A perfect white for a summer evening

2007 Muscadet Ctes de Grandlieu, Sur Lie, Le Fief Gurin, Loire, France (£5.49,Waitrose).

The summer is well and truly upon us (I hope I haven't spoken too soon) and it heralds the arrival of the new 2007-vintage, northern-hemisphere, dry-white wines. Ice-cold, nervy, thirst-quenching whites form the backbone of our summer wine consumption and I have already tasted hundreds of examples in order to track down the very best for you.

One surprise was this terrific, inexpensive Muscadet. Using 75-year-old vines and lutte raisonne' farming techniques (near-organic practices that use little man-made treatments) there is a tonne of fruit on display in this cheeky white and for a very small spend you have a beautifully accurate example of this classic.

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Matured on its lees until early spring (sur lie) it picks up intensity and depth of flavour and this makes Le Fief Gurin a perfect summery accompaniment to all seafood and crustacea feasts.

Light, zesty and loaded with prickly acidity, this delicious wine is also the perfect aperitif to keep in the fridge for emergency drinking. You can happily spend a tenner trying to find a white with as much joie de vivre as this stunner and you will most likely fail.

Le Fief Gurin is already one of the true vinous bargains of 2008.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy