The best white wines for Christmas

The selection below is made not on the basis that there should be a politically acceptable representation of different countries, styles and grape varieties, but simply on the basis of what strikes me currently as great value in view of how it tastes (with the possible exception of the last wine).

Looking it over I see a rather disproportionate number of wines from Majestic, Tesco, Waitrose and The Wine Society. But that is not surprising because they have the size, or structure in the case of the co-operative Wine Society, to enable them to keep prices low. They also have some of the best buying teams in the business.

Interestingly, to me anyway, there seems to be a preponderance of South African wines and Chilean Chardonnay, plus, to my surprise, some bargains from California.

Buying in quantity often saves money, especially at Majestic, which reduces prices for those buying any mix of six bottles.

Some of the wines have the recommendations below

🔴 Would go with turkey

🟠 House wine candidate

🟡 For the adventurous drinker

🟢 Environmentally friendly/worth supporting

🔵 Eye-catching label

🟣 To cellar for a future Christmas

🟤 Has a story to tell

🟠 Dom des Deux Vallées, Equilibriste Chenin Blanc 2023 Vin de France (11%)

What a bargain! Grown on schist in the Loire and fermented with ambient, not inoculated, yeast. Early-drinking palate-reviver.
£6.99 Waitrose

Cramele Recas, Sorcova Fetească Regală 2023 Romania (11%)
From a 1998 planting of Romania’s fragrant grape. Usefully low alcohol for drinking without food.
£8.99 Waitrose

🟠 Cébazan co-op, La Crème de la Crème Chardonnay 2023 IGP Pays d’Oc (13.5%)
A Languedoc bargain for Chardonnay lovers with very gentle oak influence for current, not future, drinking.
£9.99 Waitrose Cellar (online only)

Pal Mas Sauvignon Blanc/Souvignier Gris 2023 Vin de France (12.5%)
Tesco seems to be championing the disease-resistant varieties of the future such as Souvignier, and the Floréal it also sells. This Languedoc wine is a little richer than many Sauvignons.
£10 Tesco

🟠 De Martino Chardonnay 2023 Limari (13.5%)

Cool, fresh and much more exciting than the price suggests, from one of Chile’s best producers.
£10 (reduced from £12) Asda

Invencivel, Natural Mystic 2023 Vinho Verde (11.5%)
Made by Rita Marques and Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof in South Africa. Much more fruit than a typical light Vinho Verde.
£10.50 The Wine Society

🟠 Reyneke, Organic Chenin Blanc 2023 Western Cape (13.5%)
From a pioneer of organic viticulture in South Africa.
£10.99 Waitrose

Ch d’Anglès, Classique 2023 La Clape (13.5%)
Distinct quince flavour and energy in this Languedoc seaside blend based on the scented Bourboulenc grape.
£11.50 The Wine Society

🟣 Bilbainas, Viña Pomal Barrel Fermented 2023 Rioja (13%)

I’m a sucker for a good white Rioja, based on Viura (aka Macabeo) grapes and traditional Malvasia in this case. This is a great price for a gently oaked white.
£11.99 Majestic

Howard Park Chardonnay 2023 Margaret River (12.5%)
This beautiful Western Australian wine and surf region prides itself on the sophistication of its Chardonnays (and Cabernets).
£12 Sainsbury’s, Tesco

Nals Margreid, Piccozza Pinot Bianco 2023 Alto Adige (13%)
Excitingly pure, mineral alpine wine from one of the best producers in Italy’s finest white wine region.
£12 Tesco

🟠 Réthoré Davy, Parcelles Chardonnay 2023 IGP Val de Loire (12.5%)

Complete and creamy. Nothing like white burgundy, but this would make a house white to please all.
£12.65 Haynes Hanson & Clark

🔵 La Casa de Marieta Albariño 2023 Rías Baixas (11.5%)
“This should cost more!” I wrote, most unusually, in my tasting note. Superior, lively, marine wine from Spain’s cool north-west corner.
£13 Tesco

Springfield Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2023 Robertson (12.5%)
A reliable, refined South African.
£13 Tesco

