My latest Wine of the Week was one of six Italian wines I tasted from Tanners. I could happily have chosen any of the other five, so I'm posting notes on them. The first two are new in and from the same Abruzzo producer as my Wine of the Week. The other three are described as "old faithfuls" by Tanners. Tenuta del Priore Col del Mondo Sunnae Abruzzo Bianco 2017, £10.95 You don't see white Abruzzo very often – a shame if this lees-matured blend of Trebbiano, Passerino and Peco

£14.95–£17.99, Divine Fine Wines and other independents Maybe it's hankering after something to match, rather than beat, the mood of bracing January weather. Maybe it's the thought of a vitalising tonic. Maybe it's just that a lot of the new-vintage southern hemisphere Sauvignons take to the shelves. Whatever, there's always a moment in January when I crave Sauvignon Blanc. The latest Greywacke Sauvignon hits the spot. I tasted it before Christmas then again last week when w

Eyes and palates have been focused on the 2017 white Burgundies being offered en primeur this month, and it's an excellent vintage in decent quantities, but it'll be a while before most are shipped, so I've tasted half a dozen of the The Wine Society's current wines, four 2016s and a Meursault from each of 2014 and 2013. Stored well, they can be drunk any time over the next fours years, or in the case of the Coche-Bizouard Premier Cru Meursault six or even seven years. Domain

£5.49 mix-six sale price, Majestic Even at £8–£8.25 (Sainsbury's and Morrisons) this is great value, so at Majestic's mix-six sale price (until 27 January) it's an absolute bargain. I've just had a bottle of the 2014 that I'd forgotten about (bought in a 'buy 6 save 25% offer', probably in May 2016). I didn't expect it to have lasted – Viognier isn't long-lived – but it was stunning: bursting with ripe apricot and peach fruit, zippy grapefruity acidity, Viognier's oily richne

£14.99 (£12.99 in a 6-bottle mix), Majestic; £16, Booths This is already in my Festive White Wine Guide, but it's an absolute favourite and has reasonable distribution through Majestic, Booths, Berry Bros and a few others, which is useful when last-order dates for Christmas are sailing by. It also gives me the opportunity to say a bit more about it. Why a favourite? It's the combination of floral perfume, citrus, white peach and pear flavours with the textural richness from l

We're there: my Champagne picks for Christmas, New Year and every other kind of festivity, whittled down with difficulty to what I hope is a manageable number, but I'm posting this before The Wine Gang's annual Ultimate Champagne Evening, so I may well add one or more top-end bottles next week. I've largely steered away from Champagnes featured in the last two years' round-ups, which means missing out some with particular regret, but it spans the spectrum of styles, producers

Dry and off-dry whites from around the globe to cover the festivities and all eventualities at prices from £6 upwards and from the supermarket giants to small independents. Listed in ascending order of price, as usual. Moncaro Verdicchio dei Castelli Jesi Classico 2017, Italy A rounded, off-dry white with almond nuttiness, leafy freshness and a hint of citrus-pith bitterness on the finish to off-set the touch of sweetness. Good value. Can be drunk solo or with light fish, pa

17 December: I've updated this post (first published on 3 December) with the addition of two more English wines: Denbies Cubitt Blanc de Noirs 2013 and Nyetimber Classic Cuvée. The first of the season's round-ups is anything sparkling except Champagne. (That comes next.) They're selected for quality, interest and value for money and cross four continents, spanning the spectrum from easy-drinking crowd pleasers to quirky Pet Nat. There is, though, nothing ultra cheap. If you w

£43 magnum, The Wine Society I was going to put this in my Festive White Wine Guide, which will be out shortly, but have decided it deserves the full-on spotlight here because it's such an impressive and delicious example of rare white Vacqueyras (a blend in this case of Clairette, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc). It's generous and silky textured – sumptuous, even – but with crystalline definition and intensity and flavours that are smoky, floral and peachy. It would be perfect

£23.50, Corney & Barrow Don't be put off by the the thought of having to pronounce the name. This is a wonderful dry white, full of flavour and character, and Öreg Király-dulo translates simply and memorably as Old King vineyard. The steep, stony, traditionally terraced vineyard is on the majestic Király-hegy (King's hill), near the old town of Mád in the heart of the Tokaj region, and has belonged to the Barta family since 2003. They and their winemaker Vivien Ujvári are com

