From peachy Chardonnays to zesty Sauvignon Blancs, Rieslings that could be right up your street and fruity rosés to a super special Chablis or two, we pin down a selection of the best light and fruity white and rosé wines to enjoy this festive season. From parties to special sit down dinners, take a look below for some inspiration on what to pair with your celebrations this Christmas.
Honeycomb Journey’s End Chardonnay 2020
Highly versatile and beautifully balanced, this wine makes a brilliant match for many dishes from a creamy turkey pie and seafood to a vegetarian pesto and pine nut linguine. A rich and rounded wine with flavours of peach, citrus and toasted vanilla, and made with Chardonnay grapes grown in Stellenbosch, this dry wine has been aged for six months in French oak. Suitable for vegans and vegetarians, drink now or cellar for up to three years.
Price: £9
Where to buy: M&S and Ocado
Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay 2020
Koonunga Hill Chardonnay reflects the Penfolds multi-region, multi-vineyard blending philosophy, which allows the winemakers to source the best parcels of fruit to make consistently high-quality wines. This is a light to medium-bodied chardonnay with distinctive primary fruit characters and a subtle underlay of moderate oak.
Price: £10
Where to buy: Tesco, Morrisons
Villa Maria EarthGarden Sauvignon Blanc 2020
After 21 years of growing grapes organically, Villa Maria has launched its first organic wine range; EarthGarden. The Sauvignon Blanc has lifted aromas of citrus fruits, lime and grapefruit that leap from the glass. The flavours on the palate showcase fresh herbs, lemongrass, and passionfruit. The intense fresh fruit concentration is balanced with zesty acidity and is perfectly thirst-quenching.
Price: £10.50
Where to buy: Tesco
Sharpham New Release 2021
Sandridge Barton ‘the home of Sharpham Wine’ has launched Sharpham New Release 2021, one of the country’s first wines of the year to be released. This small batch wine is an early showcase of the potential of their latest vintage at the new state-of-the-art winery on the Sandridge Barton Estate in Stoke Gabriel, South Devon.
Produced in six weeks from vine to bottle, this is one of a handful of English nouveau alternatives. A fresh, spritzy and fruit driven wine that is best drunk young, Sharpham New Release is dominated by the grape variety Madeleine Angevine.
Price: £14.40
Where to buy: sharpham.com
Gabb Family Vineyard’s Chardonnay 2020/21
This 100% Chardonnay is fresh yet full-bodied, with notes of citrus, peach and butterscotch on the finish. A bright yellow straw colour wine, this very lightly wooded Chardonnay offers a lot on the nose with ripe citrus, yellow apples and some peachy notes. Last mentioned flavours are also complemented by ripe apricots and tangerine. It is a medium bodied white wine with a good balanced crispy finish and best enjoyed with meaty fish, like baked halibut, or mushroom risotto sprinkled with pine nuts or a nut roast.
Price: £14.99
Where to buy: Majestic
Villa Maria EarthGarden Rosé 2020
Crafted to meet the rising global demand for sustainable produce, EarthGarden is part of Villa Maria’s commitment to converting 100% of its company vineyards to be organically managed by 2030. This Hawkes Bay Rosé showcases aromas of blood-orange, rosehip, and watermelon, while the palate is rich and moreish, finishing refreshingly dry.
Price: £15.05
Where to buy: noblegrape.co.uk
Poggio del Moro Ivole Toscana Bianco 2019
From Montepulciano in Italy comes this delicate white wine, which is produced on a certified organic estate and is made from Malvasia, Grechetto, Trebbiano grapes. Subtle, but full of substance, with honeyed peaches, jasmine tea vibes, green apples and chamomile, expect key lime pie flashbacks on its way to your belly. Pair with seafood on Christmas morning or with your Boxing Day buffet.
Price: £16.91
Where to buy: hometipple.com
Donna Elvira Fink Fiano Di Avellino
Like sunlight, light gold in colour, this Fiano carries a delicate hint of fruits and flowers. Offering a smooth, rich, yet crisp experience with a pleasant acidity in its aftertaste with a delicate air of roasted hazelnuts and almonds. Beautiful alone as an aperitif or with a starter, this Fiano complements bold fish dishes, shellfish, white meats, salads and fresh cheeses.
Price: £18
Where to buy: DonnaElvira.com
Rimapere Sauvignon Blanc from Edmond de Rothschild Heritage
This elegant and intensely aromatic wine delights the palate with refreshing and zesty citrus flavours, drawn from the verdant vineyards and turquoise paradise of the Wairau River in Marlborough, New Zealand.
