Sun’s out, surf’s up and it’s time to go hunting for a great white. If early summer is all about an aromatic, skinny little slip of a white wine, late summer’s best whites are those that have plumped up in preparation for the cooler autumn days ahead. A shade more sweetness, in addition to body, is no bad thing, either, as England’s soft fruits are still in season, with plums and raspberries at their irresistible, juice-dribbling best.

Late summer is also a good time to try white grapes and wines that you have never tasted before. So get to grips with that classic mix from the Rhône, a marsanne-roussanne blend, preferably with a dollop of viognier, too – not the flabby, old cologne-redolent versions France still produces, but a fresh, fruit-laden bottle from further afield.

California makes a big noise about its rhônesque whites, but Australia has had these varieties for centuries, does a better job and offers much better value. The point’s proved with able winemaker Tom Carson’s glorious, spicy, perfumed, pineapple-laden 2005 Yering Station MVR, a third viognier with just a dash of roussanne and the remainder marsanne (£9.99, Tesco).

The smooth, peachy, baked-apple flavours of the chenin blanc grape also make for fine last-of-the-summer wines. South African chenin blanc (or steen as it is known there) was previously destined for brandy or dull off-dry whites, but at last these are being replaced by complex, carefully vinified wines. Ken Forrester makes impressive chenins, and the most summer-suitable by far is the unirrigated, low-yielding, hand-harvested, part barrel-fermented straight 2006 Chenin Blanc from Stellenbosch, with its seductive gentle peachy spice (£7.99, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose). Or try Thresher’s more lemon and apple-charged 2006 Handmade version (£5.99, or buy three for £3.99 each).

Australian semillon has slipped from the limelight while chardonnay rules: a pity, as the gorgeous lemon-meringue pie qualities of a good example fatten and blossom with a bit of bottle age. I am not fussed by how much alcohol my summer whites contain, but I appreciate that some folk find 14 per cent offerings such as Mr Forrester’s too heady in the heat. In which case, opt for Peter Lehmann’s glorious 11.5 per cent lemon and honey-scented 2005 Barossa Semillon (£4.49, Booths, today only; £4.95, Asda; £4.99, Sainsbury’s).

Closer to home, Spain now produces all sorts of fresh, full, and fruity whites. So tuck into the verdejo grape from Rueda, northwest of Madrid, whose unusual green style is distinctly herby and faintly spiked with green pepper, lime and celery. The 2006 Palacio de Bornos Rueda Verdejo (£6.49, Waitrose) is made exclusively from this grape and aged in stainless steel, so the ripe, juicy, verdant lime attack is undiluted. Just what August needs.

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