£6.49, Aldi After this year's biting spring frosts in Marlborough, there aren't going to be many New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs at this price for long – certainly not of this quality. It's dry, zingy and springy with textbook elderflower, gooseberry, passion-fruit, lime and currant-leaf flavours, none of them overpowering or out of kilter. Even if your thoughts were edging towards something more wintry, it's worth taking advantage of this while you can. It's part of Aldi's Spec

£17.99, Majestic I don't know where I would have thought this was from if I was tasting it blind, but you can be pretty certain I wouldn't have identified it as a vineyard in Essex vinified in Devon. And even if I'd hit upon England, I doubt I would have identified it as a product of the frost-devastated 2017 vintage. It goes to show how local and uneven frost can be: Martin's Lane Vineyard escaped most of the damage and the rest of the season was favourable enough for the ha

Why would the luxury goods giant Chanel buy a wine estate in a remote part of the tiny (car-free) island of Porquerolles? The answer that immediately comes to mind is: because it's part of the Côtes de Provence appellation and wines don't come more trendy than Provence rosé. And if you've got the money to invest in an estate or simply a brand you can endorse with your celebrity status, they don't come much more money-spinning either. Just ask the celebs who've been buying the

£19.68, Justerini & Brooks You can pour this and drink it straightaway with pleasure, but it repays time in the glass handsomely. Decanting is another option. It's also best not to chill it too heavily. At first, it's linear, taut and savoury with salty wet rock and crunchy green apple flavours. After 5–10 minutes, while losing none of its crackling energy and steel, sweeter apple and peach emerge alongside fresh lemon and preserved lemon, hints of honey and spice and a textu

£14.50, The Daily Drinker Bright, breezy and light as a feather, this is a delightful example of the Alpine purity and flavour of the Savoie region's Jacquère grape. It's as pale as snow with just a hint of green, smells of spring blossoms, jasmine and summer orchards and glides across the palate in ripples of pear and citrus fruit and mountain-stream stones. It's quietly insistent in flavour, soft textured and effortlessly fresh. You could drink it alongside simple salads an

£12.50–£13.50, The Grape & The Good, Cheers Wine Merchants, Guest Wines, Shaftesbury Wines, Talking Wines You can almost feel the breeze from the Atlantic on your face when you drink this succulent, energising example of Galicia's Albariño grape. You can certainly taste (or at least I can) rich and tangy lemon-curd, salty preserved lemons, juicy ripe peach and briny oyster shell. It's produced by Terra de Asorei, an association of six growers who've pooled Albariño resources

£26.50, Berry Bros & Rudd There is joy tinged with sadness in this week's wine. Let's start with the joy, which is that this is a beautiful wine. Elegant, precise, pure, textural and gently rippling with aromas and flavours of blossom, spicier flowers (marigolds), citrus and minerals, turning to red apple, lychee (just a whisper), orange zest and peach – and all emphasised by the silk-smooth texture and long, fresh, mineral spine. You may find other or completely different ar

If Louis Roederer Cristal 2008 was "the Cristal of Cristals", in the memorable words of chef de cave Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon at the launch of the first two Vinothèque vintages in 2018, what does that make the 2013 he is now introducing? "2008-plus". A little later he describes it as "the Cristal of Cristalsss" and "50 per cent chalk, 50 per cent sunshine", whereas 2012, he says, was a little more on the sunshine side and 2008 was more on the soil [chalk] side. The 2013 is cer

£11.50–£12, The Wine Society, Tesco Full-bodied, succulent, Viognier-based dry white from one of the big names in a region much better known for its red wines – and one that doesn't usually major on Viognier in its whites. But it's the 60% Viognier (supported by Roussanne and Marsanne) that leads the way with fleshiness and soft texture, blossomy aromas and lush peach, cream and patisserie flavours. There's a sprinkling of white-pepper spiciness and a squeeze of grapefruit, t

£8, Tesco Sunshine would be welcome with this racy dry white, but I'm happy to settle for lesser weather as long as I have the wine in my glass. Western Australian Sauvignon Blanc Semillon blends have a style of their own – energising, positive and aromatic with the incisive green fruit of the Sauvignon filled out by subtle, blossomy softness from the Semillon (24% here) and enhanced, in this case, by a mouthwatering smoky, flinty character, green apple, herb and elderflower

