The scented charm of intensely floral whites

Încânta Fetească Regală, Romania 2023 (£8.50, as part of a mixed case of six, Majestic)

There isn’t a lot of Romanian wine around in the UK and what there is tends to be the work of a single, very large but very competent producer, Cramele Recas. They’re the people behind most of the many budget bottles of Romanian pinot noir, which are always the cheapest versions of this difficult-to-grow red variety, but never the worst. I find the white wines Cramele Recas make from local Romanian varieties altogether more interesting, while being every bit as good value. I’m thinking of bottles such as M&S Found Fetească Alba 2024 (£7.50, Marks and Spencer), which has a charming, ever-so-gentle floral lilt to it. Or the Încânta Fetească Regală, which dials up the honeysuckle and adds a sprinkle of gingery spice to the juicy, off-dry stone-fruited mix.

Tesco Finest Torrontés, Mendoza, Argentina 2024 (£9, Tesco)

Just as there are people who find an unbearable soapiness in coriander where I find a joyous eruption of grass, lime zest and white flowers, so there are many people who can’t abide wines – such as the two Romanian feteascăs – that are too obviously floral in character. Among the varieties that seem to act like vinous kryptonite on floral-phobes, Argentine torrontés is one of the most powerful. At its worst, torrontés can teeter into artificial air-freshener or potpourri territory, and that usually seems to come with a kind of flabby lack of life and zing. Tesco’s bottling, made by another reliably large-scale producer, Catena Zapata, avoids both these pitfalls, keeping the jasmine at low levels and bringing white peaches and lychees and a likeably breezy, dry feel.

M&S No 9 Gewürztraminer, Alsace, France 2023 (£11, Marks & Spencer)

The original love-it-or-hate-it floral white has to be gewürztraminer, a grape variety that is the easiest to spot thanks to its trademark notes of roses, Turkish delight, ginger and lychee, and its absolute inability to hide or dial down its aromatic ebullience. At its most straightforward, that makes for a natural partner for similarly aromatic Southeast Asian food and, with the extra cushion of sugar that bottlings such as M&S’s textbook example contain (around 17g per litre here), it can also handle a fair degree of chilli spice, too. But it would be wrong to think of gewürz as simply floral. Put aside one of the best examples, such as Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer Grand Cru Hengst 2022 (£65, Amathus Drinks), for a few years and you’ll find it takes on all kinds of deep, savoury aromas, alongside the florist’s bonanza.