If Sauvignon Blanc built New Zealand’s reputation, Pinot Noir is where it intends to cement its fine wine credentials. That much was clear at the industry’s flagship event, Pinot Noir New Zealand 2025 (PN25), held in Christchurch earlier this year – the first since 2017 after a pandemic-related hiatus.

Over three days, producers presented their wares for debate, tasting and scrutiny by local and international critics and trade. The verdict? The wines are more exciting than ever, but the category faces a defining moment: push harder for global recognition or risk fading into the background of the fine wine conversation.

Many international attendees were struck by the stylistic shift. The glossy, oak-sweetened Pinots of the early days are largely gone, replaced by wines of greater finesse, freshness and site transparency.

‘There’s a real sense of confidence now,’ noted consultant and DWWA judge Madeleine Stenwreth MW. ‘Producers don’t feel the need to push so hard to prove themselves. They are showing much more place, much more vineyard.’

‘The interplay of site and clone is clearer, inspiring a wave of single-vineyard wines’

Emma Jenkins MW

Winds of change

New Zealand’s hallmark has long been vibrant fruit purity and consistency, with Pinots typically marrying aromatic, juicy red and black fruits with savoury depth and natural freshness. While wine drinkers have enjoyed that consistency, some critics wonder whether it has limited the country’s evolution.

Burgundy expert and author Jasper Morris MW, visiting in late 2024, observed: ‘Not a lot has really changed between my various visits. Certainly people are more competent and the understanding of locations is better, but have there really been that many new people? You can’t keep saying the same story, as the unfortunate reality is this will not capture the world’s interest.’

With more than 5,600ha under vine, Pinot Noir is New Zealand’s second most planted grape, the key red variety from Wairarapa south. Central Otago, despite having just 4.9% of the nation’s vineyards, produces nearly 30% of its Pinot Noir.

Few countries boast such a range of cool-climate terroirs and when tasted side-by-side, the regional and sub-regional differences are increasingly distinct. The challenge – and opportunity – is how to communicate this diversity in markets where Burgundy, Oregon and increasingly Germany dominate the conversation. Internationally, New Zealand is no longer a newcomer.

Consumers may recognise established names but often fail to explore beyond them. While exports have been falling, after reaching a peak in 2018, and global market visibility remains a challenge, those closer to home know that styles have indeed broadened. Winemakers are embracing differences rather than smoothing them away.

The past decade has brought a burst of natural and ‘nouveau’ wines, small-batch experiments and even the occasional blend. A more nuanced, site-responsive approach has emerged, prioritising terroir over winemaking showmanship. As vines have matured, the interplay of site and clone is clearer, inspiring a wave of single-vineyard wines.

Whether these are genuinely superior or simply distinct is still open to debate, but this shift from technical ambition to authentic site expression marks an evolution.

‘New Zealand Pinot now seems to be more nuanced, freer of the technical obsession that once led many wines into the same flavour space,’ said UK critic Jamie Goode at PN25.

Generational change is also reshaping the landscape. Young winemakers and new entrants, often running side hustles or small projects, are pushing boundaries with an increasing focus on organic and biodynamic farming and low intervention styles.

Many rely on fruit from premium growers or shared production spaces, reflecting both the high capital costs and collaborative spirit of the new wave.

Decanter New Zealand Pinot Noir vintage rating

New Zealand’s geography can make vintage generalisations difficult. Some vintages – 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2024 – have had more uniform conditions, but it always pays to check by individual region.

2024: *****

Lower yields this year but exceptional quality; warm, dry conditions and cool nights. Balanced, ageworthy wines.

2023: ****

Cyclone Gabrielle challenged the northeastern coast. Tricky year for many, though some good wines, if unlikely to be long-cellaring. Much more solid across the South Island. Decent yields.

2022: ***

Solid yields. For most, a very humid February was aided by a drier autumn: look for fastidious producers. An excellent year for Central Otago.

2021: *****

Early, very dry season. Low yields but very good quality across both islands.

2020: *****

The ‘lockdown’ vintage; fortunately, Mother Nature was smiling. Excellent quality, low yields.

New Zealand’s defining wine?

Yet despite the quality and diversity, Pinot Noir hasn’t achieved the global breakthrough enjoyed by Sauvignon Blanc. Plantings have fallen by almost 200ha in the past decade, exports and overall domestic wine consumption are both falling, and Pinot Gris now outsells Pinot Noir overseas.

Rising production costs add further challenges. Visibility is a perennial hurdle and limited quantities of the best wines make them difficult to f ind in key markets such as the US and UK.

