Whites to keep the show on the road this Christmas and New Year
Wines listed in ascending order of price. I've given a UK stockist for each, but you can find other stockists in the UK and other countries on wine-searcher.com
Tesco *finest Saint Mont 2014, France
Mouthwatering, tangy lime and quince flavours. A brilliant, snappy fresh alternative to Sauvignon Blanc made from local grape varieties – mainly Gros Manseng – in Saint Mont, south west France.
£5.50, Tesco
Cimarosa Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2013, New Zealand
Bright, breezy, smoky, elderflower and lime flavours. Plenty of zing, but not at all shrill like some Sauvignons.
£5.89, Lidl
Taste the Difference Marqués de Almeida Godello, Bierzo, Spain
Fresh, sappy and peachy with a supple texture and crisp finish. If you’re not familiar with the Godello grape, it’s remininscent of Albariño, but a bit rounder.
£8, Sainsbury’s
A Mano Bianco 2014, Puglia, Italy
Fragrant, fresh southern Italian with citrus, herb and spice flavours and a duvet-soft, rounded texture. A blend of Fiano (predominantly), Falanghina and a little Verdeca.
£8.99, Booths
Domaine Gaujal Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc, France
Picpoul as it should – leafy and zippy with citrus fruit, touches of riper stone-fruit and a mouthwatering sea-salty finish.
£10.50, Yapp Brothers, yapp.co.uk
Cabidos Petit Manseng Sec 2010, Pyrenées Atlantiques, France
A glorious, rich, yet tangy white with zesty, honeyed, citrus fruit. It comes from just outside Jurançon and tastes like the best of Jurançon
£10.95, The Wine Society, thewinesociety.com
Lopez de Heredia Viña Gravonia Rioja Blanco 2005, Spain
Ten-year-old, traditional, oak-aged white Rioja with a whiff of honey, a taste of buttered toast, walnuts and lemon and a crystalline, almost salty, dry finish.
£12.95, The Wine Society, thewinesociety.com
La Voûte Touraine Chenonceaux 2014, Loire, France
Vibrant and mineral like Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (the famous Loire Sauvignon Blancs upstream), but richer textured and riper tasting.
£14.50, Oddbins
P et M Guillemot-Michel Viré-Clessé Quintaine 2014, Burgundy, France
Nutty, peachy, citrusy – lovely definition, depth and freshness in this entirely unoaked Burgundian Chardonnay.
£18.50 (down from £21.50), Tanners, tanners-wines.co.uk
Richard Kershaw Clonal Selection Chardonnay 2013, Elgin, South Africa
Glorious, Meursault-like Chardonnay from the cool-climate Elgin region. Lemon-curd richness and zing, delicate toast and wheatmeal and mineral savour.
£29.95, Berry Bros & Rudd, bbr.com
Opening photograph by Joanna Simon