🟡 Textura, Pretexto 2021 Dão (12%)
Another top producer from the region responsible for Portugal’s most Burgundian whites. Superior Encruzado and Bical grapes.
£13.80 Justerini & Brooks

🟣 Adam Who? Riesling 2023 Eden Valley (11.5%)
Very pure Australian Riesling nose with a little more fruit than the norm but by no means sickly sweet.
£13.95 Corney & Barrow

🔴 Ch Grand Moulin, Grandes Vignes 2023 Corbières (13%)
Very well made Languedoc white with real refreshment.
£13.99 Majestic

Heaphy Hill Riesling 2023 Nelson (12.5%)
Made on the north-west corner of the South Island from some of the oldest vines in the country. Just off-dry and beautifully balanced.
£13.99 Waitrose

Errázuriz, Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2023 Aconcagua Costa (13.5%)
Single-vineyard, terroir-focused wines are all the rage now. Tastes rather like a fine Chablis.
£13.99 Majestic

Joostenberg, Myburgh Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2023 Paarl (12.5%)
A very reliable South African producer. Great value.
£14.25 Corney & Barrow

Kühling-Gillot, Quinterra feinherb Riesling 2022 Rheinhessen (11.5%)
This delicious, mature, off-dry (not sweet) German from an excellent producer should cost much more.
£14.40 Justerini & Brooks

A de Ch d’Arche 2022 Bordeaux (12.5%)
Many producers of Sauternes are finding it so difficult to sell their sweet wines that they are resorting to making dry wines like this from their Sémillon vines.
£14.95 The Wine Society

🔴 Toast & Honey Viognier 2023 Lodi (13%)
A label based in a region that is home to some of California’s best-best-value grapes. Not for keeping, but with a hint of the mayblossom-and-salt character of Condrieu, even if none of its subtlety.
£14.99 Majestic

Markus Huber, Heaven’s Realm Grüner Veltliner 2023 Traisental (13%)
Pure varietal expression from vines grown on limestone, which presumably explains the zestiness.
£14.99 Waitrose Cellar

Sax, Riesling Steinmassl 2023 Kamptal (13.5%)
Pure, approachable, lightly floral Austrian Riesling.
£15.95 Stone, Vine & Sun

Henri Ehrhart, Réserve Particulière Riesling 2023 Alsace (12.5%)
Made by the award-winning Laurence Schatz, bone dry but with a certain richness.
£15.99 Majestic

🔴 Concha y Toro, Marqués de Casa Concha Chardonnay 2022 Limarí (13.5%)
A wine reminiscent of old-fashioned Meursault from one of Chile’s coolest wine regions.
£16 Tesco

🟣 Schloss Lieser, SL Riesling Kabinett 2017 Mosel (8.5%)
Germany’s unique gift to the wine world. Feather-light, seven years old but ridiculously youthful.
£16.50 The Wine Society

Dom André Bonhomme 2022 Mâcon-Villages (13.5%)
At last, a white burgundy! Albeit from the far south of the region and unoaked, but very pleasing.
£17 The Wine Society

🟡 Nativ, Vico Storto 2022 Greco di Tufo (13.5%)
A satisfying white from 30-year-old vines in the Naples hinterland.
£17.95 Private Cellar

Hofmann Weissburgunder Trocken 2022 Rheinhessen (12%)
Pinot Blanc grown on limestone with a little oak influence to give it structure, not oak flavour.
£17.95 Yapp

🔴 The Long Road Viognier 2023 Cape South Coast (13.5%)
From South Africa’s hugely talented Samantha O’Keefe of Lismore. A signifier of the current Tesco buying team’s energy.
£18 Tesco

Villard, Le Chardonnay 2022 Casablanca (13.5%)
Another fine Chilean Chardonnay from a relatively cool region and made like white burgundy. Much more drive than most white burgundies at the same price.
£18 The Wine Society

🟤 El Enemigo Sémillon 2022 Mendoza (13%)
Another great Tesco find. Dry wine from the Sauternes grape made by Catena’s revered winemaker, who says 2022 was an exceptional year for this single-vineyard wine.
£18 Tesco

Fossil Point Chardonnay 2021 Edna Valley (14%)
Another relative bargain from Corneys. Pacific-cooled from south of San Francisco but not to be aged.
£18.50 Corney & Barrow

