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.
Wine Type: White
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.
2021 Piedra Fluida Los Frontones, Islas Canarias Tenerife
( £32, 13%, Wood Winters )Piedra Fluida is the (pet) project of former dog food magnate Felix Becker, who has made it his priority to save venerable vineyards from abandonment. This delicious Listán Blanco comes from the 80-year-old parcel in Granadilla de Abona that is the highest in Europe at 1,680 metres. It partners aromas of iodine, oyster shell and dried herbs with a palate of lemon, wet stones and subtle nutmeg spice and a taut, chiselled, mouth-watering finish.
2023 Winzer Krems Orange Grüner Veltliner, Austria
( £10, 13%, Majestic )It’s great to see one of the biggest co-operatives in Austria taking a few risks and producing a tasty orange wine at an approachable price. Way less bitter or extracted than some skin-contact whites, this is a perfumed, elegant, refined Grüner Velltliner with subtle top notes of saffron and patisserie spices, flavours of quince, tangerine and lemon zest, a touch of tannin and a stony, refreshing finish.
2024 Tesco Finest Tingleup Riesling, Great Southern, Western Australia
( £11, 12%, Tesco )A consistent favourite of mine at Tesco for more than a decade, the latest vintage of this Western Australian Riesling is right up to scratch. Made at Howard Park, it’s a bright, tangy, lime and citrus peel Riesling with a waft of jasmine, plenty of mouth-watering acidity and an appealing bitter twist.
2023 Domaine Huchet Muscadet Chemin des Prières, Loire Valley
( £12.50, 12%, The Wine Society )Muscadet can be one of France’s most underrated whites. This delightful, lees-aged Melon de Bourgogne from Jérémie Huchet hails from cooler, granite-rich soils in the commune of Château-Thébaud. Textured, racy, rich, yet bone-dry, it has notes of citrus, green apple and sea breeze and an intensely stony finish balanced by delightful mid-palate weight.
2024 Diemersdal Grüner Veltliner, Durbanville, Western Cape
( £11.50, 13.5%, Majestic )Partly inspired by the subject of my newsletter, this is an example of a producer taking a punt on a lesser known grape, in this case Austria’s Grüner Vetliner in the Cape. Thys Louw produces this tangy, stony, white pepper-scented white in cool climate Durbanville, close to the Atlantic Ocean. Lime and subtle stone fruit flavours combine appealingly on the palate.
2023 Zuccardi Q Chardonnay, Uco Valley, Mendoza
( £16.50, 13.5%, Tesco )Not many people realise it, but the cooler, high-altitude areas of Argentina’s Uco Valley are producing some delicious white wines at the moment, most notably from Chardonnay. This deftly wooded example from Sebastián Zuccardi, made with grapes from El Peral and Gualtallary, is wonderfully focused, direct and refreshing, with layers of lemongrass, citrus peel, fennel and oyster shell, mouth-watering acidity and a stony, tapering finish.
2024 La Guardiense Falanghina del Sannio, Campania
( £10.50, 13.5%, Majestic )Working under the guidance of top consultant Ricardo Cotarella, the La Guardiense co-operative is making some delicious, value-for-money examples of Campania’s native Falanghina grape. Aged on its lees in stainless steel tanks to add weight and texture, this is a wonderful, highly aromatic dry white with aromas of orange blossom and Angelica root and a brisk, lively, focused palate of lime, citrus and fennel.
2023 Domaine Trouillet les Reines de la Jacarde Blanc, Beaujolais
( £15, 13%, Majestic )Beaujolais is so famous as a red wine region that people forget that it also produces a small amount of white wine made from Chardonnay. Indeed, some of its vineyards neighbour the Mâconnais, the southern outpost of Burgundy to the north. This is a delicious, textured white from William Trouillet, whose family domaine also make grander and more expensive Pouilly-Fuissé for Majestic. Perfumed, fresh and very lightly wooded, it has notes of cream, citrus and wet stones and a hint of brioche.
2024 The Society's Greek White, Greece
( £8.95, 12.5%, The Wine Society )The Wine Society has made a specialism of Greece and it’s paid off in the quality of the stuff they import from one of Europe’s most exciting wine-producing countries. This is a scented, zingy blend of Moschofilero and Roditis that would be ideal with a piece of grilled fish and a bowl of green olives. Flavours of lemongrass, wild thyme and citrus peel are complemented by notes of fennel and sea salt and a hint of quinine-like bitterness. Remarkably good at the price.
2024 Familie Mantler Gemischter Satz, Niederösterreich
( £8.75, 11.5%, The Wine Society )The kind of thing you’d be delighted to come across in a Heuriger, or wine tavern, in the hills above Vienna, this a cracking, unoaked white that’s perfect for spring. Refreshingly light bodied and spritzy, it’s based on Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s most distinctive variety, with support from 15% Müller-Thurgau and 5% Muskateller. Juicy, tangy and thirst-quenchingly refreshing, with appealing lime, passion fruit and boiled sweets’ flavours and a touch of balancing sweetness.