This week's wine is one of three new to me from the Minervois region of Southern France that I found in Oddbins.

It is crystal clear with a straw yellow colour and a pronounced nose of apricots and nectarines with a flowery background. There are citrus flavours on the palate with apricot and peach and a hint of oak from maturation in American oak barrels.

It is 12% alcohol which balances the acidity and fruit perfectly. This is just the wine to go with roast chicken and a neutral bread sauce.

The Roussanne of the title is a grape variety rarely seen on its own on a bottle label. Along with Marsanne this grape variety has been traditionally associated with the still white wines of the northern Rhne Valley and the sparkling wine of Saint Peray in the same region. It has a reputation of going through a period of maderisation in middle age, emerging as a well preserved wine after ten years or more. So unless you bought a case I should drink it right away.

Domaine Virginie established 1989 is situated in Beziers in the Languedoc/Roussillon and sourced the grapes from Minervois. There are 4,000 hectares of vineyards here and viticulture has been practised since Roman times. It received it's A.C. in 1985 and since then considerable investment in winery equipment has produced wines of some quality. Roussanne has benefited from the successive reduction in the widely planted carignan vine.

This wine is the Darlington manager's choice for this month and is a refreshing alternative to chardonnay. This is a bargain at £4.99 but if you can afford a little more, Oddbins have two more Minervois wines, each at £6.99, which are both really good expressions of the area's terroir, namely Hegarty Charmans and Borie de Maurel.