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Imagine a cool, crisp, spring morning in Kent, the ‘Garden of England’, just after a light shower of rain. Strolling around you catch the aroma of freshly cut grass, nettles and ferns. Gooseberry bushes and pale yellow elderflower gracefully frame a wet stone pathway and the faint hint of classical music is just audible in the background. Ah, the peace and tranquillity. But what’s this? The rain has stopped and the clouds have parted. The garden has taken on a more tropical vibe and I swear the plants have grown bigger. Look what happens when you add some sun!

Sauvignon Blanc is arguably the most recognisable white grape variety around, which also means it can split the judges. This is because along with its zesty, grass and wet stone flavours come distinctive aromas that its fans describe as elderflower, its dissenters as cat pee. Now, you may prefer this pale yellow, green-tinged wine its more reserved, English garden mode, in which case you’d head straight for cool climate France. If you’re more of a party fiend however, digging the louder, more tropical vibe, then head somewhere with a little more sunshine in the New World.

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SAUVIGNON BLANC SIPS SAFARI

Top get the measure of this grape, start by comapring three from the most famous regions for it globally:

No 1: Loire Valley, France

France’s Loire Valley is Sauvignon’s first home and the appellation of Sancerre, which is Sauvignon but named after the village, is the most famous production area. Here you’ll find classic, country garden aromas in a subtle, refined style. For less expensive, more accessible Sauvignon in this still style however, seek out the wines from Touraine. Or, for a more complex, flinty, smoky savvy B, take a peek at the style made in Pouilly Fumé. That’s terroir for you!

Try: Sancerre ‘Les Marennes’, £18.50 om offer (Was £22.50) Waitrose

No 2: Marlborough, New Zealand

Sauvignon has a permanent holiday home in New Zealand, where Marlborough is its most famous region. Equally happy here as it is in France, the flavour volume is turned right up and someone has brought out the tinned asparagus and tropical fruit! You can’t do Sauvignon Blanc without trying one from Marlborough but it’s great all around both islands, especially Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa.

Try: Yealands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025, £8 Asda

Sauvignon Blanc 3: Bordeaux, France

Dry Sauvignon Blanc is also a staple in Bordeaux, though it’s often eclipsed by the red wines. It’s one half of the famous white Bordeaux blend and you can also find it here as a single varietal. Look to the Graves sub region for particularly fine white wines that Thomas Jefferson would adore as well as to local, simple and much cheaper, single varietal Sauvignons.

Try: Sainsbury’s Bordeaux Sauvignon, Taste the Difference, £8.50, Sainsbury’s

Also try:

Happily for Savvy B lovers, you can find this grape all over the world now. For amazing value and smoky grapefruit notes, head to cool-climate Chile’s Casablanca and Leyda Valleys. For more powerful style, also look to Napa Valley in California and Elgin and Stellenbosch in South Africa.

Sauvignon Blanc is…

• Pale lemon-green in colour

• Body is usually elegant and light

• All about cut grass, wet stone, elderflower and, sometimes, guava

• The star grape of Sancerre, France and Marlborough, New Zealand

• The world’s greatest grape to pair with goats cheese

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Picpoul is like the windsurfer girl on the lagoon in the Languedoc, full of energy and perfectly in tune with the breeze. The bright, crisp acidity and salinity reflect the sea air, with flavours of lemon and lime zest, grapefruit, crunchy green apple and a whisper of oyster shell. She’s fresh, lean and always invigorating, quietly complex yet so easy to drink.

Geek Alert! In the Languedoc, the grape is known as Piquepoul, which means “lip stinger”; a nod to the grape’s high, citrusy acidity.

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PICPOUL SIPS SAFARI

Picpoul 1: Languedoc, France

The most famous and important region for this grape is Picpoul de Pinet in France’s Languedoc region, near the Mediterranean coast and the famous Etang de Thau lagoon. Despite the appellation’s name however, the grape here is spelled ‘Piquepoul’ and the wine is crisp and citrussy - perfect pairing for the local oysters. Look out for that tall green bottle with the embossing on it!

