Welcome to my roundup of 34 white, orange and rosé wines for the festive season. Ranging freely across styles, countries (including Ukraine), regions, grape varieties and prices, it's designed to cover all tastes, occasions and eventualities from now until Christmas and New Year and then well into 2025.
There are bottles for the towering occasions, lots of inspiration for gifts and, no less important, wines for the times when absolutely nothing is happening. All of them are ready for drinking, but some will continue to develop.
Whites and rosés should be chilled, of course, but beware of overdoing it and numbing a wine into oblivion. As a very rough guide, finer and fuller bodied styles need less chilling than light, crisp, cheaper or higher acid wines. And the three orange wines should be no more than lightly chilled.
They are are listed in ascending order of price, give or take the occasional vagaries of special offers, and I haven’t separated them by colour, so you'll find orange and pink wines mixed in with the whites.
Waitrose Blueprint Verdejo 2023, Rueda, Spain
Genuine Verdejo character – almond nuttiness, herbs, a hint of lime zest and peach. Very good at the price. 13%.
£6.99, Waitrose
Bolgrad Select Duo 2023, Odesa, Ukraine
One half of a pair of Ukrainian wines in Lidl for a limited period (the other wine is a very good red Saperavi – my Wine of the Week). Duo, a blend of Chardonnay with the more aromatic local variety Sukholimansky, is crisp, light and supple with delicate floral, peach, coriander seed and citrus tones. 12.5%
£7.99, Lidl
M&S Expressions Ribolla Gialla 2022, Venezia Giulia, Italy
A medium-bodied, lively, dry white made from northeast Italy’s ancient Ribolla Gialla grape variety. Herby fennel and sage, a floral note, lemon and lime zest and a peach-skin soft texture. Good value. 12%
£8, Ocado, M&S stores
Preciso Grillo 2022, Terre Siciliane, Sicily, Italy
Crowd-pleasing, citrus-pithy freshness, delicately waxy texture and juicy, dry, lemony fruit. Sicily’s high-quality Grillo grape used to good effect with organic and sustainable methods. 12.5%
£9.95, Tanners
When Life Gives You Oranges Vin Orange 2023, Vin de France
Pale, bright orange colour, aromas of oranges, apricots and chamomile tea and a fresh, precise, soft-textured palate with just the right touch of light astringency and chewiness to be an approachable rather than a challenging skin-contact white. It’s mainly Grenache Blanc but with aromatic input from Viognier and Muscat. 13%
£10.99–£12.50, House of Townend, Hay Wines, Harris & Co, Ellies Cellar
Reyneke Organic Chenin Blanc 2023, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Organic, unoaked and just off-dry, this is invitingly fleshy and textured with refreshing mineral, quince and apple notes. 13.5%
£10.99, Waitrose
Château d’Anglés La Clape Classique Blanc 2023, Languedoc, France
Full, dry and smooth, with white flowers, peach and apple, then exhilarating freshness and salty minerality. It’s a blend of Bourboulenc (50%) with Grenache Blanc and Roussanne from an organic estate on a coastal limestone plateau near Narbonne and it's owned by the former director of Château Lafite . 13.5%.
£11.50, The Wine Society
Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rosé 2023, Rhône, France
Powder pink, full-bodied, dry and succulent, this glides through watermelon, cranberry, pomegranate, a pinch of spice and a squeeze of orange. It’s a rosé made for food, although that doesn’t mean you can’t drink it without. Boxing Day calls. (See also its red counterpart in my Festive Red Wine Guide.) 14.5%
£11.95–£13.50, The Wine Society, Waitrose, Ocado
Domaine Saint-André Terroir Maritime Blanc 2023, Pays d’Oc, France
A breeze-fresh white with a yielding, rounded texture, from the shores of the Thau lagoon in the heart of Languedoc. Green apple, lime, pine and honey with a twist of citrus peeI on the finish from a blend of Vermentino (which we’re now supposed to call Rolle when it’s not from Italy) and 20% Roussanne. 12.5%
£12.49, House of Townend
Muga Rioja Blanco 2023, Rioja, Spain
Oak-fermented but not oaky, this is white Rioja with a creamy texture, nutty complexity and fresh citrus and mirabelle plum notes. Expressive and harmonious. Good value. 13.5%
£12.50–£12.99, The Wine Society, selected Waitrose, and independents
Spy Valley First Release Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Wairau Valley, Marlborough, New Zealand
From this year’s harvest, a New Zealand Sauvignon in a racy, dry, nicely pungent style with herbal concentration, ripe green fruit and good length. 13%
£12.99, Waitrose
Weingut Mehofer Grüner Veltliner 2022, Wagram, Austria
Very pretty, pure and fresh – light bodied but no shortage of spice-edged fruity flavour. Usefully moderate in alcohol, too. 11%
£13.85, Private Cellar
Myburgh Bros Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2023, Paarl, South Africa
Captivating sweet-apple fruit with a touch of leafiness and spice and lovely texture and definition. The grapes are from 40-year-old vines fermented spontaneously in stainless steel and aged on fine lees for a few months. Brothers Tyrrel and Philip are the fifth generation to run the family farm. 12.5%.