As PN25 keynote speaker Eric Asimov cautioned: ‘Potential and possibility don’t create awareness. You need people on the ground – importers, distributors – championing these wines.’

Still, there’s energy in the air and a sense of momentum. Both 2024 and 2025 delivered high-quality vintages across the regions, and most producers are driven by site and purpose rather than scale. Their wines increasingly reflect that authenticity.

At 89, Central Otago pioneer Alan Brady (who first planted grapes in Gibbston valley in 1981 and has just built his third winery, Wild Irishman), remains upbeat.

‘It’s Pinot Noir that’s shown us where to go,’ he says. ‘If we’re wise, we won’t let the marketplace dictate style but continue to develop our empathy and understanding of our vineyards.’

That balance of humility and dedication is serving New Zealand well. Great Pinot Noir takes time, and within little more than a generation, the country has established an impressive degree of quality with the promise of more to come.

For drinkers around the world, the message is simple: New Zealand Pinot Noir has never been more compelling – it’s nuanced, diverse, deeply rooted in place and increasingly ageworthy. If producers maintain their quality focus, tell their stories with conviction and build allies in key markets, Pinot Noir could yet become New Zealand’s defining wine.

Around New Zealand’s Pinot Noir regions

Wairarapa

Small but significant region, home to pioneering, world-class wineries. Three sub-regions: Martinborough, Gladstone and Masterton. Pinot accounts for roughly half of plantings (slightly more in Martinborough). Devigorating wind and deep gravelly soils produce low yields and thicker skins; wines are aromatic and structured, with savoury complexity. Key area for Abel, the ‘gumboot clone’ said to have been propagated from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti’s La Tâche vineyard.

Marlborough

The shift from stony valley floor sites to the rolling, clay-based hillsides of the Southern Valleys, alongside clonal refinement, has led to major quality gains. Exciting wines are emerging from the cooler, drier, more exposed Awatere. While many archetypal wines remain, there’s also good value via the larger producers. Wines are typically fragrant, red-fruited and midweight with fine tannins. Key area for sparkling and rosé.

Nelson

Enjoys similar sunshine hours to Marlborough but with more sheltering hills, producing perfumed, expressively fruity wines. The Moutere’s clay soils lend silky tannins and supple texture.

North Canterbury

Early vineyards were planted near South Island’s biggest city Christchurch, but recent decades have seen a northward shift to the drier, more sheltered rolling hills of Waipara and the inland limestone soils of Waikari. Wines are perfumed and spicy with red/black fruits, and supple, textural structure.

Central Otago

Pinot Noir is the region’s flagship variety, just exceeding 80% of plantings. Six distinct sub-regions – Alexandra, Bannockburn, Bendigo, Gibbston, Lowburn/Pisa and Wanaka – sit on quartz/schist/granite and glacial soils. Aromatic, supple wines with vivid red or black fruits, spice and dried herbs, supported by notable acid/tannin spines.

See Emma’s pick from the latest New Zealand Pinot Noir releases

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With his laconic wit and no-nonsense style, English-born Kevin Judd could easily be taken for a Kiwi. After decades in New Zealand, he has their straight talk down to a tee.

Judd, founder and winemaker of Greywacke in Marlborough, New Zealand, was in London with his wife and business partner Kimberley Judd to present the first-ever vertical tasting of Chardonnay wines to take place outside their winery.

From zero to world fame

The Judds are usually associated with Sauvignon Blanc, for good reason. It is their chief grape variety at Greywacke and made Kevin’s name. As the founding winemaker at Cloudy Bay, established in 1985 by David Hohnen, Kevin is a central figure in New Zealand’s wine history.

He helped inaugurate the country’s stellar ascent as a winemaking nation with Cloudy Bay’s pioneering style of Sauvignon Blanc in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

After 25 years at Cloudy Bay, Kevin founded Greywacke in 2009. ‘When I left Cloudy Bay, I had no money, no vineyard and no winery,’ he says. ‘But I turned 50 and I had some experience. A guy called Ivan Sutherland tapped me on the shoulder.’

Sutherland, who had been the viticulturist at Cloudy Bay, owned farmland and had established Dog Point Wines. ‘In 2009, there was the global financial crisis and there were spare grapes,’ Kevin continues.

‘Sutherland had heard we were thinking of starting our own thing, so we set up a business partnership. They also provided space in their winery. We still buy 70% of our fruit from the Sutherland family. We went from zero to exporting wine to 55 countries in the world. 95% of our production is exported.’

