Domaine de Ménard Cuvée Marine 2023

As Jamie Goode points out in the Sunday Express, Gascony in southwest France is “a brilliant source of inexpensive, fresh, bright, fruity wines. If you like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, this is an alternative with the same sort of flavour profile, but for much less money”. Take Cuvée Marine – the top white from Elizabeth François at Domaine de Ménard in the heart of Gascony. It’s named after the marine fossils that make up the vineyard’s soils, lending its white wines a mineral tang that takes freshness up a level. For this white, she carefully selects the ripest lemony Colombard, and blends with native Ugni Blanc for crispness and Gros Manseng for spiced stone fruit. It makes a terrific glass on its own or with seafood or tasty salads.