Group of people having a meal in the garden in summer and having a toast with white wine.
(Image credit: ArtistGNDphotography/Getty Images)

I f you’re anything like me – and if you’re in the northern hemisphere – you’ll have spent the past few months warming body and soul against the cold, dark and damp with red wines from the deeper, richer end of the spectrum.

Right now, though, with that first, almost-ticklish warmer breeze filling the air with birdsong and blossomy scents, the wines that have the most compelling claim on my attention are almost always white.


Scroll down for 20 value recommendations perfect for spring


So what do I typically look for in a spring white?

Energy for one thing; freshness, too, and a difficult-to-define feeling that I’ll call ‘flow’.

Technically speaking, that comes down to the level of acidity, and the more mouthwatering the better – although the accompanying flavours and textures will depend, as ever, on what I’m eating and just how ‘spring-like’ the weather really is.

Spring's wine timeline

On those first warm, sunny afternoons, the verdant charms of classic unoaked Sauvignon Blanc seem almost irresistible – so, too, the quicksilver pulse of Riesling and the fresh white peach and Atlantic salt spray of Albariño.

But earlier in the season, with the nights still cool, I’ll be looking for more substance, to go with my creamy-sauced fish or chicken, some fleshier stone fruit and pithy texture, too.

Two barrel-aged styles come to mind: oak-aged Chardonnay, and Sauvignon paired with Semillon in the classic Bordeaux-style white blend – both of which, it seems to me, provide the perfect segue from winter into spring.


20 vibrant spring whites to add to your list:


Sainsbury's, Taste the Difference, Crémant de Limoux, Rhône, France

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Sainsbury’s Languedoc favourite Jean-Claude Mas turns his multi-talented hands to bottle-fermented fizz for this excellent-value, Chardonnay-led blend with Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc and the local...

RhôneFrance

Sainsbury'sCrémant de Limoux

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Veuve Monsigny, Brut, Champagne, France

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There’s been no shortage of hype around Aldi’s budget Champagne over the years, and there’s no drop in quality in the latest iteration, which continues...

ChampagneFrance

Veuve Monsigny

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Château de Fieuzal, L'Abeille de Fieuzal Blanc, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2018

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A brilliant bit of sourcing from the Majestic team, this mature dry white is still full of vim, vigour and leafy youthfulness. It's a near...

2018

BordeauxFrance

Château de FieuzalPessac-Léognan

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Château Guiraud, G de Château Guiraud, Bordeaux Blanc, Bordeaux, France, 2023

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93

Semillon leads the blend with Sauvignon Blanc in this very fine dry white from the celebrated Sauternes producer, with a nose of lemongrass, cut grass and lime, and a palate that combines energy and creamy depths – with pithy grapefruit, coconut cream and a long, tapering, star-bright finish.

2023

BordeauxFrance

Château GuiraudBordeaux Blanc

Sainsbury's, Taste the Difference Vieilles Vignes, Chablis, Burgundy, France, 2022

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One of the best of the UK’s many supermarket Chablis, this has an extra degree of luminous concentration and fluency when set alongside its peers,...

2022

BurgundyFrance

Sainsbury'sChablis

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Klein Constantia, Sauvignon Blanc, Constantia, South Africa, 2023

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Fruit from 38 vineyard plots goes into the making of this unusually complex, unoaked Cape Sauvignon, with wild fermentation also playing its part in shaping...

2023

ConstantiaSouth Africa

Klein Constantia

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Roberto Sarotto, Srej Langhe Arneis, Langhe, Piedmont, Italy, 2024

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Made from Arneis grown on hillside vines in Neviglie near Alba in the Langhe hills, this is an effortlessly graceful, gently mouthfilling dry white with...

2024

PiedmontItaly

Roberto SarottoLanghe

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Royal Tokaji, Dry Furmint, Tokaj, Hungary, 2021

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91

A wine of real character, charm and presence for the money, this fully dry style from these regal masters of sweet Tokaji gets its electric charge and compulsive drinkability from the almost febrile acidity, which contrasts pleasingly with ripe apples, pears and apricots. Lemon-and-thyme-scented roast chicken beckons.

