Germany, Austria & Hungary

Make no mistake, Germany is the source of some of the purest, most delicate wines in the world.

Its most famous region is the Mosel Valley and is where the Riesling grape makes a wine that's packed with mineral elegance and crisp citrus characters, but they are pretty too, and are often heavily scented with flowers and sometimes a touch of sweetness too, all of which makes them an awesome match with Asian cuisine.

Historically, famous German wine names like Liebfraumilch and Piesporter fell out of favour with the general public, but today gargantuan efforts into winemaking and wine marketing have helped Liebfraumilch, a style of semi-sweet German wine, turn a corner. Piesporter meanwhile, which can be made from the grapes of Riesling, Müller-Thurgau or Elbling are loved for their pretty floral characters and can be made in different sweetness levels, anything from dry to off-dry.

Austria's great winemaking claims lay with Grüner Veltliner. This is the darling grape variety with sommeliers because it is crisp, dry and packed with white peppery spice on the palate so it's hugely refreshing and brilliantly versatile with all kinds of starters from fish to white meat to cheese. And because Grüner Veltliner is still only seems to be a favourite among connoisseurs, it can still be found at very good prices too.

Apart from the world class sweet wine called Tokaji, for years Hungary's winemaking scene was in the doldrums, but nowadays it has shaken off its reputation for making uncharacteristic wine from unknown grape varieties and instead it makes some very good value for money wine from grapes varieties that we know, understand, and love, like Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.