In Tipping's Tipples this week, Mike Tipping faces up to his least favourite grape varieties - and has a pleasant surprise.

An open mind is essential for the appreciation of fine wine. There are some grape varieties (mostly white) about which I struggle to summon any enthusiasm. I've never hidden the fact that I wouldn't make sauvignon blanc or pinot gris my first choice.

But then, if one keeps an open mind, a wealth of taste sensory pleasures can be found when least expected - such as tasting really good examples of pinot gris and sauvignon blanc, in my case.

Pinot gris/pinot grigio (delete as applicable depending on whether you want to be French or Italian) is a grey pink member of the pinot family. I like the German name more, Grauburgunder, pronounced 'grr-owwh bore goonder', it is stimulation for my northern English monotone.

The last memorable pinot gris I had was at an Oddbin's tasting a couple of years ago. New Zealand producer Villa Maria's Seddon Vineyard Pinot Gris knocked me over then. I'm happy to report the 2005 vintage does too.

It's full, as white wines go, yet it is in no way heavy, just well made and beautifully structured. Full of spicy, warming, creamy, lightly sugared grapefruit, pears, lychees and a little effervescence, it is far too good to drink with food.

Sauvignon blanc isn't usually my bag either. Especially from New Zealand's Marlborough region - I'd rather have something with a little more subtlety. All those eau de Tomcat aromas and flavours of lawn clippings get tiresome, but Villa Maria Wairau Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2005 (from the previously mentioned Marlborough region) is excused. It's zingy, zingy, zingy and crisp, crisp, crisp; elderflower, limes and gooseberries are tongue tantalisingly-tastic, folks.

Some people write off all French wines, on the grounds that they are all in the same league as that awful, thin stuff they paid sixty Euro-cents for at le supermarch last summer. Such critics should open their mind to Cazal Viel Cuve des Fes 2003 from the Saint Chinian appellation in the Languedoc. I urge fans of New World reds to give this a whirl. Full, smooth, well balanced and with the most supple of tannins it has oodles of smoky, spiced, dark fruit, liquorice and vanilla.

Villa Maria Seddon Vineyard Pinot Gris 2005, £10.99 at Oddbins 18/20 Villa Maria Wairau Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2005, £10.99 at Thresher and Majestic 17/20 Cazal Viel Cuve des Fes 2003, Saint Chinian, £6.99 at Thresher 18/20 Tippling term of the week: vielles vignes. French for old vines, a term often used on bottle labels but, sadly, no one can agree how old an old vine should be.