Try: Ormarine ‘Villemarin’ 2025, £12.50 (£10 mix 6) Majestic

Read my One Minute Wine Ace Guide to Picpoul de Pinet here!

Picpoul 2: Central Coast, California

While Picpoul is much less known outside France, Central Coast California has become a key producer of Picpoul wines, particularly in the cooler Paso Robles and Santa Barbara County areas. These versions have a similar zestiness to those from the Languedoc but with a slightly fuller body and more stone fruit flavours.

Try: Bonny Doon, Central Coast Picpoul, £19 The Wine Society

Picpoul 3: Catalonia, Spain

In Catalonia, there’s a heritage programme where Spanish producers are reviving indigenous grapes and in the Pla de Bages DO, single varietal Picpoul, known here as ‘Picapoll’ is produced. These wines showcase the characteristic citrus and green apple notes but offer a touch more minerality than those from the France or the USA.

Also Try: There are few notable regions where Picpoul wines are emerging, though it’s still fairly low profile. Texas High Plains of all places is producing wines that are lively and refreshing and Australia is experimenting with Picpoul too, particularly in Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Valley, where they have a rounder, riper profile than the French versions.

Picpoul is:

🎨 Very pale lemon in colour

🏋️‍♂️ Crisp & zesty with very high acidity

👃 Freshly squeezed lemon & sea salt

📍 A star in Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc, France

🍴 Loves oysters, mussels & white fish

Liked this? Check out these posts:

• Chardonnay: The ‘Kate’ of wine grapes

• Sauvignon Blanc: The English Country Garden wine grape

• What is Pét Nat wine?

And don’t forget to see who I’ve been chatting to on the HelenaSips Podcast!

Austria’s flagship white grape Grüner Veltliner is what those in the know drink in restaurants these days as a great catch-all foodie wine. It’s fresh and dry without extremes of flavour, yet has enough about it to stand up to all sorts of dishes from fish and salads to cheese and white meats.

Traditionally drunk young, Grü-V exudes the mountain freshness of those white flowers and herbs, with green apple edging in as well as a sprinkling of white pepper and a kick of ginger on the finish. Some of the top versions can also age incredibly well and elegantly, so much so that they have been likened to white Burgundy with their creamy texture, weight and pineapple-like complexity.

FUN FACT!

‘Grüner’ means green, which aptly describes its yellow-green coloured berries but it also happens to be one of very few wines that can handle asparagus!

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GRÜNER VELTLINER SIPS SAFARI

Grüner Veltliner 1: Austria

Try: No 1 Grüner Veltliner, £12.30, Waitrose

As its signature grape, there really is no other place to start other than Austria. For the very best versions, check out the regions of Wachau where they are fairly powerful (look for “Smaragd” on the label) and Kamptal and Kremstal, where they become lighter in style (look for “Steinfeder”), all in the northeastern part of the country.

Grüner Veltliner 2: Czech Republic

Try: Thaya Gruner Veltliner 2024, £11.95, The Wine Society

Lesser known but not for long, the Moravia region in the Czech Republic is becoming increasingly known for high-quality Grüner Veltliner. The region shares a similar climate to Austria and has ideal conditions for it, producing versions that are typically lighter and fresher than Austrian ones.

Gruner Veltliner 3: New Zealand

Try: Yealands Reserve Grüner Veltliner 2022, ND John £16.95

While New Zealand is more commonly associated with Sauvignon and Pinot, we’re now seeing some delicious Gruner Veltliner (note no umlaut in NZ) coming out of Marlborough and Martinborough particularly. These wines tend to showcase a unique twist on the variety, combining New Zealand’s characteristic freshness and vibrancy with Gruner’s classic flavours like white pepper.

Grüner Veltliner is…

🎨 Pale, sunshine yellow in colour

🏋️‍♂️ Lean, cool, mineral and complex

👃 All about green apple, grapefruit and refreshing acidity

📍 The star white grape of Austria

🍴 Loves all sorts of food and - even asparagus!