Chardonnay in the spotlight

Six Chardonnays, from the vintages 2010, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021 and the current release, 2023, were lined up. ‘Chardonnay is quite a small part of our production,’ says Kevin.

‘We believe that Chardonnay in Marlborough can make fantastic wine, but it lives in the humongous shadow of Sauvignon Blanc.’

Most of the wines are made from the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay. ‘It has big berries and tiny berries in the same bunch, about as small as match heads; it is what the French call millerandage and we call hen-and-chicken. It is a clone that gives us immense concentration and natural acidity,” he adds.

Even when the fruit is fully ripe, the acidity is strident, which explains the alcohol level, the full citrus expression and the concentration of the wines. The wines also contain some clone 95 and a far smaller portion of the newer 548 clone.

High in the sky

‘We are at the latitude of 41.5° South,’ Kevin explains. Transposed to the northern hemisphere, he exlpains, this latitude ‘runs right through Italy and Spain’. In fact, it runs right between Rome and Naples in Italy and just a little north of Barcelona in Spain.

‘The sun is very high in the sky, but because we are surrounded by ocean, completely maritime, it very rarely goes above 30°C. On a really hot day, it goes to 32°C, but the night temperatures then are usually around 15°C. We get this incredible natural acidity and really intense fruit flavours,’ he says.

‘We get young winemakers from Chile and South Africa coming to discover how to make Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but it is our climate that is so unique.’ He’s right: the sunshine and briskness of Marlborough is on full display in the wines.

Consistent style

The climate is indeed key to the style. All the wines are luminous, bright and punchy, with potent alcohols of 14% and above. In terms of winemaking, Kevin outlines his core elements for Chardonnay.

All fruit is hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed. If there is sedimentation at all, it is light. Most juice goes straight to barrel.

‘All of these wines had fairly heavy solid contents,’ he notes. All the ferments are spontaneous. ‘The great thing about wild fermentation is that it is a microbiological zoo,’ he explains, believing that the diverse yeast population at the beginning of the ferment lends complexity to his wines, which all go through full malolactic conversion.

All the wines are fermented in small French, ‘quite heavily toasted’ barrels made by the Tonnellerie de Mercurey.

‘I like Chardonnay, I like oak, it’s just like tomatoes and basil, a match made in heaven,’ Kevin quips, but notes that there never was more than 20% new oak.

Ageing gracefully

Throughout the years, he has held onto these principles and made no stylistic changes to the winemaking. The only change was in 2019 when he decided to age the wines for 11 rather than 18 months. He emphasises that this was a purely logistical decision, so barrels would not be empty for half a year.

The only reason the Judds did not show their initial 2009 Chardonnay vintage is due to its rarity. Kimberley explains that they kept fewer reserves at the beginning.

But the 2010, a favourite of the Judds, just shone. Having tasted these pristine mature vintages, the new wines, impressive in their own right, cried out for bottle age.

And while two debates were settled a long time ago, this splendid vertical reinforced without a doubt that New World wines evolve and mature beautifully – and do so under screwcap.

Greywacke Chardonnay: Six to try

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Built in conjunction with local geospatial experts MapHQ, and based upon AMW’s original Wine Map of Marlborough, the freely available digital platform overlays topography, temperature, rainfall and soil data onto high-resolution photography, accompanied by commentary from winemakers and viticulturists. The result is a fascinating exploration of how terroir shapes style and variety across the region’s sprawling patchwork of subregions, providing professionals and enthusiasts alike with an entirely new way to engage with the region.

Users can toggle between individual layers, tracing how cool night temperatures snake up the Awatere, comparing rainfall totals, and discovering why Sauvignon Blanc from Seaview differs from that of Dillon’s Point, or how Omaka’s Pinot Noir contrasts with that of its neighbour, Brancott. It’s equal parts atlas, climatology lesson and wine guide.

The map also deepens understanding of Marlborough’s growing subregional identities. Once simply divided into three main zones – Wairau, Southern Valleys and Awatere – it has become increasingly evident that this neat segmentation no longer reflects the complexity on the ground. AMW’s cartography uses water catchment areas, climate data and soils to define three macro regions and eight subregions, allowing users to drill down into the vineyard-level detail that is increasingly referenced on premium labels.

AMW chair Sophie Parker-Thomson MW called the map ‘a quantum leap in communicating Marlborough’s diverse wine story.

