My wines of the week from Sainsbury's, Booths, Waitrose and Tesco

Taste the Difference Gavi di Gavi 2024, Piedmont, Italy, 12%, Sainsbury down from £13 to £11 with Nectar card until June 10: From the heartland of the tiny Gavi region in Piedmont, close to the historic centre, this is made from 100% Cortese grapes. It has a delicate fresh dry style. Perfect as an aperitif.

Côtes des Roses 2024, Gérard Bertrand, Languedoc, 13.5%, Tesco £11.50 down to £10 with a Clubcard until June 16: This stylish glass-stoppered bottle with a rose embossed on its base looks good on any table, and its ripe red fruits are in perfect balance with its crisp, fresh finish.

Mad Fish Sauvignon Blush 2024, Western Australia, 11% Booths down from £10 to £7.50 until June 3: Crisp, lively Sauvignon Blanc from breezy Margaret River, with a splash of Merlot adding red berry fruit. Try it with seafood pasta.​

Yalumba Galway Barossa Shiraz 2021, South Australia, 14.5%, Waitrose down from £14 to £10.50 on a mix six deal until June 3: A plump generous wine with mulberry and blueberries, edged with chocolate and soft, supple tannins, while still supporting the fruit. Stock up while the 25% off deal is still on.

Serious reading

The Cynic’s Guide to Wine, by Sunny Hodge, published by Academie du Vin Library (£25) is one of the best wine books I have read in a long while. Instead of starting with history, regions and grape varieties which is how most wine books start, this leaps immediately into the science of how the roots of the vine interact with the soil.

This leads onto the way the soil type can influence the taste of wine. By page 13, Sunny, a mechanical engineer turned wine bar owner is talking about cation exchange within the root zone. Just a few pages later he has dealt with the various soil types encountered in vineyards and discussed smelly microbes, humus and soil acidity.

Whether all these elements do actually debunk the idea of ‘terroir’ is debatable, but Sunny moves on to discuss fertilisers, organic viticulture and a short but understandable view of biodynamic practices.

These are sections on fermentation, a dismissive page on old vines and a whole chapter on flavour perception, before concluding that this book fills a scientific hole in the general knowledge of wine professionals.

This is a well-written book that pulls together scientific knowledge from extensive global sources. It is not easy reading, and some parts need re-reading several times to make sense, but if you want to lift your wine knowledge beyond the usual history and varieties of wine regions then it is well worth settling down with a copy.

I have a spare copy of this book to give away. All you have to do is answer the following question and send it to me, by Friday 6 June at [email protected], together with your name, address, and daytime phone number. The winner will be picked at random from my electronic ice bucket.

Question: If you have methoxypyrazines in your Sauvignon Blanc wine, what should you do?

Enjoy the grassy aromas

Discard the wine

Grub up your vineyard

Winemaker Tasting in Beverley

Ed Donaldson of Pegasus Bay in North Canterbury, New Zealand will be at Beverley Rugby Club at 7.30pm on Thursday 19 June, to present a selection of wines from this lovely estate.

This event is hosted by Roberts and Speight and tickets cost £25. Ring them on 01482 870717 or check their website www.robertsandspeight.co.uk to book your place.