£14.25, Corney & Barrow
Alba Vega Albariño 2023, Rías Baixas, Galicia, Spain
Albariño just as it should be – marine-fresh, saline and citrus-pithy around a nucleus of appetising apple and just-ripe peach. It’s the fruits of a new project between Rioja Vega and growers in Rías Baixas.
£14.49, House of Townend
Domaine Boutinot Argiles Blanches Cairanne 2023, Rhône, France
If you like red Cairanne, try a white – made in much smaller volumes than the reds and in this case from a Grenache Blanc-led blend with Roussanne and Clairette. It's oak-matured and has a creamy rich texture, chalky, floral aromas with an almost meaty undertow, and wet rock, white pepper and grapefruit peel notes. Enjoyable now but will gain in complexity over the next couple of years. (See also the red in my Festive Red Wine Guide.) 13%
£14.95–£18.75, Cheers Wine Merchants, Alteus Wines, Blas Ar Fwyd; £83.99 for 6, Kwoff
Manda Huevos Carramainas 2021, Calatayud, Spain
Quiet on the nose, but very exciting and concentrated on the palate, with dried herb, yellow plum, crème brûlée and electric acidity. It’s from a single vineyard of Macabeo at very high elevation and is made by El Escocés Volante, aka Master of Wine Norrel Robertson. Very good value. 13.2%.
£15, The Wine Society
Bonny Doon Le Cigare Orange 2023, Central Coast, California
Delicious peach-coloured skin-contact wine made from a medley of, in descending proportions, Grenache Blanc, Pinot Gris, Grenache Gris, Orange Muscat and Chenin Blanc (there’s your Boxing Day wine quiz question). With notes of orange, apricot and a hint of vanilla in a gently, tart, bitter, chewy format, it’s very versatile with food. Think Christmas and Boxing Day. 11.5%
£15, Tesco
Domaine Calmel & Joseph Le Penchant 2023, Pays d’Oc, France
Like the C&J Organic Pinot Noir in my Festive Red Wine Guide, this is a new organic wine from Calmel & Joseph’s own domaine in Corbières. It’s an opportunity to enjoy a beautiful example of the Rhône’s fragrant Roussanne grape, which you don’t often see unblended. Airy yet fleshy, with floral, lime and fresh herb aromas gradually ceding to apricot, dill, pepper and citrus.
£16.95, South Downs Cellars
Fasolino Gino Biddizza Skin Contact Catarratto 2023, Sicily, Italy
Deep yellow, unfiltered, skin-contact white (aka orange wine) made from organic Catarratto grapes fermented with wild yeasts and left with their skins for 15 days. Peach, smoky black tea and orange zest flavour and just the right amount of chewiness. It comes in a one-litre, screw-capped bottle with a colourful contemporary label. 13%
£16.99 litre (equivalent to £12.74 for 75cl), Adnams
M&S Famille Brocard Organic Chablis 2022, Burgundy, France
Organic Chablis from two dependable sources: the highly regarded Brocard family and M&S, which has always bought Chablis well. Refreshing, dry and lemony with textbook briny oyster-shell notes and gentle crème fraiche tang. 13%
£17, Ocado, M&S stores
Nativ Vico Storto Greco de Tufo 2022, Campania, Italy
Mineral notes, succulent, lemony fruit and herbal freshness with an intriguing hint of basil. An engaging, distinctive, easy-to-drink wine from 3 ha of hand-picked, 30-year-old Greco vines. 13.5%.
£17.85, Private Cellar
Jürgen Hofmann Weiss Burgunder Trocken 2022, Rheinhessen, Germany
Confident, forthright, organic Pinot Blanc with crunchy pear fruit, gentle creaminess and a long finish. It comes from 6 ha of organic vineyards on south-facing limestone soils and is vinified in stainless steel except for 10 per cent in barrels. 12%
£17.95, Yapp Brothers
Plaimont Le Faîte Blanc 2020, Saint Mont, France
This is a perennial favourite, but the exemplary Plaimont co-op has excelled with the 2020 vintage, producing a perfect harmony of weight, texture, intensity, length, tight-wire acidity and flavours of ripe orchard fruit and Sicilian lemons. It’s a blend of local hero grapes Gros Manseng, Petit Courbu and Arrufiac and 40% is aged for a year in barriques (25% new). 13.5%
£22.50, Corney & Barrow
Royal Tokaji Szt. Tamás Dry Furmint 2021, Tokaji , Hungary
Bone-dry Furmint from a first-growth vineyard with rich clay and volcanic soils. Oak maturation gives texture and a touch of spice to the potent minerality, crackling acidity, lime, apple and honey notes. It's very enjoyable already but has masses to give in terms of development. 13.5%
£23, The Wine Society
Alheit Hereafter Here Chenin Blanc 2022, Western Cape, South Africa
Fabulous Chenin fruit – mirabelle plum, quince and apricot – with wet-stone minerality and freshness, almond nuttiness, textural richness and concentration. Wild fermentation in old barrels, then 12 months on lees and a further 6 months in tank on fine lees. 13%.