‘For the first time, we are offering a dynamic, visual exploration of how our distinctive subregions and microclimates stylistically contribute to our wines. It’s an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of what makes the Marlborough wine region, and the AMW certified wines produced here, so exceptional,’ she added.

Beyond its marketing potential, the map – now freely accessible on the AMW website – arms consumers with a user-friendly tool to explore the region’s quality-focused producers. It helps distinguish those telling the subregional story from the more generic, brand-driven offerings, and is expected to evolve as new data layers and vintage overlays are added, rewarding repeat visits driven by curious wine lovers.

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David Hohnen calls it the ‘eyebrow effect’. ‘You watch them shoot up as soon as they put their nose in a glass,’ he says, chuckling.

Back in 1985, the Cloudy Bay founder leveraged that instant reaction to gain a foothold in UK independent retail for his inaugural vintage.

As savvy a storyteller as he is a winemaker, Hohnen also sent samples abroad with a jar of Marlborough green-lipped mussels, telling recipients to get a corkscrew and some fresh, crusty bread.

The UK market took off and soon eyebrows were lifting worldwide.

Scroll down to see notes and scores of six brilliant Cloudy Bay wines

Cloudy Bay’s story began in 1983, when Hohnen, an Australian winemaker at Cape Mentelle in Margaret River, encountered the eyebrow effect himself.

Visiting New Zealand, winemakers left him a bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that ‘blew my socks off’. The following year, he sought out its source.

Flying into Marlborough, he recalls looking across the summer-brown hillsides and thinking, ‘Yes, this is the place.’ His initial plan was a fly-in, fly-out winemaking venture but that quickly changed.

A Marlborough legend

Convincing his Cape Mentelle backers – his brother Mark and business partner Simon Fraser – to borrow NZ$1 million at an eyewatering 23.5% interest rate, Hohnen purchased land on Jacksons Road, built a winery and hired a young Australian winemaker named Kevin Judd to oversee production.

The first vintage, in 1985, was made with 40 tonnes of purchased fruit trucked to Selaks’ Gisborne winery, where Judd was working.

From the start, Cloudy Bay set a benchmark for its Sauvignon Blanc, defined by vibrant tropical fruit, racy acidity and a signature pungency.

‘We produced wine without compromising on quality,’ Judd explains. ‘There were never any questions about that. We also delivered consistency across those early years. David had also just won two Jimmy Watson trophies, and the wine world trusted him.’

As demand surged, Champagne house Veuve Clicquot took an interest, investing in Cloudy Bay in 1990 after purchasing a nearby vineyard that became known as the Widow’s Block (a tribute to Madame Clicquot), now a key source of fruit.

This partnership ultimately led to full ownership by the LVMH group in 2003, unlocking investment and global reach while maintaining Cloudy Bay’s hands-off, quality-first approach. In 2014, the winery expanded into Central Otago, home of its flagship Pinot Noir, Te Wāhi.

Cloudy Bay: A timeline

1985: Cloudy Bay established

1990: Veuve Clicquot takes a stake

1992: First Pelorus méthode traditionnelle release

1994: First Marlborough Pinot Noir release

2000: First Te Koko release (1996 vintage)

2003: LVMH purchases Cloudy Bay outright

2009: Cloudy Bay begins to explore Central Otago

2014: Purchase of the Northburn vineyard and leasing of the Calvert vineyard, both in Central Otago

2016: First release of Te Wāhi Pinot Noir (2014 vintage)

‘Change but no change’

Four decades on, much remains as it was.

Sauvignon Blanc is still Cloudy Bay’s cornerstone – both the classic bottling and the wild-fermented Te Koko – alongside Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and the Pelorus sparkling range.

Winemaking director Nikolai St George (pictured, above) leads a passionate, focused team, with technical and sustainable development senior director Jim White observing that ‘the winemaking approach is bigger than one person; any change happens in incremental steps’.

The evolution of Te Koko exemplifies this ethos – once a bold, funky, barrel-driven experiment, it has been slowly refined with the addition of concrete tulip tanks, foudres and shorter ferments, bringing greater precision to its wild-ferment profile.

St George believes that ‘New Zealand is good at understanding something and then making it our own’, echoing Hohnen’s view that Cloudy Bay blends Old and New World influences.

‘I’ve always felt grateful to have the Old World’s knowledge and the New World’s ability to discard traditions that didn’t work,’ he says.

‘At Cloudy Bay, there’s change, but no change. The winemaking remains hands-off, the place still feels right. But LVMH has brought investment that we could never have imagined back then.’

