Wines made entirely from Grenache Blanc aren’t commonly available in the UK, making this wine something new for most people’s palates to savour. L’Ancien Comté Grenache Blanc has body from its oak ageing giving it a slightly syrupy feel in the mouth, yet retaining a lovely tingly effervescent quality, particularly at the edges of your tongue. It’s a nicely challenging white with great character.

Champagne is seen by many as a drink to have just at special times, but why restrict ourselves to just those occasional moments? Champagne is an ideal wine to drink and share with your partner or introduce to your guests at any time. If the sun’s out and you’re relaxing having a pleasant afternoon, that’s reason enough in my book.

The Redwood Creek range of wines from Californian is being marketed, to some extent, to those who are ‘rugged’ and outdoorsy. So as non-outdoorsy people, OK neither are we rugged, we decided to try some of these fruity Californian wines and let you know if this was a pre-requisite to enjoying them.

Looking for something a little more special and elegant as a Mother’s Day gift, or indeed a gift for any celebration? You might like to consider a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Cuveé Rosé, a lovely Champagne that’s presented well in its characteristic bottle. It looks and indeed is, an excellent bottle of wine.

We have looked at a four wines that you might want to consider buying for your Mother’s Day meal, these might help you select the right ones for your table on this special occasion.

If Chile is still keeping the best wines for themselves, they must be very good indeed because Cono Sur are making some remarkable bottles at a sensible price point. For the money the ones we tried trashed same price wines from other New World producers.

I seem to be writing about New Zealand wines a lot of late and it has to be said, quite justifiably. I have tasted some excellent vibrantly fruity produce from this part of the world. So when invited along to a wine tasting at The Vintner, I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the wines on the table for tasting were also from New Zealand.

We surveyed the shelves of Sainsbury’s looking for some interesting wines that you might like to pick up over the coming weeks. We selected four wines that, with Shrove Tuesday coming up, could well go with dishes you are preparing if you are doing something special with friends or relatives on or around that day and would like a wine to go with your pancakes, whether they are sweet or savoury.

I have written about the Mont Tauch co-operative in Fitou before. Renowned for their adopting an environmentally friendly, sustainable approach to their winemaking, Mont Tauch recently launched its Les Garrigues Grande Reserve Grenache Noir 2010. I would unhesitatingly recommend you seek this one out; it’s delightful.

We tasted the Marisco Pinot Gris, The Ned and The King’s Favour Sauvignon Blanc, two bold white wines each with big distinctive character.