Moscato d’Asti is one of my guilty secrets, a sweet, mass market wine that I love drinking. Refreshingly light in alcohol at just 5.5%, this is way better than the slew of “no and low” products that are flooding the market right now. Zesty, tangy and wonderfully grapey – there is no other word – this has flavours of pear, cherimoya and tangerine and a nice interplay between acidity and 115 grams of residual sugar. Perfect for a summer picnic.
Wine Type: White
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.
2024 Yealands Reserve Pinot Gris, Marlborough
( £12.50, 13%, Tesco )It’s a a pleasure to taste something from New Zealand that provides a little relief from the lapping oceans of Sauvignon Blanc. This musky, stainless steel fermented Pinot Gris from the talented Natalie Christensen is appealingly dry in style, with notes of pear, lychee, rose petal and cherimoya, plenty of cool climate acidity and a subtle bitter twist.
2024 Domaine Albert de Conti La Cuvée des Conti, Bergerac
( £12.50, 13%, The Wine Society )This great-value Bergerac Blanc is a fantastic example of what used to be known, a little patronisingly perhaps, as a French country wine. Combining Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon and a splash of Muscadelle, it’s racy, tangy and refreshing, with top notes of parsley and wet stones, crunchy acidity and layers of lemongrass, gooseberry and pink grapefruit. A delicious spring white.
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.
2023 Vasse Felix Filius Chardonnay, Margaret River
( £16, 13%, Sainsbury's )Aussie Chardonnays have undergone a transformation in the last decade or so, moving towards greater freshness and less obvious oak. This beauty comes from Vasse Felix, one of the leading producers in Margaret River, where Virginia Willcock is making some very impressive reds and whites. Tangy, bright and sappy, it has a sheen of subtle vanilla spice, flavours of lemon zest and cardamom and a racy, lingering finish.
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.
2022 Taste the Difference Chablis Vieilles Vignes, Burgundy
( £17.50, 13% )This is far from the cheapest Chablis on the high street, but it’s a wine that’s worth paying a little extra to enjoy. Made by J Moreau, it’s a modern-meets-traditional style, with 6% new wood adding a hint of vanilla spice to a palate of citrus and lemon butter complemented by old-vine concentration and the stony freshness that’s harder to find than it used to be in a warming world.
2023 Domäne Wachau Grüner Veltliner, Wachau
( £13, 12.5%, Tesco )Grüner Veltiner is Austria’s best white grape, especially when it’s grown close to the Danube River. This appealingly priced example comes from Domäne Wachau, one of Europe’s best co-operatives, and is typically fresh, perfumed and stony, with aromas of white pepper and bay leaf and a palate of pear, lime and green apple.
2024 Domaine de Rouqemale Les Rocs Blancs, Languedoc
( £18.50, 13.5%, Yapp Brothers )So-called Mediterranean style white blends can be harder to sell than single-variety wines, but they have fascinating layers of flavour, with the components adding up to more than the sum of their parts. Valérie and Dominique Ibanez blend more or less equal parts Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Marsanne, Piquepoul, Roussanne, Vermentino and Viognier to make this fascinating white from vineyards close to the Bassin de Thau. Rich, textured yet refreshing, it has flavours of fennel, pear and greengage and a hint of peachy sweetness, balanced by a racy finish.
2024 Springfield Estate Special Cuvée Sauvignon Blanc, Robertson
( £12 until August 19, 12.5%, Waitrose )Parcels on sandy, alluvial soils in Robertson supply the grapes for this tasty, crowd-pleasing Sauvignon Blanc from the son and daughter team of Abrie and Emma Bruwer. Broader in style than the same winery’s Life from Stone bottling, it has appealing flavours of greengage and lime, a touch of stone fruit sweetness and a textured finish. Worth trying as an alternative to Marlborough Sauvignons at the same price.