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Assyrtiko: Among Ancient Ruins

There’s not a cloud in the sky on this warm, bright day as you head on foot down the white, gravelly pathway towards what’s physically left of this ancient Greek civilization. The air is redolent with the scent of almond trees and acacia blossom with clementine peels warming in the heat. You spot a stand selling small pots of lemon granita and gratefully suck down the salty, citrusy ice crystals, holding the empty pot to your brow. Soon enough, it’s time to step inside this ancient world of cool, marble structures away from the glaring sun. Down here it smells mineral and earthy. What these walls must have seen!

Assyrtiko is Greece’s finest quality white wine grape and it’s finally getting the recognition it deserves on wine lists around the world. In its sunny spiritual home of Santorini, Assyrtiko makes fairly full-bodied white wine with lush notes of orange and lemon citrus, acacia honey and marzipan tempered by a very welcome cool, mineral core and refreshingly high acidity, despite the heat. It doesn’t much like oak and you can drink it young but the best ones can age well for years too. If you’re into fine Riesling, you’ll love this, especially with a plate of white fish and skinny potato fries.

GEEK FACT: On its island home of Santorini, many of the Assyrtiko vines are still ungrafted* and are aged between 60 and 250 years old! This means they have incredibly deep roots, reaching down for metres into the volcanic soil and sucking up lots of trace elements and minerals, hence the style.

*Most European vines have different rootstocks - I’ll bore you with why another time.

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ASSYRTIKO SIPS SAFARI

Assyrtiko 1: Santorini, Greece

For benchmark Assyrtiko, try one unoaked from the island of Santorini in the Cyclades. This is where you’ll find powerful,. yet crisp, dry and saline wines with their fragrant notes of ripe lemon and clementine with a touch of honey. For fuller-bodied, more textured and gastronomic versions, look for ‘Nykteri’ on the label and you can also try it in its dark, sweet wine form as the original Vinsanto for a salted caramel, fudge vibe.

Try: Assyrtiko ‘34’, Santorini, Karamolegos 2023, £41, The Wine Society,

Assyrtiko 2: Crete & Mainland Greece

More and more plantings of this grape can now be found in Crete and around mainland Greece, especially around Macedonia, Drama and the Peloponnese where the inland climate and more youthful vines produce wines that are a little lighter, less austere and more fruity. They don’t quite have the length, complexity or the panache of Santorini, though.

Try: Lyrarakis Assyrtiko 2025, Crete, £15 (£11.50 mix 6), Majestic Wine

Assyrtiko 3: Clare Valley, Australia

You won’t find a huge amount of Assyrtiko outside Greece yet, but pockets of it are cropping up, such as in Australia’s cool Clare Valley region. This is the home of the razor-like, crisp Aussie Rieslings and they share that concentration and acidity with Assyrtiko here.

Try: Jim Barry, Clare Valley Assyrtiko 2023, £25 Laithwaites

Also Try: Thanks to its incredible capacity to remain fresh when the weather is extremely hot and dry, many regions worldwide are now experimenting with Assyrtiko thanks to climate change. New Zealand and Puglia are doing well with it and they are even experimenting with it in Bordeaux now, so keep an eye on that!

Assyrtiko is…

🎨 Golden, complex and citrussy

🏋️‍♂️ Full-bodied, concentrated and saline with very fresh acidity

👃 All about complex orange and lemon peel, honey blossom and almond

📍 The star white grape of Santorini, Greece

🍴 Pair with grilled white fish

Liked this? Check out these posts:

• Chardonnay: The ‘Kate’ of wine grapes

• Sauvignon Blanc: The English Country Garden wine grape

• What is Pét Nat wine?

And don’t forget to see who I’ve been chatting to on the HelenaSips Podcast!

