Bottle of the Month

For us, the ability to make a good bottle of affordable wine is the pinnacle of the winemaker's art, and there are few as skilful at managing this difficult feat than Spain's Telmo Rodriguez.

Through his many guises, Senor Rodriguez produces wines here there and mostly everywhere in Spain, but one of his greatest hits has been the popular Basa, a light, florid white wine, which uses the verdejo grape with great skill. Served cool, extra cool, it's a quintessential quaffer, and the good news is that with the 2000 vintage, Rodriguez has significantly improved the expressiveness of the wine over the 1999. This is a meaty, fragrant drink, with a punch of elderflower, a true anywhere, anytime, anyfood wine, and at a little more than £6 or so, it's a steal.

The importers are Rafael Alvarez of Approach Wine Trade (Tel: 051 640164) and James Nicholson, see www.jnwine.com.