This Month's recommended wines - June

Oddly, for such a traditional industry, the wine world can move at quite a pace, and every so often a wine comes along that makes you reappraise your attitude to a country or a region. Both of this month's wines have done just that for me recently.

CONO SUR RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2003

Following two recent trips to Chile, I've tended to dismiss the vast majority of their Chardonnays as confected or boring. But this is a very, very good wine. It has tight, citrus characters with hints of tropicality and a little of the savoury minerality more usually found in Burgundy.

Winemaker Adolfo Hurtado has garnered a deserved reputation for his work with Pinot Noir; this ought to put him on the map for his Chardonnay as well.

Not, alas, available through the wholesale trade but it's such a great buy that it's still a bargain even once you've stocked up at your nearest Unwins.

£6.99 at Unwins

MICHEL LAROCHE VIOGNIER CLASSIC 2003

The scorching summer of 2003 has made it difficult to get decent European whites, but surprisingly the South of France seems to have done rather better than other areas, maybe because it's always hot down there so they're used to coping with it. Either way, this is a delicious Viognier that would make a fabulous by-the-glass addition to any wine list. It has lovely ripe apricot and nectarine flavours and the lowish acidity is never as much of a factor for this grape as it is for, say, Chardonnay. Hugely drinkable.

£31.86/six-bottle case +VAT at Bibendum (0207 449 4100); also Everich, Amps Fine Wines, Jolly Vintner, Manwood Wines