Anthony Rose: 'There's more to dry white than chardonnay and sauvignon blanc'

Why in the bleakish mid-winter am I about to bang on about appetite-whetting white wines?

Well, firstly, because there is life after meat and it's called fish – and this and next month promise fish and shellfish heaven. Secondly, because we're within a wine writer's spitting distance of the vernal equinox on Friday. And thirdly and most importantly, it doesn't have to be 30 degrees to drink dry white wine. There's more, after all, to dry white than chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. Pair it with food, not the weather: ideally oysters, moules marinières or dressed crab.

Off the Atlantic coast of Galicia where the shellfish are practically queuing up to be caught, Rías Baixas produces some of Europe's most delightfully dry whites from the albariño grape. There can be a refreshing, effervescent prickle on the tongue, as in the case of the 2013 Conde de Albarei Albariño, £10.74-£13.39, Michael Jobling, ThirtyFifty, with its apple and pear fruit and lipsmackingly dry, appley bite. The same goes for the 2013 Esencia Divina Albariño, £13.06, winecellarclub.co.uk, whose zingy-fresh spritz is complemented by a mouthwateringly grapefruit finish.

Austria's signature grape variety, grüner veltliner, is one of Europe's most consistent, high-quality dry whites, usually unoaked for optimum freshness and flavour. Freshness and a juicy, citrus-peachiness is the hallmark of the 2013 Felsner Klassik Moosburgerin GV, £10.99, Waitrose. While Rainer Wess's 2014 Klassik Wachauer GV, £13, Harvey Nichols, Vino Vero, shows floral, peppery notes and the tongue-tingling zing of new vintage GV. Schloss Gobelsburg's 2013 Reserve Steinsetz GV, £22, Haynes Hanson, Wine Society, is opulently peachy with an appetisingly crisp finish; Birgit Eichinger's exotic 2013 Reserve Lamm GV, £27.61, Amazon, is yet another exceptional example of this delicious Austrian grape variety.

Now that Istria is in the EU, it's not just more white truffles we'll be seeing from this neck of the Croatian woods, but refreshingly crisp malvazija istarska, such as the grapefruit-citrusy 2013 Gerzinic Istrian Malvasia, £10, Marks & Spencer. Greece, too, has a wonderful local variety in volcanic Santorini's assyrtiko grape, one of the best examples of which is Gaia's Thalassitis 2013, Santorini, £16.95, Noel Young, winedirect.co.uk, Corks and Cases.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, there is Villa Maria's 2013 Arneis, £9.99, Morrisons, which shows that Piedmontese Alpine quality of pear and peach fruitiness underlined by a lively zing. Finishing on a fish-and-chip note, there is the 2006 Nicolas Feuillatte Blanc de Blancs Champagne, £32.99, Waitrose, which acts like a squeeze of lemon, the perfect foil for the essential battery crunchiness.