Casa de Illana El Pico Macabeo Airén Sauvignon Blanc 2018 Castilla, Spain 75cl

El Pico is a white blend from Casa de Illana, the family winery based in the province of Cuenca in central Spain. Where its single-varietal wines spotlight one grape, El Pico is built as an easy, everyday blend for uncomplicated, sociable drinking.

Three grapes come together here. Macabeo and Airén, both widely grown across the Spanish interior, form the gentle, fruity core, while a portion of Sauvignon Blanc adds a brighter aromatic lift and a little more zip. It is made fresh and unoaked to keep everything light and clean on the palate.

The 2018 season was cooler and damper than the hot years before it across central Spain, which helped the whites keep their freshness and kept the alcohol in check, giving a wine that is easy to drink through an afternoon.

In the glass it is pale and bright, with a youthful sheen. Soft green apple and citrus lead, with a faint herbal, floral note from the Sauvignon Blanc, gentle body and a clean, crisp finish. This is a refreshing, undemanding style rather than a complex or weighty one, and it is all the more drinkable for it.

Think of it as a house white for warm days. Serve it well chilled with salads, light tapas, grilled vegetables, white fish or soft cheeses, or simply on its own in the garden. If you like a soft, easy Spanish white without oak, it is an affordable, cheerful pour that suits a crowd and asks nothing of the drinker. Serve it thoroughly chilled and it slips down easily all afternoon.