year-old vines that shows both concentration and freshness. Pink grapefruit and wild herb notes combine thrillingly on the palate with a salty finish and a hint of vanilla spice.
2018 Pedro Parra Vinista País, Portezuelo, Itata Valley
( £15.99, 13%, Dronfield Wine World, Quality Wines, The Old Bridge Wine Shop, Vin Neuf, Vinvm )Pedro Parra is best known as a French-trained ‘terroir specialist’ who consults to many of the top wineries in South America, but he is increasingly turning his weathered hands to producing his own wines. This deliciously refined País comes from a 100-year-old vineyard on granite soils in Portezuelo and will definitely appeal to fans of Pinot Noir. Pale, playful and refreshing, it has pomegranate and raspberry fruit, a hint of savoury tannin and a long, tangy finish.
2018 Kellerei Kurtatsch Schiava Sonntaler Alte Reben, Alto Adige
( £16.45, or £14.50 as part of a mixed case, 12.5%, Haynes Hanson and Clark )I enthusiastically recommended the 2017 release of this wine, but I make no excuse for doing the same thing with the 2018. Schiava, otherwise known as Vernatsch, is the grape variety behind this wonderful, old-vine red from a brilliant co-operative in the Italian Alto Adige. Showing the Alpine freshness of a vineyard at 400 metres, it has top notes of rose petal and summer pudding, a core of redcurrant and wild strawberry fruit, racy, palate-tingling acidity, stony minerality and a long, textured, refined finish. Something to remind you of the last days of summer.
2019 Kumeu River Village Hand Harvested Chardonnay, Kumeu
( £10.50, The Wine Society )If Michael Brajkovich MW were a Burgundian rather than a New Zealander, he would be among the most celebrated white winemakers in the Côte de Beaune, right up there with the likes of Dominique Lafon, Pierre-Vves Colin Morey and Jean-Marc Roulot. The good news for us is that we can buy his amazing Chardonnays at ludicrously cheap prices. This is only his entry-point wine, but is typically well balanced, refreshing and focused, with just a hint of oak spice, leesy complexity, some struck match undertones and a chiselled, refreshing finish. A Kiwi wine that’s better than many Puligny-Montrachets.
2019 Pierre Jaurant Viognier, Languedoc-Roussillon
( £4.49, 13.5%, Aldi )Aldi has a deserved reputation for sourcing very drinkable wines under £5 – much harder than you think given exorbitant duty rates in the UK – but this is something else altogether. I’ve tasted much less exciting Viogniers at three times the price. Classically smooth and voluptuous, with flavours of peaches, cream and nectarine and just the right amount of supporting acidity. Outrageously good at the price.
2019 Argyros Estate Assyrtiko, Santorini
( £28, 14%, Bottle Apostle, Philglas & Swiggot, Tanners )Oh to be sitting in a bar in Santorini drinking a glass of this amazing wine. But sipping it in London’s still a pleasure, reminding me of the lure of the Greek islands. Made from old, ungrafted bush vines grown on volcanic soils, it’s a stunning white from Matthew Argyros, demonstrating Assyrtiko’s classic combination of salty, briney aromatics, crunchy minerality and flavours of preserved lemons and wild herbs. Long, focused and beautifully balanced.