Lighter wines for summer under £20: French whites

A rewarding white that conjours up the sights, sounds and scents of Burgundy's glorious Côte d'Or. It's ambitious and beautifully made with lemony acidity offset by gently creamy, yeasty flavours and a creamy texture. Subtle hints also of lemongrass and warm earth. Even at this price it's a bargain - and great with fish stew to boot.

There are some wines that just get you excited, and this is one of those. Bright, pure aromas range from red apple to elderflower, honey and even lychee. On the palate it's broad, fresh, mineral and dry, with a gentle texture and touch of spice on the finish. Wonderful line and structure from this historic Alsace producer.

Blend an elegant Chablis with a richer Mâcon, give it a touch of age, and you get something like this. Red apple and mealy flavours with refreshing acidity and a creamy texture, with a touch of tea leaf and hay complexity. Classic but accessible white Burgundy.

Pristine aromas of nettles, fresh lime and gooseberry emerge in stately fashion from this elegantly rendered Sauvignon. Langlois-Chateau is based in Saumur but makes wines all across the Loire. This Sancerre is serious and dry, with fresh acidity and stoney, lime-streaked flavours.

This is pretty decent value for a complex, cultured Loire Sauvignon with notes of roasted citrus, candle wax and fresh peas. The generous texture, gentle hints of raw butter and spicy finish give it character and intrigue. A serious, mineral style with plenty of wine for the price.

Could anything be more refreshing than a crisp white from French alpine country? Michel Quenard makes characterful wines from his quality-focused family domaine, and this Jacquère has a rare density and weight, a lovely stewed apple and raw yoghurt character. A lovely food wine, ideal with a hunk of comté cheese.

Laurent (father) and Camille (son) Schaller are based out of Préhy and this is a characterful, elegant Chablis for the summer. Inviting aromas of ripe green apple and glazed cream lead into a generously textured, refined palate that sits elegantly on the tongue positively inviting food, like a canvas awaiting paint. Delicious with all kinds of seafood.

Ah, Picpoul. What would we do without it? Such a reliably good value white, versatile and friendly. This is a slightly richer style than normal, with some nutty, mealy complexity on top of the usual appley, lemony freshness and herbal notes. Glug glug glug.

Whatever happened to Muscadet?! Well, it's still there, still doing a job, even if we fickle drinkers wander restlessly elsewhere with our eyes and glasses. This pale, pleasantly frank and refreshing white steals across your palate like the ghost of an apple dipped in salt water.

A richly textured but elegant Loire Sauvignon that reveals notes of roasted citrus, gunflint and wet wool. It's juicy, dry and food friendly but it also has an exotic note and touch of spice too. Good value.

A Chenin Blanc from the Languedoc that’s between Loire and South Africa in style. Aromas of glazed peach and apple then leesy weight and roasted herb complexity on the palate. Works well: Clean and dry with a rounded, creamy texture – easy drinking but classy. Gets better the next day and is delicious with fish stew. It has a silly heavy bottle and is quite pricey, but is nicely done!

There are frivolous summer wines and serious summer wines. This is one of the latter. A fairly stern line of citric acidity flows from start to finish, with gooseberry, mineral and herbal hints by way of light relief. Very long, very linear, one to accompany grilled prawns. Dare to be different.

Domaine d'Elise owns 13ha of vines just outside the town of Chablis, one big plot divided evenly into one half Chablis, one half Petit Chablis. The wines are made in a traditional style and this Petit Chablis shows classic notes of apple and creamy lees. One for fresh seafood and shellfish.

Some Burgundies play it safe - all discretion and understatement. This wine is not one of those. It's as if someone challenged the winemaker to 'get as many flavours of fresh butter, red apple and honey into a dry wine'. It positively brims with golden flavour and rich texture. There's a lot of wine here if you like this engagingly sunny style.

Very pale, with subtle white currant and salty flavours, this is a summer white to chill and enjoy as an aperitif or with some simple, fresh flavours like oysters or prawns. If you're a Pinot Grigio fan, try this instead.

What's Muscadet all about, after all? Really, it's the sea: its cooling climate and its presence on the plate. And this wine sits firmly in that context - a straightforward expression of freshness in a glass, dry and with a touch of weight and body.

Good to get a Chenin on the list, and this one's a medium-dry style with lots of ripe peach, apple and pear flavours. The luscious palate is weighty but balanced by good freshness. This could work with spicier or sweeter flavours, like BBQ spicy ribs, or even summer fruit puds.