Domaine Begude Etoile 2013, Limoux

13%
€19.99

Available from O’Briens

Also from O’Briens, the latest vintage of Etoile from James Kinglake of Domaine Begude. I am a big fan of his Le Bel Ange (great value at €12.99), but this Chardonnay is his finest wine yet. Impeccably balanced peach and orange fruits, with a touch of toasty oak, plush but refreshing with excellent length. A seriously good wine at a bargain price. I tried it alongside a very posh Puligny-Montrachet, both from the same vintage. At this stage the Etoile comfortably outclassed it at a third of the price.

Côtes du Rhône 2013, Domaine Saint Gayan

14%
€16.95

Available from Searsons Wine Merchants, Monkstown.

This is a young wine with real concentration and length; never too big or alcoholic, but full-bodied with masses of dark fruits and liquorice. Worth every penny.

Drink with substantial stews and casseroles or roast venison

Côtes du Rhône comes in all shapes and sizes; this vast area produces huge quantities of inexpensive glugging wine at very cheap prices. The more ambitious producers aim to make far better wines with real character, and charge a little more. Some offer great value. Domaine St. Gayan, with vineyards in the posher areas of Rasteau, Sablet and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, is one such producer.

100 Hügel 2014 Riesling Trocken Wittmann, Rheinhessen

12%
€18

Available from On the Grapevine,Dalkey; Cabot & Co, Westport; One Pery Square, Limerick.

Fresh crisp Riesling with light exotic fruits – pineapple and peaches, with a good dry finish.

Sip before dinner or with crab salad.

I am reliably informed that this is what Dalkey is drinking this summer, and possibly Westport and Limerick too. I can only admire their good taste. Phillip Wittmann produces some of the finest wines in Germany from his small estate in the Rheinhessen. The top wines cost over €30 a bottle, so I usually go for his Trocken at around €22. This is new, an entry-level dry Riesling. A hügel is a hill, and nothing to do with those people in Alsace.

Sancerre Florès 2013 Vincent Pinard

13%
€29.50

A stunning Sancerre with lifted floral aromas, and a superb razor-sharp, clean refined mineral palate, finishing bone dry. Sauvignon at it’s best.

Vincent Pinard has 12-15 hectares of vines in Bué, where he crafts a series of excellent white wines using different techniques, as well as three red wines from Pinot Noir. All come under the Sancerre name. I have only once tasted the Pinot, but his white wines are amongst the very best in Sancerre.

Gigondas 2011 Domaine de la Bouïssière

15%
€31.45

A big warm ultra-ripe enveloping mouthful of refined smooth strawberries and dark fruits, with a lingering easy finish.

I had a bottle of this in my cellar and opened it to drink alongside the beef tortillas my daughter requested for her 16th birthday dinner. It was a brilliant match and a great wine too; I still haven’t figured out how Thierry Faravel manages to make a 15% wine seem elegant, but this combines soft rich fruit with a real refinement. The importer has now moved on to the 2012 vintage. which I have not tasted, but the stores below may have a bottle or two of the 2011.

Stockists: Drink Store, D7; Jus de Vine, Portmarnock; Donnybrook Fair; thewinestore.ie