Think back to your school days. Weren’t there always at least four people in your class with the same first name? Well, in my year, it was Kate and it was hard to work out how you felt about the name because there were so many of them. For example, just as you had decided that you hated the name because of spotty-faced Kate who smelled of potato, you’d meet supermodel-in-training Kate who had a perm and older friends who could get into nightclubs. Suddenly, you wanted to name all your future children Kate. Even the boys.

Well, Chardonnay is the wine version of Kate. The sheer number of styles you’ll find worldwide can make it difficult to pin down your thoughts on it as it responds so strongly to where it’s grown and how it’s made. And as styles of this wine go, Chardonnay moves from the sublime to the ridiculous, being responsible for some of the greatest white wines in the world. Climate and winemaking techniques leave their mark, but the key elements will always be there somewhere: look for a golden colour, ripe melon flavour and a fuller body than many other white varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc. Vanilla and buttery notes are also good indicators that the wine is a Chardonnay. Try it unoaked for a true reading of its merits.

FUN FACT! ‘Blanc de Blancs’ translates as ‘white from white’, as in, white wine from white grapes. In Champagne, this means that the wine is made from 100% Chardonnay as it’s the only white grape that is widely used there. If it were a Kate it would be Cate Blanchett; A-lister stuff and fine boned and ethereal, capable of ageing elegantly.

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CHARDONNAY SIPS SAFARI

France really sets the tone globally for Chardonnay styles that others emulate, so here are the three core ones to know plus a classic, New World comparison:

Chardonnay 1: Chablis, France

Lean, cool and understated, there is only one Chablis and it comes from the slightly separated, northern part of the Burgundy region in France of the same name. Light bodied and very dry with a characteristic chalky texture, It’s the cool climate and soils that do it. This is Kate the Supermodel. Try this at all quality levels from Petit Chablis through Chablis to Premier Cru and Grand Cru!

Try: The Society’s Exhibition Chablis, £17.50 The Wine Society

Chardonnay 2: California, USA

Voluptuous and fuller-bodied, the Californian style of Chardonnay, such as those from Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley, tend to have a richer and more creamy, almost vanilla marshmallow feel. Cheaper versions might be synthetically enhanced with oak chips, but the top-end wines tend to use oak barrels, giving unctuous caramel and vanilla flavours. This is Katie, the Centrefold - but she can still have an Ivy league education!

Try: Kendall-Jackson ‘Vintners Reserve’ Chardonnay 2024, £20.50 (£18.50 mix 6 price) Majestic

Chardonnay 3: Burgundy, France

With plenty of complexity, character and sophistication, throw a little money at a top-end white from one of the villages in Burgundy, such as a linear Puligny-Montrachet style or a riper, fatter Meursault. ‘White Burgundy’ is almost always 100% Chardonnay. This is Katherine, the Oscar winner and it sets a style tone for wines worldwide.

Try: Domaine Faively Meursault, £69.95 N.D. John

Chardonnay 4: Blanc de Blancs Sparkling

If Champage and many other traditional method sparklers are labelled ‘blanc de blancs’ is usually means 100% Chardonnay - and it always will in Champagne. These are lithe, mineral and ethereal in youth, filling out beautifully to add orchard fruit, brioche and spice with a saline core. Stunning.

Try: Laurent Perrier, Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature NV, £66.99 on offer Laithwaites

Also Try

In between black de blancs sparkling and boozy, Californian bombshells, there is every style in between! For delicious versions that are kind of mid way between Burgundy and California, try the likes of New Zealand, Chile and South Africa. You can find decent Chardonnay in SO many places now, including England. too Here are some favourites:

Chile: Tesco Finest Valle de Leyda Chardonnay, £9, Tesco

South Africa: M&S Honeycomb Chardonnay 2024, £10 M&S and Ocado

New Zealand: Kumeau River Village Chardonnay, Auckland, 2025, £14.50, The Wine Society

Australia: Robert Oatley ‘Signature Series’ Chardonnay 2023, Margaret River, £15.50 (£14 mix 6 price) Majestic

England: Guinevere Chardonnay, Gusbourne, Kent, 2023, £40 Gusbourne.com

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