The tasting of the first two vintages, 1995 and 1996, of Roederer's ultrarare Cristal Vinothèque When Louis Roederer released the first vintage of Cristal Vinothèque in September last year, the 1995, there was a launch for the press in France, but no tasting in the UK. When you know that the entire UK allocation is 48 bottles of the white (out of a grand total of 400) and 18 bottles of the rosé, you can see why. On Tuesday, for the launch of the 1996 (500 bottles of white pro

£10, but £8 on current offer, Tesco A new wine from a single vineyard, Lachica, in the Limari Valley, one of Chile’s most northerly wine regions. It's relatively close to the sea and has a dry, fairly cool climate – all good for wine growing – but even more critically it has some of Chile's rare limestone soils, which Chardonnay loves (think white Burgundy). The limestone influence shows in the characteristic mineral freshness. This wine, made by Marcelo Papa of Concha y Toro

£12.50, The Wine Society This is a stunning white Burgundy at the price and a great achievement for a first vintage in new hands. Fréderic Burrier, head of Maison Joseph Burrier and Château de Beauregard in Pouilly-Fuissé, bought Domaine de la Rochette only the year before. It's from 40–50 year old vines on a steep, limestone-rich clay slope on the sheltered southwest of Mont Sard and it was partly barrel-fermented and partly tank-fermented. The result is a wine combining fre

£8, Marks & Spencer I don't know whether this has been getting better with each vintage or whether I'd forgotten what great value it is. Probably it's both, but either way you get a lot of quality and Cape Chenin character for a modest outlay (and if you're having a party, see below for quantity discounts). The vines are 30 years old, mature enough to give textbook Chenin flavours – straw-like nuttiness, dried flowers, fresh peach, apple and crisp citrus – and they're bound t

£11.99, in any 6-bottle mix, Majestic Touraine Chenonceaux is a small appellation on the River Cher east of Tours, created as recently as 2011. (What took them so long? The splendid Château de Chenonceau has been spanning the river there since the sixteenth century.) The white wines are made from Sauvignon Blanc and have some of the green fruit and bite of Sancerre (about 150k upstream on the Loire) but wrapped in more succulent, tropical fruit, which makes them a good bridge

£14.99, Ocado One taste of this and you understand why Crémant d’Alsace is the most popular sparkling wine in France (aside from Champagne) and why the French keep nine out of every ten bottles for themselves. It’s dreamily fresh, rounded and floral with delicate honeysuckle, peach, ginger and citrus flavours and a breezy grapefruit-zest finish. It’s made in the same way as Champagne, which means the bubbles are created in the bottle during a second fermentation and the wine

£13.95, or £12.75 in any 12 bottles, Lea & Sandeman I've held off making a Màquina y Tabla white a Wine of the Week for no better reason than that one of this producer's reds was a Wine of the Week in 2016. It's not a good reason when the wines are as brilliant and as innovative as they are, so I'm kicking off 2018 with a hearty shout for the 2016 Páramos de Nicasia, a wine with immediate appeal but lots of layers (and the last vintage to bear the humble Vino de España design

£8 until 1 January, Tesco Since I included this southern Italian in my Festive White Wine Guide last week, I've discovered that it's on offer, down from £9, until January 1, making it an even better buy. It's also in a large number of stores (864), so it's a useful wine to have on your list in the frantic run-up to Christmas and the quiet days before New Year (and the Tesco *finest label can be peeled off). The wine itself is crisp, dry and unoaked and should pass muster with

Sixteen dry whites to cover the festivities and all eventualities at prices from £7 to £48 and from the supermarket giants to small independents. New Zealand Sauvignon is conspicuous by its absence, not for any lack of enthusiasm on my part, but because it was clear from my tasting notes and scores that with NZ Sauvignon you pretty well get what you pay for. If you want something more expressive, expect to pay £13-£20 and head for the likes of Greywacke, Dog Point, Churton,

The first of the season's round-ups is sparkling wines – anything alcoholic and fizzy except Champagne (the Champagne round-up follows shortly). They're selected for quality, interest and value for money and it's ended up as five rosés, three whites and two reds from five different countries across both hemispheres. There's no Prosecco this year – I'm prepared for the brickbats – but if you're looking for one, Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Prosecco Conegliano 2016 is bette