Wines that are a holiday in a glass

Coto de Gomariz The Flower and the Bee, Spain 2021 (from £16.95, Fortnum & Mason; thegoodwineshop.co.uk) At this point in the summer, we are all of us in holiday mode, even if that means pining for the beach from our workplace rather than actually managing to get there. This week's choices, then, are designed for transporting you to your destination of choice without enduring 20-mile tailbacks, check-in queues or flight cancellations: a range of whites from the warm south of Europe that I like to think of as holiday micro-doses. The first stop is Galicia in northwestern Spain, not yet a Costa hotspot on the British holidaymakers Spanish trail, although, with its rugged, Celtic, Cornwall- or Brittany-esque Atlantic coastline and climate it really should be. Two choices that embody the freshness and verve of the region's best white wines: The Society's Exhibition Albariño, Rías Baixas 2021 (£14.95, thewinesociety.com), is a textbook version of the stone-fruited succulence of Galician albariño; while The Flower and the Bee is a charming combination of citrus, melon and floral notes.

Tesco Finest Soave Classico Superiore, Italy 2021 (£7.50, Tesco) Across to France, and it's not all rosé on the Côte d’Azur. The rolle grape, AKA vermentino, makes for some decidedly zippy and breezy, softly peachy dry whites, whether in the cheap, cheerful form of Waitrose's Voyage au Sud Vermentino (£6.29) or in the altogether smarter, richer but graceful Domaine de la Source Bellet Blanc 2019 (£27.50, yapp.co.uk). Vermentino is also responsible for some of the best summery white wines in western Italy. Winemaking superstar Alberto Antonini has a typically well-made example: Pontenari Bianco, Toscana 2021 is all pithy and zesty grapefruit and lime bursting across the palate. In the north-east, the wines of Soave offer a soft, hazier vision of Italian summer. Two to try: Tesco's golden apple-scented Classico, and Pieropan Soave Classico 2021 (£20.99, or £17.99 as part of a mixed six, majestic.co.uk), a tincture of lemon zest, pear, green olive and fine dill-like herb.

Domaine Gerovassiliou Malagousia, Greece 2021 (from £16.30, trictlywine.co.uk; nywines.co.uk; thegoodwineshop.co.uk; uncorked.co.uk) For those dreaming of summer holidays on the eastern side of southern Europe, Vina Laguna Malvasia 2021 (£12.50, or 10.95 as part of a case of 12, leaandsandeman.co.uk) is a lively example of the fresh, aromatic malvasia (or malvazija) grape variety from Croatia. Greece remains the most popular south-eastern European holiday destination for British people, however, and the wine scene on the mainland and islands there is in a particularly exciting point in its evolution at the moment. Marks & Spencer Found Moschofilero Roditis 2021 (£8.50), made for M&S by Semeli in the Peloponnese, is superb value with its citrussy flavours and subtle floral perfume like a very smart lemon squash, while a longtime favourite of this column, Domaine Gerovassiliou's Malagousia, is in fine fettle in the latest, 2021 vintage, a wine of gorgeous white peach and pear shot through with notes of lemon groves and pine forests.

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