Savage, Salt River Sauvignon Blanc 2023 Western Cape (13.5%)
Duncan Savage is South Africa’s Sauvignon supremo and this is great value for such precision. Much more like a Sancerre than a typical Marlborough Sauvignon.
£19.50 Berry Bros & Rudd

Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2023 Marlborough (13%)
Atypically dry, dense Marlborough Sauvignon. Lasts longer than most.
£19.95 Berry Bros & Rudd

🟡 Makarounas Spourtiko 2023 PGI Paphos (10.5%)
So much character in this bone-dry wine from an indigenous Cypriot grapevine despite the low alcohol.
£21 The Wine Society

Vincent Dampt 2022 Petit Chablis (12%)
Petit Chablis often tasted unripe; with climate change, no longer. Truer Chablis character than in many a supermarket example.
£22.50 Lea & Sandeman

Alheit, Hereafter Here Chenin Blanc 2022 Western Cape (13%)
The Alheits are real stars of South Africa, so any wine from them is of interest. This wine made from the country’s signature grape is so precise it feels as though it has been sculpted.
£23 The Wine Society

🔴 Joey Tensley, Fundamental White 2021 Central Coast (13.5%)
One of Berry’s best bargains, and California bargains have been few and far between. An unusually appetising, full-bodied Rhôneish blend of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne and Roussanne grapes.
£23 Berry Bros & Rudd

Willi Schaefer, Graacher feinherb Riesling 2022 Mosel (11%)
Vines are up to 100 years old on this family estate. Feinherb means off-dry, not sweet. Great balance.
£24 Tanners

🟤 Rijckaert — F Rouve, Sur Les Marnes 2022 Côtes du Jura (13%)
A wine made like fine burgundy but in the subalpine, fashionable Jura to the south-east of the Côte d’Or.
£24.99 Majestic

🔴 Oliver Zeter, Fumé Sauvignon Blanc 2022 Pfalz (13%)
Very enjoyable German counterpart to smart white Pessac-Léognan from Bordeaux. Cheaper than most of them.
£23.90 Field & Fawcett of York, £24.50 D’Arcy Wines, £24.99 DBM of Bristol

🔴 Allende Blanco 2020 Rioja (13.5%)
Allende pioneered serious, broad-beamed white Rioja in the modern era and the wines, worth ageing, never disappoint. Shows the virtue of old vines.
£28.95 Berry Bros & Rudd

Eva Fricke Riesling trocken 2023 Rheingau (12%)
Eva Fricke may not have a long history, but to judge from the precision and consistency of her dry German Rieslings, that is no bad thing.
£29.95 Berry Bros & Rudd

🟤 Dominio del Soto Albillo 2021 Ribera del Duero (13%)
Made by Chapoutier of the Rhône. A most unusual tense, rewarding, lightly oaked wine from this red wine region’s great white wine grape.
£32 Fion

🔴 🟢 Verzier, Granit 2023 St-Joseph (12.5%)
Really delicious oaked, certified biodynamic northern Rhône blend of Marsanne and Roussanne. Pungent with notes of mirabelle and peach. Quite a rich start and then a bone-dry, attractively bitter end. A very superior wine.
£32.50 Stone, Vine & Sun

🔵 Pasqua, Hey French Terza Edizione NV IGT Veneto (13.5%)
Such a cheeky wine! It looks like a cartoon but in its third incarnation still expresses a powerful and delicious message: that the Italians can give French wine producers a run for their money. A smoky/honey-flavoured dry blend of the best wines from vintages 2016 to 2020. Hugely distinctive.
£35.99 Majestic

🟣 Prager, Hinter der Burg Federspiel Grüner Veltliner 2023 Wachau (13.5%)
Prager is a star of Austria’s most famous dry white wine region on rocky, south-facing terraces above the Danube. Seventy-year-old vines. Fine Grüner Veltliner is a cellar candidate too.
£41 Berry Bros & Rudd

🟣 Joseph Drouhin, Genevières Premier Cru 2022 Meursault (13.5%)
Real substance and potential here but it could be enjoyed already.
£159.20 Howard Ripley