Try an Albarino. It’s actually got a taste. Generally not a fan of whites but Albarino is about the only white I’d consider, even better than a lot of reds. (It’s Galician, which is nearly Portuguese)

Cotes de Blaye is another excellent white from the Bordeaux area. Good luck in tracking a bottle down in the UK.

Lidl sell a Mosel Riesling with a blue R logo and a French Alsace Riesling in France and Germany for around 5e. With luck you might find them in a UK Lidl too for a little more. Try before you serve to guests but we were pleasantly surprised by both having bought them as plonk to wash down Pizzas.

Jurançon and Pacherenc drys, like Riesling, can be served with a variety of lighter dishes without shocking food freaks, wine snobs or simply people that wouldn’t mix Fanta and Glenmorangie, or use peanut butter in their salmon sandwiches. Hmmm, you’ve got me thinking of salmon and dry Jurançon.

saying it’s ‘not a great food wine’ just sounds like pretentious nonsense.

good point, it won’t turn it from diamonds to pigswill but if you serve it with pasta with a cheese sauce then the flavours aren’t as recognisable compared to eating fish or salad – sauvignon stands up to food better than chablis

Ok that makes more sense – I had a bottle with some fish and thought it was a great combo.

What white wine for a fish finger butty? with cheese single and ketchup on, obviously?

A Cremant obviously, binners.

Another Oyster Bay Sauv Blanc fan here. A chilled bottle on a nice day doesn’t last long.

No need to go crazy spending lots when looking for decent Chardonnay try this
http://www.corneyandbarrow.com/p-31668-chardonnay-les-grenadiers-igp-pays-des-cotes-de-thongue-2012-chardonnay-france-buy-now-at-corn.aspx
Would go very well with fish & chips in fact might do this tonight

Côtes de Gascogne Sauvignon Blanc from Tesco is pretty nice, around £8 a bottle

I’ve never understood the “I hate chardonnay” or “I live sauvignon blanc” thing. There is such a vast array of different wines out there I don’t see how anyone can say they love and/or hate a particular grape variety. I can understand someone saying they like or don’t like eg dry or flinty or tannic or some style of wine, but not a grape.

As for the ABC (anything but chardonnay) people it is amazing how many will happily drink Chablis and the like.

its what comes of people buying wine by the grape rather than the terroir. Its like walking into the bar and ordering a pint of Challenger hop please.

*shakes head, dons smoking jacket, talks of a peppery nose and hints of edlerflower…*

Cotes de Thongue? If I were to get something from the Languedoc, I’d be more inclined to choose a viogner or a marsanne roussanne mix. Too much sun does something to chardonnay that doesn’t ring right IMO. Chardonnay from other regions can be so much better, my preference would be something eastern, a cotes de jura for instance.

Saying that, the best white from around these parts (again IMO, it’s so subjective) is an odd beast of chardonnay, viogner, manseng and chenin (not exactly local varieties the last two)

“Chardonnay” sells though, Ocrider. You can’t blame co-ops such as the one that produces wool’s suggestion developing wines for export to suit foreign “tastes” or should I say the “marketing model” of the dealers they supply.

I’ve just remembered the perfect ketchup wine for binners: Pol Remy vin mousseux. 😉

OP as you say no Chardonnay then Sauvignin Blanc is a good grape for food combinations and at your budget you should get something decent from the Loire (some suggested sbove). Damn UK taxes but I’ve found a very drinkable Touraine for £3 when bought in France.

@grum Chablis is part of the Burgandy appellation although it’s further north and a bit separated from the heart of the region, style is indeed different.

@binners I am a fully signed up Burgandy fan, red (pinot noir) and white (chardonnay). I think chardonnay has developed a footballer’s wives assocatation due partly to the tv series and partly due to the very crude and heavily artificially oaked American wines in particular. The proper way to make it is to use oak barrels so the flavour infuses slowly rather than chemical additions or handfuls of wood chips put directly into the wine.

Oh, I wouldn’t say otherwise, Edukator. It’s the lifeblood of quite a few villages around here, but the current trend is replanting older local varieties in place of the lower quality, higher yield vines. It can only be a good thing for all of us!

For ketchup, may I suggest a clairette de Die or a blanquette de Limoux? 8)

Further to Stoner’s comments on terroir and the Sauvignon/Chardonnay/pinot debate that’s running here, cêpage names seem more important to the British importers than the taste. “Chardonnay” is a marketing man’s dream but “gewurztraminer” is not, as it sounds horrible and is hard to remember, though it does tell you something about its taste if you speak German.

Is it a coincidence that the popular grape varieties in Britain sound classy, and are easy to pronounce and remember? I think not. “Manseng”, ugly right? Jurançon doux is nectar. “Viognier”, can you really see a floosy in a cocktail dress ordering something called “viognier”.