CHRISTMAS DAY WHITES
2019 Las Colinas del Ebro, Garnatxa Blanca, Terra Alta, Spain
£9.95, down to £9.45 each if you buy six bottles, stonevine.co.uk THIS wine’s flavour has been stuck in my brain ever since I first tasted it, and I have resisted the urge to write it up so I could save it as my aperitif white choice for Christmas Day. Slender, herbal, green apple and pear-kissed and mineral-soaked, this is quirky, yet thoroughly engaging. It is also under a tenner!
2019 Love by Léoube Rosé, Côtes de Provence, France
£15.99, daylesford. com; £17.95, greatwine.co.uk I HAVE sneaked in a feather-light rosé because this works well with smoked salmon, and we always have blinis on Christmas Day. Organically grown, with 13 per cent alcohol, it is light and silky with a faint salty tang and long, smooth finish.
2018 Château Paul Mas, Parcelle Belluguette, Languedoc, France
£15.99, reduced to £13.99 in a Mix Six, Majestic THIS is a firework of a wine with a huge explosion of flavour on the palate. Made of 45 per cent Grenache Blanc, 30 per cent Vermentino, 15 per cent Roussanne and 10 per cent Viognier, there is French and American oak employed here to give this wine masses of power. Rich, indulgent and classy, it is perfect with turkey.
2019 Tenuta di Salviano, Grechetto, Umbria, Italy
£16.95, reduced to £14.95 each by the case, leaandsandeman.co.uk GRECHETTO is usually an angular, edgy white grape, but Salviano’s version is positively majestic. With stunning poise and precision — plus a serene, mouthwatering finish — this is an amazing find. Not something you would stumble across every day, so I do hope you are moved to seek out this wine, as it is a genuine slice of genius.
2018 Viré-Clessé, Vieilles Vignes, Christophe Cordier, Burgundy, France
£16.99, reduced to £14.99 in a Mix Six, Majestic IF YOU prefer to find a wine with elite turkey-matching abilities but are not going to go overboard on the traditional meatier accompaniments, then this wine is for you. If you stick to fish, this is also your go-to white. Made from old Chardonnay vines, there is great intensity here, but this is not an overbearing wine and so it manages to balance depth and also freshness with consummate ease.
2020 Silver Lining, Sauvignon Blanc, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
£19.75, reduced to £17.78 each by the case, greatwine.co.uk THIS elite Sauvignon Blanc arrived in the UK only a few days ago. Winemaker Marty Edwards was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2012, and sales of his scintillating wines contribute to Parkinson’s research. Top class in every respect, this wine is shaped like a fine Sancerre.