It’s good to see a producer having a bit of fun. This is a skin-macerated Sicilian blend of Inzolia and 20% Zibibbo from the Girelli family that has appealing grip, freshness and intensity, combining flavours of quince, tea leaf and citrus with a touch of sourdough bread and a twist of quinine-like bitterness.
Food Match: Vegetables
2024 Bellingham The Bernard Series Old Vine OVP Chenin Blanc, Coastal
( £13.50, 13.5%, Sainsbury's )A white that’s made in large volumes – and at a bargain price – this brilliant Chenin Blanc should encourage people to buy more wines from old vines. It’s a beautifully judged, naturally fermented white from Ricardo Cloete, sourced from Durbanville and Stellenbosch. Vanilla-scented thanks to 30% new wood, it has pear, yellow apple and nectarine flavours and zesty, cool-climate acidity.
2024 Domaine du Clos Saint Martin Sancerre, Loire Valley
( £22, 12.5%, Majestic )I don’t buy or drink much Sauvignon Blanc. Too much of it is predictable, running what Dorothy Parker might have termed the gamut of flavours from A to B. And yet when you come across a great one, you realise why it’s a world-class variety. This one from Isabelle and Pierre Clément was one of the highlights of the recent Majestic tasting: racy, herbal and slightly salty, with layers of citrus, elderflower and wet stones and commendable energy and palate length. Utterly delicious.
2023 Cape Point Fairtrade Sauvignon/Semillon, Western Cape
( £8.35, 12.5%, The Co-operative )It’s good to see a Cape Sauvignon Blanc, blended here with 30% Semillon, with a little bottle age rather than released and drunk within a few months of the vintage. This is a tangy, very lightly wooded cuvée from the talented Riandri Visser at a very appealing price, with layers of gooseberry, gunflint and lime and an appealing herbal twist.
2024 Zwartwater Estate White, Paardeberg, Swartland
( £24, 13.5%, The Wine Society )Something of a coup for the Wine Society, where buyer Victoria Mason MW is doing exciting things with the retailer’s South African range, this is a new wine from a historic estate on the Paardeberg, now under new ownership as they say in the hotel trade. It’s a brilliant, layered, complex blend of Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Marsanne and the Hungarian grape Hárslevelü, with aromas of honeysuckle, fennel and wet stone and a tangy, racy palate of orange zest, pear and pink grapefruit. A wine that looks every bit as good as it tastes.
2024 Winzer Krems Grüner Veltliner, Kremstal
( £9.50, 12.5%, Majestic )Winzer Krems is one of the best co-operatives in Europe, especially well known for its great-value Grüner Veltliners. This is a delicious summer white, best sipped by the Danube, but equally delicious wherever you choose to enjoy it. White pepper and bay leaf aromas are complemented by a palate of citrus and pear and a bitter twist from 18 days of skin contact.
2025 te Pā Signature Rosé, Marlborough
( £10.25, 12%, The Co-op )A wine for people who like a bit of colour in their rosés and are bored of the identikit stuff from Provence, this is an appealingly unusual blend of mostly Pinot Noir with 3% Riesling and 2% Merlot from Marlborough in New Zealand. Just off dry, it’s reminiscent of a Tavel from the Rhône Valley, with raspberry, pink grapefruit and red cherry flavours, a nip of tannin and more than enough acidity to lift and freshen the finish.
2023 Domaine Jones Les Parcelles, Languedoc
( From £16.50, 13%, Booths, Loki Wines )English winemaker Katie Jones is making some of the most characterful wines in the south of France at the moment, curating small parcels of old vines to produce really special whites and reds. This assemblage comes from five sites around her home village of Tuchan in the Aude, combining Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc and Muscat. Tangy, herbal and garrigue scented, it has layers of quince, pear and lemon zest, a hint of oak and an appealing bitter twist.
2021 Zulal Areni Red Classic, Vayots Dzor
( £16.50 until February 9; £19 thereafter, 14%, The Wine Society )The Wine Society is never afraid to buy wines from little-known countries, such as Armenia, which is one of the reasons I love their list. On offer until early next week, this is a welcome opportunity to try Areni Noir, thought to be one of the oldest grape varieties in the world. Sourced from high-altitude vineyards over 1,500 metres on volcanic soils, it’s an unoaked delight, showing impressive zip and freshness, racy plum, bramble and redcurrant fruit and textured, fine-grained tannins. Delicious.
2024 Tesco Finest Greek Assyrtiko, Northern Florina
( £11.95, 12.5%, Tesco )Yields are notoriously small on the volcanic island of Santorini, the best place in the world to grow Assyrtiko, while the price of land is high because of tourism. So you can’t blame Tesco for looking to the north of Greece instead to source their Finest* bottling. As it happens, it’s very tasty as well as good value, with a hint of spritz, peach, citrus and nectarine flavours and the zesty acidity that’s part of the grape’s DNA.
2020 The Society's Exhibition Côtes du Jura, Jura
( £19.50, 13.5%, The Wine Society )It’s rare to find a Jura white of this quality under £20, which makes this equal blend of Savagnin and Chardonnay is the ideal introduction to a unique style made close to France’s border with Switzerland. Best drunk with the local Comté cheese, although it’s heavenly with onion soup or a plate of wild mushrooms, it’s textured, racy and appealingly salty, reflecting the three years it spent “sous voile” (under a film of the flor yeast). Not unlike an unfortified Sherry, albeit with Alpine acidity, it reveals layers of citrus, almond and liquorice and a tapering finish.
2022 Azienda Agricola Cortese Vanedda Bianco, Terre Siciliane IGP, Sicily
( £18.95, 13.5%, Aitken Wines, Hoult's, Love Wine, Magnum Wine, Market Hall Wines, ND John, Reserve Wines, Slurp, Yorkshire Vintners )One of the most exciting whites I’ve tasted from Sicily in ages, this is a finely judged, organically farmed cuvée of the local grapes, Catarratto and Grillo. Fermented on skins for a couple of days – which gives the wine extra weight and backbone – before ageing in large barrels called botti in Italian, it’s a rich, tangy, nutty delight, with loads of racy acidity, citrus, nectarine and pink grapefruit flavours and a waft of juniper and wild thyme.