The best white wines for Christmas

Wine prices may be rising but so is quality — and I sincerely believe in all the wines below, whatever their cost. Many retailers offer discounts on these single-bottle price below. I have also recommended a couple of superior wines offered in bag-in-box packages. Wines are listed in ascending price per cl.

AA Badenhorst, The Curator 2020 Coastal Region 13%
Adi Badenhorst delivers value even at full price. This drink-me blend of 51% Chenin Blanc, 22% Chardonnay, 22% Viognier plus a little Semillon and Colombard is satin-smooth.
£6.74 (reduced from £8.99 in December) Waitrose

Domaine Huber Grüner Veltliner 2020 Traisental 12.5%
Very agreeable, if not exactly intense, introduction to Austria’s medium-bodied, refreshing signature grape. Great price.
£7.78 (reduced from £10.79 for December) Waitrose

Villiera Sauvignon Blanc 2020 Stellenbosch 13%
South Africa is a good source of value. This wine is appetisingly dry with real character. For drinking with or without food, though whoosh it around a bit to aerate it.
£8 M&S

De Grendel Sauvignon Blanc 2020 Cape Town 13.5%
You can almost feel the wind off the ocean in this subtle dry wine with top notes of green fruits and vegetation. Great value at the promotional price.
£8.99 (reduced from £11.99 in December) Waitrose

Vergelegen Sauvignon Blanc 2020 Stellenbosch 13.5%
Another Cape answer to Marlborough that’s agreeably dry and full of flavour. Drink now.
£10 Tesco

Corte Mainente, Vigna Cengelle 2020 Soave 12.5%
From a producer keen to build sales in the UK, hence the extremely friendly price. Compelling evidence of the revolution in quality in Soave.
£10.95 Stone, Vine & Sun

Blütenreich Riesling 2020 Niederösterreich 12.5%
Organic methods in the vineyard. Very fine and very Austrian with rather more spice and body than the average German Riesling. Great value.
£10.99 MJ Wine Cellars

Ciu Ciu, Oris 2020 Falerio 13%
From the Marche, on Italy’s east coast. Certified organic. Edge of green apples but quite enough ripe fruit and interest. Excellent balance and drive.
£11.90 The Sourcing Table

Luigi Baudana, Dragon 2020 Langhe 13.0%
Blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc with the local Nascetta and a little Riesling from an estate owned by the Vajra family of Barolo. An array of flavours with floral and green fruit notes. Long and vibrant. A proper wine for the money.
£11.95 The Wine Society

Encostas da Pedra Alta 2019 Douro Branco 12.5%
Part barrel-fermented, wild yeast Douro blend. Chock full of tangy character and still youthful and vibrant at two years old. Really tense and glorious.
£38.50 for a 2.25l bag in box (equiv. £12.83 a bottle) The BIB Wine Co

TR Wines Dry Furmint 2020 Upper Hungary 13%
From a single plot in the village of Tallya near Tokaj. Light nose of baked apples and excellent structure. Recognisably Dry Furmint with a bit of apple skin chewiness. Really interesting.
£39 for a 2.25l bag in box (equiv. £13 a bottle) The BIB Wine Co

Pazo da Maga 2020 Ribeira Sacra 13%
Brilliant value from the steep slopes of the Sil valley in north-west Spain, where viticulture is described as “heroic”. Made from the great Godello grape.
£14.95 Lea & Sandeman

Autòcton Xarel-lo 2019 Spain 12.5%
The Catalan Xarel-lo grape can make sophisticated dry whites such as this one made from elderly, certified organic vines at an old winery south of Barcelona.
£15.50 Lea & Sandeman

Sybille Kuntz Riesling trocken 2020 Mosel 12%
Truly beautiful dry Riesling from a steep, biodynamically tended vineyard. Intense but not heavy. Great to drink with spicy food.
£15.99 to £23.99 De Burgh, Vino Vero, Highbury Vintners, Uncharted, Noble Fine Liquor, Tivoli Wines

Kyrenia 2020 Patras 12%
A wine from the northern Peloponnese from Roditis grapes. Light nose of dried leaves but excellent grip on the palate without much alcohol.
£16 The Sourcing Table

AA Badenhorst, Secateurs Riviera 2020 Swartland 13%
A (very pale) orange wine made from 75% Chenin Blanc and 25% Grenache Blanc. This would be a great introduction to grippy skin‑contact white.
£16.90 The Sourcing Table

Quinta da Silveira Branco 2017 Douro 12.5%
Dry whites from the port valley in northern Portugal are some of the most interesting wines in the world. This one is usefully mature.
£16.95 Davy’s Wine Merchants

