Dard & Ribo Crozes-Hermitage and Vinujancu Etna Bianco

I couldn’t make up which of these terrific wines to recommend from yesterday’s London Wine Sessions so I’m going for both.

They were featured in a ‘Moonwalk’ or biodynamic wine tasting by wine writer and blogger Jamie Goode and Doug Wregg of Les Caves de Pyrène

I was familiar with Dard & Ribo but this is a particularly delicious vintage, so alive and vibrant with incredibly fresh-tasting mulberry fruit. Or “a wine with edges’ as Jamie nicely described it. You can buy it from Les Caves de Pyrène for £22.02 or for £24.22 a single bottle from Wine Bear (£21.38 if you buy a case of six).

And the 2011 I Vigneri Etna Bianco was extraordinary - sumptuously rich and peachy, with a luscious lick of honeysuckle and a surprisingly fresh finish for a wine that’s made in such a hot climate.

According to the Caves de Pyrène list it’s made from grapes that are grown in a vineyard 1200m above sea level and is a really unusual blend of Carricante, Rhine Riesling, Grecanico and Minnella.

"The winemaker [Salvo Foti] doesn't use any chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides. The grapes are harvested by hand from the end of September until mid October. Fermentations are done in open vats, without the use of yeast inoculation, enzymes or thermal control and racking and bottling are done by the lunar cycle. The wines are bottled with little or no filtration."

We enjoyed the bottle I brought back with a warm roast chicken with herbs tonight but apparently it’s a good match for artichokes according to a blog called The Italian Wine Geek - one of the few wines that are.

As a caveat I’d say you'd be likely to enjoy the Dard & Ribo even if you've never tasted natural wine before but you might find the Etna Bianco challenging. I’d strongly recommend it though if you’re adventurously minded. It’s not remotely weird or cidery, just different - and in my view gloriously different - from conventionally made wines.

You can buy it from Les Caves for £23.02 a bottle.

Laurent Miquel Vendanges Nocturnes Viognier 2013, Pays d’Oc

I like the lushness of Viognier but often find cheaper ones a bit muted, however this one from Languedoc producer Laurent Miquel which is on offer currently at £6.70 in Waitrose and online* is the real deal.

Although unoaked and relatively low (for Viognier) in alcohol at 13% it’s really rich with the seductive peach and apricot fruit that makes Viognier so alluring. I’d drink it with roast chicken, dishes with creamy sauces or even a mild curry like a korma. (See other Viognier pairings here)

Other wines you might want to pick up in the Waitrose ‘European showcase’ promotion which lasts until May 20th are:

Les Nivières Saumur at £6.69 - a crunchy light Loire red to serve chilled. Great with seared tuna

Quinta de Azevedo Vinho Verde at £6.63 - light (11.5%) crisp white from Portugal. Refreshing summer drinking with salads and dips

Cune Barrel Fermented Rioja Blanco at £7.86 - gorgeous lush rich white from the Rioja region. Good with rich Spanish-style fish dishes

Domaine Wachau Grüner Veltliner at £7.79 - a good example of Austria’s versatile white wine grape - try with Asian style salads and noodle dishes

Cave de Turckheim Gewurztraminer at £8.39 - exotically scented white to drink with curries, especially a duck curry

You may also find this post useful: My favourite food pairings for viognier

*Although the vintage being offered online is 2012. You’d be better off with the 2013 if you can find it in-store.

Collefrisio Falanghina 2012, Terre di Chieti

Not that many people get past pinot grigio in their exploration of Italian whites but Falanghina (pronounced fal-an-ghee-na) is certainly one you should try.

It’s a grape variety that originally comes from Campania in the south of Italy, not somewhere you’d think would make such a fresh-tasting white. According to Jancis Robinson et al’s seminal Wine Grapes (a book I’d urge you to buy if you’re remotely interested in wine) it dates from the late 17th century and is named after the falangae or stakes that support the vines. This one actually comes from the Abruzzo from an organically run estate.

There are cheaper examples in the supermarkets but the Collefrisio, which I tried at my local Bristol wine merchant Davis Bell McCraith this week, has a lovely singing purity that makes it well worth its £13.49 price tag. "It's the kind of wine that makes you want to finish the bottle" as Aiden Bell put it (and by no means all wines do).

I’d want to drink it with simply cooked fish and shellfish - grilled prawns or squid or swordfish for example but it could handle quite punchy flavours such as garlic, capers and parsley.

Montes Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

You’re probably expecting me to recommend a Mother’s Day fizz but I’m going to suggest a great red to pour for the Sunday lunch you’re going to (I hope) treat her to instead. Especially if you’re having roast lamb.

It’s a reserve cabernet sauvignon from one of Chile’s best known producers Aurelio Montes and has all the gloriously, ripe cassis fruit you expect from a Chilean cab without being over-jammy.

The thing that makes it stand out is the price which is £7.49 (at Tesco). £7.49!I thought it was a misprint at yesterday’s tasting but double-checked and that’s right. It’s an insanely good price for a really classy wine.

It also looks rather beautiful with the angel on the label*. (The subliminal message that your mum is an angel won’t do any harm.)

The snag - there had to be one - is that it’s only available in 147 stores which given that Tesco has 2400 odd stores makes finding it a bit of a challenge. I reckon you’re likely to track it down in their larger, more upmarket stores so if you don’t have one of those near you please don’t waste your Saturday looking for it. Or ring one of these numbers to see if they can steer you to a branch that stocks it. If you can't get it this weekend it would still be worth buying some online for Easter.

There’s also an attractive citrussy sauvignon blanc (the 2013 vintage) for the same price.

* though the bottles that are online seem to have a different label