IT'S always been quite puzzling why St George should end up as England's patron saint.

He was, after all, a Roman soldier of Greek and Syrian/Palestinian origin, not a taxi driver from Colchester.

Anyway, in honour of St George's Day on Monday, we're taking a quick look at some English wines seeing as they're getting a bit of a push in the marketing world.

Grapes here aren't going to grow as consistently well as in Italy, Greece or even the Middle East, but the reputation of English tipples, mainly whites and mainly from the far south, has been improving notably in recent years.

Indeed, a second annual Independent English Wine Competition took place last month involving 51 producers from 22 different counties, with 13 drinks awarded gold medals.

The top sparkler was a 2014 rosé from Langham Wine Estate in Dorset, and the leading still wine was a 2015 Pinot Gris from Sussex’s Stopham Estate, while there was even a gold-winning red - Lyme Bay Winery’s 2016 Pinot Noir.

Judging panel chair Liam Steevenson said of the entries: “What cannot be disputed any more is that England and its talented group of enthusiastic producers are creating wines that compete in style and quality with anything the rest of the world can offer. We are without doubt a wine-producing nation."

The rest of the world may argue that point, of course, but to celebrate our England and our St George, we picked an English tipple from Co-op's shelves this week - a 2016 Irresistible Limestone Rise, priced £8.99.

A thirst-quenching light 11 per cent white from Surrey, it is a blend of Bacchus and Ortega grapes and shows notes of crisp lime fruits combined with a good acidity. Would we choose it over and above continental rivals? Maybe not. But would we turn it down? Definitely not. It's certainly a good one for a nice English summer's day.

Now, celebrating St George isn't confined to the English, of course, with numerous countries, cities, professions and organisations claiming him as their patron.

Aragon and Catalonia in Spain are among them and, given the Rioja region lies next to Aragon, we feel able to raise a glass of that stuff to George too.

Okay, that link might be a little tenuous but after a few sips of the 2009 Marques de Valido Gran Reserva Rioja - down from £12.99 to £9.99 at the Co-op until May 22 - we're happy enough to turn a blind eye.

These Tempranillo grapes are aged for two years in oak and three in bottle, with the end result being an elegant, velvety smooth and complex red with plenty of vanilla and a nice touch of raisins and caramel. It'd be great with red meats and rich chocolate cake for afters.

Hurray for St George.