Inama, Vigneti di Foscarino 2018 Soave 13%
Soave can be every bit as good as a fine white burgundy. This 2018 lasts for ever on the palate and it’s a steal at the reduced price.
£16.99 (reduced from £19.99 in December) Waitrose

Terrazas de los Andes Chardonnay 2018 Mendoza 14%
Sourced from a range of vineyards in the Andes. Impressively persistent. Great natural freshness and obviously ripe fruit, though the smokiness distracts successfully from this.
£16.99 Majestic (just £11.99 if any six bottles are bought)

Planeta, Eruzione 1614 2018 Sicilia 12.5%
Carricante vines are planted at 800m on volcanic soils. Nutty lime flavours and light chewiness. Amazing texture.
£18.50 The Wine Society

Ch Grand Village 2019 Bordeaux Blanc 13.5%
Super-precise dry white from the owners of Ch Lafleur in Pomerol that’s almost more like white burgundy than white bordeaux.
£18.67 Justerini & Brooks

Ch Suduiraut, Le Blanc Sec de Suduiraut 2020 Bordeaux 13.5%
Sauvignon-stinky on the nose, then rich and broad on the palate. Creamy texture and lovely perfume.
£19.50 Cambridge Wine Merchants, also Bottles Wine Bar and Merchants

Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, Les Maranches 2018 Mâcon-Uchizy 13%
The southern outpost of Dominique Lafon of Meursault produces reliably good-value white burgundy. This is much racier — less plump — than most white Mâcons.
£22.48 Lay & Wheeler

Jean-Marc Brocard, Vau de Vey Premier Cru 2019 Chablis 13.5%
Steely, minerally nose from a consistent producer. The wet stones, super-fluid aroma of Chablis comes soaring out the bottle.
£22.50 The Wine Society

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2021 Marlborough 13.3%
The latest vintage of this world‑famous wine is particularly successful. It’s no bargain but it is reliably good.
£23 to £27 Amathus, Frazier’s, Fareham Wine Cellar, Hedonism, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Majestic, Laithwaites and others

Domaine Mann, Riesling Altengarten 2018 Alsace 13.5%
This biodynamically grown wine was my favourite at a recent tasting of this retailer’s current range. Great value.
£25 The Sourcing Table

Rall White 2020 Coastal Region 13%
Donovan Rall is a superstar of the South African new wave and his super-tense, eminently ageworthy red and white blends are arguably his best-value wines.
£25.68 Justerini & Brooks

Finca Allende Blanco 2016 Rioja 13.5%
My favourite white rioja by miles. A complex, waxy dry white that can stand up to a wide range of foods.
£26.95 Berry Bros & Rudd, £26.99 Bancroft Wines

Keller, Von Der Fels Riesling trocken 2018 Rheinhessen 12.5%
Klaus Peter Keller’s more famous bone-dry Rieslings now cost three-digit sums per bottle, but this is almost as good. Thrilling.
£28.50 Streatham Wine House

Grosset, Polish Hill Riesling 2020 Clare Valley 12.8%
Australia’s most famous dry Riesling — a modern classic. A bottle of the 2001 opened recently was as fresh as a daisy — vindication of the screwcaps advocated by Jeffrey Grosset so long ago.
£34.99 to £41 Rannoch Scott, Oz Wines, Vinoteca, Butler’s Wine Cellar, NY Wines, Bottle Apostle

Dom Jean Monnier 2019 Puligny-Montrachet
Classic savoury white burgundy, with notes of lemon, lime and oak-induced structure that is usefully accessible already.
£39 Laithwaites

Bodega Chacra, Mainqué Chardonnay 2019 Patagonia 12%
Southern Argentine Chardonnay made under the guiding hand of cult winemaker Jean-Marc Roulot. It shows. Roulot’s basic Bourgogne would cost far more. So good.
£39.50 Lea & Sandeman

Kershaw, Clonal Selection Chardonnay 2017 Elgin 13.5%
Such precision from a British Master of Wine who is now spinning gold from one of South Africa’s coolest corners.
£41.99 Handford

David & Nadia, Hoë-Steen Chenin Blanc 2020 Swartland 13%
Gloriously pure South African answer to Puligny-Montrachet made from old vines.
£51.68 Justerini & Brooks

Dom Bruno Colin, Les Chaumées Premier Cru 2015 Chassagne-Montrachet
Creamy, with a hint of a white Pessac-Léognan. Crisp and chiselled but with masses of fruit intensity on the mid palate. Fun!
£69 Four Walls, Old Bridge and other independents

Tasting notes on Purple Pages of JancisRobinson.com. More stockists from Wine-searcher.com

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