Kisi is one of the best of Georgia’s unique line-up of indigenous grapes, so it’s great to see an example on a supermarket shelf in the UK. This is a traditional, orange style white that was fermented and matured in buried clay vessels called qveveris. It has intriguing layers of oolong tea, orange zest and juniper, some underlying tannic structure and a fresh, tangy finish. Something a little different.
Wine Type: White
2024 Nepenthe Grüner Veltliner, Adelaide Hills
( £16, 12.5%, Tesco )It’s wonderful to see Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s greatest white grape, being grown in the cool climate of Australia’s Adelaide Hills. Racy, textured and complete,  this well-priced example  has citrus, cherimoya and white pepper flavours,  undertones of toast and lanolin and a pure, pithy, bone-dry finish. Perfect on a scorching-hot summer’s day.
2024 Azienda Agricola Cortese Orange-utan, Bianco Terre Siciliane IGP
( £14.45-£15.50, 12.5%, Amps Wine Merchant, Appellation Wines, Connolly's, Davies Belle & McCraith, Gwin Dylanwad, Hedley Wright, Hoult's, Love Wine, ND John, Organica Wines, Reserve Wines, The Wright Wine Company, Villeneuve Wines )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.
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 Pike's Traditionale Riesling, Clare Valley
( £13, 11%, Tesco )When the temperatures are as hot as they are in the UK right now, I always reach for a bottle of Riesling from one of the three As (Alsace, Austria and Australia) or Germany. This is a very well-priced, light-bodied example from South Australia’s Clare Valley with lovely jasmine and lime blossom aromas, racy, stony acidity, flavours of kiwi fruit, cardamom and lemon zest and a bone-dry finish.
2024 G de Château Guiraud, Bordeaux
( £18, 12.5%, The Co-op )Some stores may still be on the 2023, but make sure you track down the 2024 because it’s a textbook white Bordeaux at a very reasonable price. Combining Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon, it’s a fresh, tangy, herbal dry white from Château Guiraud, who also make one of my favourite Sauternes, with subtle toasty oak, flavours of citrus and pink grapefruit and lovely mid-palate texture.
2024 Vasse Felix Filius Chardonnay, Margaret River
( £14.50, 12.5%, Majestic )Virginia Willcock makes some of the best value Chardonnays in Australia. This comes form the ocean-influenced Margaret River region and is a wonderful, refreshing, medium-bodied expression  of the variety,  with gentle oak spice and gunflint aromas. layers of citrus, lemongrass and oatmeal and a pithy, mouth-watering finish.
2025 Cantine Volpi Moscato d'Asti, Piemonte
( £7, 5%, Majestic )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.