£23, The Wine Society
Tinhof Eisenstadt Neuberger/Weissburgunder 2022, Burgenland, Austria
A blend of the little-seen Neuberger (40%) with Weissburgunder, aka Pinot Blanc, producing gentle, creamy, nutty aromas with a hint of apricot and a palate of rounded texture, nutty, slightly spicy depth and stony freshness. Organic, unusual and full of interest. 13%
£23.95, Haynes, Hanson & Clark
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Marlborough, New Zealand
Fortieth birthday anyone? If so, Cloudy Bay’s iconic Sauvignon Blanc is on the same page with its label proclaiming ‘40th vintage’. The wine itself is punchy and bright with herb and ripe greengage aromas. The palate adds texture and some riper stone-fruit, spice and lemongrass before drawing to a long finish. If the 40th birthday isn’t right now, don’t worry, you could keep it three or four years in cellar conditions. 13.5%
£23.99 (mix six) Majestic
Tyrrells Pokolbin Hills Vineyard Semillon 2019, Hunter Valley, Australia
Classy, unoaked Hunter Semillon, with straw, dried flowers and chamomile on the nose and lemon-zest zing and lanolin smoothness. Drink it now or watch it becoming more toasty in flavour (despite the absence of oak) over the next decade. All this and it's only 10.5%.
£25, The Wine Society
Capensis Silene Chardonnay 2020, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Expressive, generous Chardonnay with vibrant acidity balancing a core of succulent, ripe apple and peach fruit, creamy, polished oak and a softly saline finish. It’s a blend of four mountain vineyards, including the Capensis home estate Fijnbosch vineyard, and was aged for 10 months in French oak (30% new). 14%
£28.50–£34.94, Fareham Wine Cellar, London End Wines, Ellis Wharton Wines, NY Wines, Nickolls & Perks, Weavers of Nottingham, Hedonism
Thomas Puéchavy Les Vrilles Chenin Blanc 2022, Vin de France
Natural wine alert! I thought I’d better say that even though this is a cracking dry Chenin Blanc that has no need of a warning for natural wine-phobes. Mouthwatering, mineral and dry with green apple and citrus fruit underscored by sinewy acidity. The vines are in the heart of Vouvray – very close to Domaine Huët, no less – but Thomas Puéchavy’s cellars are just outside the appellation boundary, so he’s designated it Vin de France (he could have opted for the region-wide Val de Loire IGP, aka Vin de Pays, but I can see why he wouldn’t.) 13%. Look out also for the next release of his pét-nat Les Turbulents.
£29.50, Wayward Wines
Domaine Moreau-Naudet Chablis 2022, Burgundy, France
There are cheaper Chablis, for sure, but this is an absolute classic: mouthwatering, concentrated and long with a lovely balance of oyster-shell minerality, ripe lemon, nutty roundness, steely backbone and nervy acidity. The mother and daughter Moreau team have a minimalist approach to oak, using one new barrel for every 100hl of Chablis. 12.5%
£33.95, Lea & Sandeman
Michelini i Mufatto Certezas Semillón 2021, Uco Valley, Argentina
Exceptional, foot-trodden Semillón (their accent on the ‘o’) from a 133-year-old vineyard. Complex, richly textured and savoury, with intense sweet-lemon fruit, spice and roasting coffee-bean notes and subtle but vital acidity. It's fermented in large (1000-litre) French oak foudres (casks) and aged on lees for 20 months. 12.5%.
£39.50, Corney & Barrow
Apostolos Thymiopoulos Blanc de Rosé 2009, Greece
This is for the wine drinker who has been-there-done-that with every wine. It's so idiosyncratic it doesn’t even know if it’s white or rosé. In fact, it’s more golden than anything but is not an orange wine. It's made from Xinomavro (red) with 15% Malagousia (white) and took 6 years to ferment. The result is an intense nose of apricot, dried chamomile and smoked nuts and a silky, fleshy, complex palate that’s grippy on the finish. It’s a bit like old white Burgundy and a bit like old Chenin, but really it’s like nothing else. Drink it with food – try anything umami. 13.5%
£33, The Wine Society
Giant Steps Sexton Vineyard 2022, Yarra Valley, Australia
Superb Chardonnay from a north-facing vineyard on steep slopes with shallow soils that naturally restrict yields and concentrate flavours. Enhanced by winemaking of great sensitivity – wild fermentation, a little bâtonnage, 20% malolactic, 10 months in French oak (20% of it new) – this is a wine of great intensity and vitality, a complex nose of smoky minerals, subtle oak and appetite-whetting nectarine and lemon and a palate of refined texture, high tension, nervy acidity and a long preserved-lemon, salty finish. 13%
£46.75–£60, Vinvm, Parched, Must & Lees
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