La Différence Viognier-Muscat 2009, IGP Pays d’Oc, France (£5.99 Tesco)
Pure, fresh and honest wine, with the rich oily/peachy edge of Viognier combining with grapey freshness of Muscat to pleasing effect. B(+)

Creyssels Languedoc-Picpoul de Pinet 2009, France (£7.75 Stone Vine & Sun)
Richer than many Picpouls, with pear and peach fruit to the fore and briny  notes in the background. Weighty but still manages to be sappy and refreshing. B+

Producteurs Plaimont Saint Mont Le Faite Blanc 2008, South West France (£14.99 Adnams)
Terrific barrel-matured blend of Petit & Gros Manseng, Courbu and Arrufiac, packed with decadent rhubarb, quince and ripe apple flesh infused with aromatic notes of herbs and fennel, and with a wonderful balance between the richness, ever-so-light sweetness & tangy acidity. S+

Domaine Hegarty Chamans Les Chamans Blanc Minervois 2007, Languedoc, France (£12.50 Adnams)
I love the Hegarty reds, but this is just a little too stolid for its own good, with burnt sugar and butterscotchy malo notes were I’m looking for more fragrance and fruit. Feels old before its time – random oxidation perhaps? ????

Domaine Belles Pierres Les Clauzes de Jo Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc 2007, France (£10.95 Stone Vine & Sun)
A barrel-fermented blend of Roussanne, Viognier and Grenache Blanc, starts off oaky, but then starts to display its musky pear, peach and topical fruit flavour backed up by hints of fennel, herbs and honeysuckle and a tense, minerally finish. S(-)

Le Soula Blanc 2006, Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes, France (£18-£22.95 Majestic, Berry Bros & Rudd, Justerini & Brooks, The Wine Society, A&B Vintners, Raeburn Fine Wines, Adnams, Bon Coeur Fine Wines, Bowland Forest Vintners, Domaine Direct, John Gordons, Highbury Vintners, Oeno, Red & White, Roberson, Robert Rolls & Co, Uncorked, Upton-Upon-Severn Wines Ltd)
Wonderfully heady, complex wine which oozes with the character of the mineral-rich schistous soil. Floral, honeyed, brimming with confident pear, apple and quince fruit but reined in by that minerality and the racy acidity, it’s delicious, complex and intoxicating. G