AS I write, Ming the Merciless has his evil icy wind destructor ray pointed at the British Isles. By the time you read this, I’m hoping Flash Gordon will have saved every one of us and we will be basking in hot weather. Especially since it is the Spring Bank Holiday.

I suppose you have to be quite old to remember a heatwave happening.

In the olden days, if a heatwave did come along, we used to sit in the garden with a nice glass of wine. This week’s wines would be ideally suited to that purpose.

La Monacesca Verdicchio di Matelica 2012 is a flavoursome white hailing from the Marche region of Italy.

It is rich, with a creamy texture and pronounced peach flavours, citrus zest, white pepper and honey. A wine of some complexity and a splendid aperitif; it would also work really well with sushi.

New to Majestic Wine’s shelves is an intriguing, almost cheeky, little number from the sunny south of France. It’s made from the riesling grape, which is as common in the Languedoc as Unicorn horns.

Domaine Ferrandiere Riesling 2014 is dry, crisp, clean and mineral with flavours of lemon, not quite ripe orange and contrasting white pepper notes. Brilliant with fish, it is also good drinking on its own.

Or head to Gloucestershire for an appealing and affordable English wine, Three Choirs Vineyards Midsummer Hill 2013.

It is a blend of grapes that thrive in this country; some of which have very long names and others which would score heavily in a game of Scrabble.

The perfect wine for an English summer evening, it suggests citrus fruit, elderflower and mineral with a hint of perfume.

• La Monacesca Verdicchio di Matelica 2012, £8.79 at Waitrose until June 2, 18/20

• Domaine Ferrandiere Riesling 2014, £6.74 each when you buy 2 at Majestic, 18/20

• Three Choirs Vineyards Midsummer Hill 2013, £7.50 from The Wine Society 18/20

• La Monacesca Verdicchio di Matelica 2012, £8.79 at Waitrose until June 2, 18/20