This is a selection from a tasting of 48 samples in mini bottles, as you can see above, hosted virtually by the eight Wine Society buyers. I've focused on wines under £10 because I was struck by the value they offered across a range of new, unusual and classic wines, but there was a strong line-up at £11–£16, as well as some more expensive treats. WHITE and ROSÉ Familie Mantler Roter Veltliner 2019, Niederösterreich, Austria, £8.95 Peach and jasmine perfume, peaches and cream

£14.50, Tanners Wines An enchanting example of Piemonte's flagship white grape variety, Arneis, from Monica and Daniela Tibaldi, young sisters who took over the family vineyards in the heart of the Roero hills in 2014. It has the prettiest of scents – floral, fresh, citrusy, delicately herbal – leading into a medium-full, soft-textured palate of fragrant white peach with a twist of lemon peel, minerals and preserved lemon. It hits the spot as an aperitif and could be matched

£15.99–£18.99, New Zealand House of Wine, winedirect, The Vinorium I've never fallen out of love with Chardonnay. There were always good Chablis and other white burgundies to keep me going when California and Australian Chardonnays became too ripe/fat/buttery/oaky and when Australia then went the other way with some overly lean, ascetic wines. But now I'm spoilt for choice and loving where Australia has got to with its cool-climate Chardonnays. And New Zealand, too. The singl

£16.45 for 2018, Amps Wine Merchants; £18.99 for 2019, Yorkshire Vintners This wonderful dry white wine, with its compelling counterpoint of zing and richness, almost didn't come into being. When Katie Jones was about to sign on the dotted line for her first tiny vineyard in 2008, the one from which this wine comes, she suddenly noticed that the document said that half the 2.5 hectare vineyard was Grenache Gris, rather than all Grenache Noir. She didn't want white grapes. The

£8.99/£9.99, Majestic Winemakers in southern Italy have been using the appassimento tecnique to make their red wines smoother and more concentrated, but a white given the treatment is a rarity. Perhaps it won’t be once more producers taste this Sicilian Grillo – a mouthwatering riot of passion fruit, candied grapefruit peel, pineapple, dried pear and spiced apricot, with succulent texture and pivotal acidity. The man behind the wine is the ever-creative Stefano Girelli, who h

£9–£11, The Daily Drinker, ND John, Noble Green Wines, Kwoff If you’re not doing dry January but want to make a gesture, this perky, dry white from the Loire is a modest 11% alcohol and doesn't lack anything in the flavour department. It’s light bodied with an inviting floral nose and a palate of green pear, talcum powder, citrus acidity and sea spray. Although the label states Vin de France and there's no vintage, Vendange Nocturne is to all intents and purposes a Muscadet.

Monterosola's stylishly labelled wines: two whites on the left, then four of the five reds I haven’t visited Monterosola in Tuscany, but having seen photos and tasted six of the eight wines I’m keen to go when we’re all travelling again. Geographically, it's very neatly located. The estate sits high up at 430m on a plateau to the east of the Etruscan city of Volterra in the Province of Pisa, between Bolgheri 50km to the south-west, San Gimignano and its DOC area to the east a

I hardly need say that the past year isn't going to go down in history as very celebratory and that 2021 is looking shaky, but I don't need a celebration to drink Champagne (do you?). If I did, there are the first covid-19 vaccinations (my mother was one of the first to get one). And there's Christmas. And New Year. Here then are my Champagne picks: not as many as usual, and fewer at the bottom end thanks to the absence of tastings and travel, but there are some crackers and

I've tasted far and wide to pick white wines and rosés from a dozen countries to fill your glasses with festive cheer during this small-scale, socially distanced Christmas. Whether it's a simple lunch or supper, a fancy feast or a moment of reflection, these wines will illuminate it. Starting at under £8, they're listed in ascending order of price, give or take differences in retailers’ prices and special offers. If you're in the mood to splash out, you'll know to scroll down

£13.99 on offer, Waitrose I said at the beginning of the year that we should all drink more Sauternes and followed with a resolution a couple of days later to drink more dry white Bordeaux as well. This Pessac-Léognan (the superior AOC enclave of Graves) is one of the dry whites I've loved – and it's currently on offer, so there's no excuse not to indulge. It also happens to go well with smoked salmon, if that's on any of your festive menus. It's a barrel-fermented Sauvignon