2021

TokajHungary

Royal Tokaji

d'Arenberg, Dry Dam Riesling, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia, 2024

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A South Australian answer to Germany’s kabinett Riesling, this light but concentrated off-dry Riesling benefits from the power of old, dry-farmed vines, which provide the...

2024

South AustraliaAustralia

d'ArenbergMcLaren Vale

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Domäne Wachau, Grüner Veltliner, Wachau, Niederösterreich, Austria, 2024

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A delectably juicy, rounded mouthful of ripe stone fruits (white peach and apricot), with pear enlivened by green apple, a touch of leafy herb and...

2024

NiederösterreichAustria

Domäne WachauWachau

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Errazuriz, Gran Reserva Chardonnay, Aconcagua Valley, Chile, 2024

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Errazuriz makes a lot of wine, but the quality level rarely dips and the value is often remarkable, not least in this deftly made Chardonnay,...

2024

Aconcagua ValleyChile

Errazuriz

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Invincible, Vinho Verde, Vinho Verde, Portugal, 2024

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South African star winemaker Marc Kent and Portuguese winemaker Rita Marques are the names behind this great-value new addition to the Sainsbury’s range, a wine...

2024

Vinho VerdePortugal

Invincible

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Les Vignerons d'Aghione, Domaine Terra di I Nostri Vermentinu, Ile de Beauté, Corsica, France, 2024

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A delicate, fragrant Corsican take on the current Mediterranean flavour of the month – white grape variety Vermentino – this is a brilliant buy for...

2024

CorsicaFrance

Les Vignerons d'AghioneIle de Beauté

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Morrisons, The Best Block Series 018 Albariño, Val do Salnés, Rías Baixas, Spain, 2024

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Using fruit sourced from the Val do Salnés sub-zone of Albariño’s Galician heartland in Rías Baixas, this wine, made by Pazo Cilleiro, is a textbook...

2024

Rías BaixasSpain

MorrisonsVal do Salnés

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Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Viognier, Rhône, France, 2024

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A delightfully graceful and great-value take on the occasionally overwrought apricot-scented Viognier from one of the most reliable names in the modern Rhône, this offers...

2024

RhôneFrance

Paul Jaboulet Aîné

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Marks & Spencer, Lyme Bay Bacchus, Devon, England, United Kingdom, 2024

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A quintessential English Bacchus from the high-performing Devon-based still-wine specialist Lyme Bay, this super-bright, fresh-out-of-the-box dry white is full of vivid passion fruit, lime and...

2024

EnglandUnited Kingdom

Marks & SpencerDevon

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Tesco, Finest Assyrtiko, Florina, Macedonia, Greece, 2024

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As if to put the seal on Greece’s arrival in the British wine-drinking mainstream, this Assyrtiko from Filos Estate is the first Greek wine to...

2024

MacedoniaGreece

TescoFlorina

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Waitrose, No1 Riesling, Rheinhessen, Germany, 2024

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Another highlight in the more upmarket No1 range of Waitrose’s own-label brands, this again benefits from the work of a respected winery. In this case,...

2024

RheinhessenGermany

Waitrose

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Yealands Estate, Reserve Pinot Gris, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2024

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A bright, varietally true take on a grape variety that's one of New Zealand wine’s trump cards, this is full of characteristic Pinot Gris orchard...

2024

MarlboroughNew Zealand

Yealands Estate

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Marks & Spencer, Gable Lodge Wild Ferment Chardonnay, Western Cape, South Africa, 2024

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If you’re looking for a good-value white Burgundy alternative, this smart example from the ever-reliable Stellenrust is definitely a candidate. Partly fermented in French oak...

2024

Western CapeSouth Africa

Marks & Spencer

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David Williams

David Williams is a widely published wine writer, author and judge, who lives in Spain. He is also a founding member of The Wine Gang