Much of the time, pinot grigio is the perfect 'nothing' wine. It is low in alcohol, it is rarely aged in oak, and has the lightest of fruit. Critics argue it has no flavour whatsoever, but this could be its strongest selling point. How can you object to a wine that tastes of nothing?

Pinot grigio is none other than pinot gris, popular in Alsace for producing some very stylish, rich dry whites and excellent sweet wines. It has become very fashionable Down Under, with New Zealand making some very attractive examples. The grigio bit means grey, and pinot gris grapes on the vines range in colour from a pale grey to a fairly deep pink.

It is a close relative of the red pinot noir variety, and apparently it can be hard to tell them apart in the vineyard.

Pinot gris can produce a wide variety of flavours and styles, but the Italians generally favour the light and crisp. It is widely grown all over the Veneto, a huge swathe of land running around Venice, and further north and east in Alto-Adige and Trentino.

Some of the cheapest examples are pretty awful, dull and cardboardy, or laced with some strange chemical flavours that you would not expect in wine. Other inexpensive versions can be very pleasant; easy, fresh wines with a touch of honey and light pears - great aperitif wine, and perfect with seafood. Move up in price, and you begin to get some very nicely textured wines with more honey, an exotic spiciness, and less of that zesty lemon. Some more ambitious producers have tried ageing the wines in new oak; they are certainly not to my taste.

For this week's column, I assembled some of the best-selling pinot grigios in Ireland.

They are all widely available, usually on our supermarket shelves, and all cost less than Euro10.

Guerrieri Rizzardi pinot grigio 2006 Description Some very enticing youthful aromas lead on to a delicious fresh mouthful of pears with a touch of honey.

Crisp and dry, this is classic Veneto pinot grigio at its finest.

Available from Normally Euro13.99 from O'Briens Wine Off-licences, but down to Euro9.99 from 26 March onwards.

Drink with This would be a great aperitif, or alongside leafy salads with fish.

13.5/20 Marks & Spencer Garganega pinot grigio del Veneto 2005 Description The Garnagena adds a very enjoyable hint of almonds; there is a nice gingery spice too, with a slight spritz;

Available from Euro7.99 from Marks & Spencer.

Drink with Try it with lighter Asian dishes - prawns in coconut milk for instance.

11/20 Grigioluna pinot grigio (Veneto) Cecilia Beretta 2006 Description One of the best under Euro10, a very attractive fresh pure pinot grigio, soft and easy, with a spicy touch.

Available from Superquinn, O'Briens Wine Off-licences;

McHughs, Kilbarrack; Nolan's Vernon Avenue; Jaynes, Ennis;

Daly's, Boyle; Barry Collins, Carrigaline.

Drink with Try it with a classic quiche lorraine.

12/20 Tesco's Italian pinot grigio 2005 Description Very light fresh and dry with easy apples and plenty of lemon zest. It will never set the world alight, but very gluggable stuff.

Available from Euro6.99 from Te s c o .

Drink with Perfect party wine.

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