Price: £18.99
Where to buy: Ocado
La Trucha Albarino
A mouth-watering Albariño from a small family estate, this is packed with ripe stone fruit and classic fresh citrus notes. Delicious on its own or with anything from the sea, it also has a great affinity for spicy foods.
Price: £19.95
Where to buy: Jeroboams
Karl Fritsch Riesling Mordthal 2019
This exquisite medium yellow-green colour attractive wine accentuates stone fruit, yellow apple and honey blossom notes. It is elegant, well-structured with minerality and special texture. It is slightly sweet and has long length and fantastic ageing potential, the perfect gift for the wine lover in your life. This showstopper bodes well with lean meat and would be beautifully enjoyed with turkey if that is the roast in question on Christmas day.
Price: £22.99
Where to buy: VIDA Wines and Spirits
Hattingley Reserve STILL Chardonnay 2020
A perfect post-Christmas pour, this still white wine is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes and is pale gold in colour. Bursting with pronounced aromas of ripe orchard fruits and perfectly balanced by a creamy oak texture, the Hattingley 2020 STILL Reserve Chardonnay is offset with a natural bright acidity that leaves a rich mouthfeel and long dry finish. This pour is the ideal accompaniment to any rich and buttery seafood suppers or is perfect enjoyed alongside a leftover turkey sandwich on Boxing Day.
Price: £25
Where to buy: hattingleyvalley.com
Robert Oatley Finisterre Chardonnay 2018
Hailing from Margaret River, Western Australia, this wine is reminiscent of a white burgundy and is a fresh offering with hints of tropical fruit, vanilla pod and a nuttiness on the nose. On the palate, expect plenty of flavour including citrus and nougat with a long, fine finish. Drink now and pair with seafood, or save.
Price: £25.25
Where to buy: Hedonism, Taurus Wines, Waitrose Cellar
Maison Mirabeau’s La Réserve Rosé 2020
As Maison Mirabeau’s first limited edition Côtes de Provence and the first cuvée from Domaine Mirabeau, La Réserve is the perfect rosé to charge your glasses with during those special moments spent with friends and family this festive season. The rosé is complex, partially oak aged, with aromas of yellow peach, candied apricot and freesia harmonising with notes of brioche and orange zest, and presented in a beautiful bottle, artistically styled in house by co-founder Jeany Cronk.
As 50% of its profits are donated to the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation, this rosé also demonstrates Maison Mirabeau’s commitment to the environment and the importance of their role to act as stewards of the land.
Price: £25.99
Where to buy: maisonmirabeau.com
Jean-Marc Brocard Organic Chablis Domaine Sainte Claire
Jean-Marc Brocard’s domaine started with just a single hectare and was a gift from his father-in-law when he married into a wine-growing family. It branched out to an impressive 200 acres. This wine expresses a mineral, citrus nose boasting a structured crisp and delicious feel on the palate.
Price: £26.99
Where to buy: Lavino.co.uk
Sphera White Concepts Riesling 2020
Sphera is a boutique winery located in Israel’s Judean Hills which is unusual in that it only produces fine white wines. The winery is run by winemaker Doron Rav Hon who studied viticulture in Burgundy and his wife Sima who manages the winery’s operations.
Sphera’s vineyards are planted in the valleys of Givat Yeshayahu which benefits from cool breezes that blow through the creek throughout the day and cool air which sinks to the valley floor. This helps to moderate the sunny Mediterranean summers, retaining plenty of freshness and elegance in the grapes while achieving full ripeness.
The result is a fresh and graceful Riesling bursting with citrus, tropical fruit and honeysuckle notes and plenty of mouth-watering acidity on the palate.
Price: £33.49
Where to buy: 8wines.com
Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis Grand Cru ‘Les Vaudésirs’
Wine expert and Honest Grapes founder Nathan Hill describes the Domaine Long-Depaquit Chablis Grand Cru ‘les Vaudésirs’ perfectly: “The vines planted in the Vaudésirs valley at the heart of the Grand Cru sector of Chablis are over 40 years old, on a steep south-facing slope which catches the sun, allowing the grapes to ripen optimally. Brighton beach memories here with bags of oyster shells and a bracing salinity, beyond which lies some grapefruit peel and nutmeg. The taste is similarly complex and gratifying, with a precise continuation of the nose leading to a near endless finish. Wonderful.”
Price: £55
Where to buy: Honestgrapes.co.uk
All prices correct at time of publication
