Smash hit

Two summers back, the 2002 vintage of this glorious blend popped up here, and the 2004 is an equally canny mix, this time two thirds of the humble auxerrois grape, topped up with one quarter gewürztraminer, with riesling and pinot gris accounting for the rest, creating a seductive, floral, juicy, crystallised fruit-laced white.

2006 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner, Spiegel, Kamptal, Austria, Berry Bros (01256 323566), £8.95, or £8.05 per bottle in an unmixed case. Austrian whites also have their summer uses, especially those made from the exotic, musky, white pepper-charged grüner veltliner, the country’s strongest suit. This Spiegel vineyard grüner delivers a full, peppery palate and faintly apricot-scented wine that at 13 per cent alcohol will cope with most summery white meat and fish.

2006 Shaw And Smith Sauvignon Blanc, Adelaide Hills, Australia, Waitrose, £9.95 from mid-July; Liberty Wine (020-7720 5350), £9.95; Noël Young (01223 844744), £9.95.

Classy label, classy wine. Cousins Michael Hill-Smith and winemaker Martin Shaw rate the cooler 2006 vintage as one of their best sauvignon blanc years yet. And this ripe, juicy, herbaceous white, with its floral, zesty, verdant finish, proves just how crisply exuberant Aussie sauvignon can be.

2005 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett, Mosel, Willi Schaefer, Germany, Tanners, £11.50.

Superior Kabinett-level Germans make enticingly summery whites, as their off-dry style copes with all sorts of seasonal moments. Willi Schaefer is one of the finest growers in the Middle Mosel village of Graach, and Himmelreich is one of its finest vineyards. Unsurprisingly then, this brilliant 2005 vintage oozes with ripe, waxy, lime-zest flavours. Hideous label, though.

2006 Hatzidakis Santorini Assyrtiko, Greece, Waitrose, £8.99.

A few summers back, I drank more Greek rosé than any other pink, and this summer I will be tucking into more than my share of this unusual but refined, perfumed, lively, leafy, quince and lemon-scented, seafood-suitable white, made from the assyrtiko grape that thrives in Santorini’s volcanic soil. Bouquets to Cretan winemaker Haridimos Hatzidakis who now lives and works on this beautiful island.

2005 Tim Adams Semillon, Clare Valley, Australia, Tesco, £8.99.

What you get with this gorgeous, big, fat, oaky white, from a winery founded just 20 years ago, is all those enticing, ripe, dry, nutty, smoky, lime-zest scents and tastes of partially French hogshead-fermented and aged semillon. Anyone with coronation chicken on their summer menu, or who is fond of serving white meat with a walnut scattered salad, will have met their match with this one.

Star Buy

2006 Divinus de Château Bonnet, Sauvignon Blanc, Bordeaux, André Lurton, France, Sainsbury’s, £9.99.

Times Recommends

• Top Ten most searched for recipes
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winning menus
• Gin and pomegranate jellies