Wine: Country life

Two in every five bottles of French wine sold in the UK last year were vins de pays. Not constrained by the appellation contrôlée (AC) rules that allow wines to be made only from specific grape varieties and within strictly controlled boundaries, vins de pays also benefit from being able to mention the grape variety on the label, allowing smaller producers to get across to the consumer, à la New World, what the style is. As a result, vins de pays often offer good value and a more subtle alternative to the generally bolder flavours of the New World.

The revival of the Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne continues apace with some lipsmackingly crisp dry whites made from colombard, gros manseng, sémillon, sauvignon and chardonnay. The latter is the grape behind the richly buttery 2006 Domaine de Pellehaut Chardonnay, £6.95, Hercules Wine Warehouse, Sandwich (01304 617100). The first four grapes make up the blend of the 2006 Domaine du Tariquet Les 4, around £7.99, MW2 Wines, Long Crendon, Bucks (01844 208213), Advintage Wines, Wimbledon (020-8286 0089), Two Rivers Wines, Fairford (01285 711869), which could almost be sauvignon with its gooseberryish tang and grapefruity zest. You'll find a similarly aromatic zip and zing about the 2007 Rive Haute Sauvignon, Plaimont, £7.99, Adnams, Southwold (01502 727222), Richmond (020-8940 8684), although this, in contrast, is pure sauvignon blanc.

As the Languedoc-Roussillon accounts for two thirds of all vins de pays, it's impossible to overstate its importance. The quality of its vins de pays is amply demonstrated by the white that won this year's Top 100 Vins de Pays trophy. Made from the grenache grape in the Carcassonne area that combines the cool influence of the Atlantic and the warmer Mediterranean, the 2007 Single Estate Grenache Blanc, £5.99, Marks & Spencer, is a perfumed, seamless dry white – the perfect summer sipper. Another Languedoc, in this case a red blend, the 2007 Les Trois Poules La Coquine, Vin de Pays des Cotes de Thongue, £6.95, Imbibros, Godalming (01483 861165), combines merlot with grenache and syrah in a delightfully spicy, richly concentrated blend.

The notion of good value can obscure the fact that there are some seriously grand wines that are only vins de pays because they don't play it by the AC book. A Vin de Pays du Val de Montferrand, the 2006 Domaine de L'Hortus Grande Cuvée Blanc, around £14.70, Les Caves de Pyrène, Guildford (01483 554753), Nuggs of Fulham (020-7736 2038), is a peachy blend with a subtle, minerally finish; an 80 per cent chardonnay component (plus viognier and roussanne) takes it outside the Coteaux du Languedoc appellation. Also falling foul of AC, but only because the Franche-Comté in eastern France lies outside Burgundy, the 2004 Domaine Guillaume Chardonnay Collection Reservée, Vin de Pays du Franche Comté, £22, Theatre of Wine, Greenwich (020-8858 6363), is a wine whose toasted oak and burgundian richness could be mistaken for expensive Chassagne Montrachet.

Could the new regime, aimed at making French wines more competitive, sound the death knell for vins de pays? Under the new rules, which come into effect for next year's harvest, AC and vins de pays will be joined together as wines with a geographic indication, and a new category of wine without geographic indication will come into being to allow French producers to create cross-regional brands along New World lines. Time will tell, but I for one hope that vins de pays will continue to have a voice and platform.