Sustainability is now a key focus, including a winery rooftop solar system, a carbon-reducing autonomous tractor and, thus far, 190ha of vineyards farmed without herbicides.

A social initiative supports Pacific Islander seasonal workers with entrepreneurship mentoring and interest-free loans, reflecting a deeper commitment to the people behind the wine.

Looking forward, Cloudy Bay’s focus is refining its Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, expanding Chardonnay plantings and maintaining the quality-driven ethos that has defined it for 40 years.

Cloudy Bay’s Marlborough vineyards

702ha in the Wairau and Southern valleys: 524ha of Sauvignon Blanc, 102ha of Pinot Noir and 76ha of Chardonnay. There are also about 550ha of Cloudy Bay-owned or directly managed/leased grower blocks and about 150ha of grower blocks managed to Cloudy Bay guidelines.

Style pioneer

Cloudy Bay’s trailblazing success in the UK in the late 1980s undoubtedly helped propel the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc category forward, paving the way for greater investment and increased global recognition.

‘Cloudy Bay benefited from its reputation coming from winemakers, not marketers,’ says Judd. ‘David’s credibility certainly drove international interest.’ Today, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc accounts for more than 70% of New Zealand’s wine exports.

Hohnen, now 75, first revisited Cloudy Bay in 2022 after almost 20 years away. ‘I almost felt a sense of vertigo,’ he admits. ‘I was so surprised by the degree of emotion I felt.’

Reflecting on the early days, he muses: ‘I had a three-year plan, driven by my methodical nature. Never would I have thought to look 40 years ahead.’

Few wines have shaped a country’s global reputation like Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc did for New Zealand.

As the winery celebrates its 40th anniversary, it’s a moment to reflect upon an extraordinary journey, and perhaps to wonder what the next 40 years will bring.

Celebrating 40 years in style 

At the end of February, Cloudy Bay celebrated its 40th anniversary with a three-day event for 40 international guests, who were treated to a series of tastings, vineyard and winery activities, and long lunches and dinners that showcased Cloudy Bay’s current and library releases, alongside a fabulous array of local produce. 

The finale was a 40th birthday celebration for 200 on the winery lawn, at which founder David Hohnen gave a moving and amusing speech before guests danced the night away under the A Pelorus rosé tower Marlborough stars.

The Jenkins pick: Cloudy Bay across the decades

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Think of New Zealand white wine and Sauvignon Blanc most likely comes to mind.

But now might be the perfect time to reconsider, for New Zealand Chardonnay has never been better, steadily gaining recognition for its balance of fruit purity, bright acidity and silky complexity.

Chardonnay accounts for just 9% of vineyard area and less than 2% of exports – compared to Sauvignon Blanc’s dominating 80% and 85% – according to the New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Report 2024.

But with near-perfect growing conditions and increasingly refined winemaking, Chardonnay remains one of the country’s best-kept secrets, offering quality – and value – that are worth seeking out.

Scroll down for notes and scores of 12 of New Zealand’s best Chardonnay

New Zealand’s first Chardonnays likely emerged in the 1950s, though records are unclear. The variety gained traction in the 1980s with the bold, buttery, heavily oaked styles that were popular at the time.

By the 1990s, it was the country’s most-planted white variety and winemakers were increasingly getting to grips with more sophisticated production techniques.

However, the global Anything But Chardonnay movement and meteoric rise of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc soon saw it eclipsed.

Today, Chardonnay is the country’s second most-planted white variety, slightly ahead of Pinot Gris, though plantings have remained static over the past decade.

A cool customer

Nonetheless, Chardonnay continues to be beloved by producers. It is the focus of the Aotearoa Chardonnay Symposium, an annual Hawke’s Bay event featuring local and international experts.

The 2024 keynote speakers included Burgundy authority Jasper Morris MW, and writer and California specialist Elaine Chukan Brown.

She praised New Zealand Chardonnay as: ‘One of its most exciting varieties, offering an electric acidity akin to a high wattage lightbulb wearing a diffusing lens: elevated and stimulating with the edges softened to pleasurable brightness.’

New Zealand’s ideal growing conditions contribute to these characteristics. Kumeu River winemaker Michael Brajkovich MW, whose own wines have famously bested top Burgundies in international blind tastings, argues that New Zealand’s cool climate and long growing season is especially well-suited for high quality Chardonnay production.

‘There is nowhere in New Zealand that has a truly hot, or even warm, climate,’ he explains. ‘We are all dealing in cool climate viticulture with a variety that is inherently well suited to it, and better suited than just about any other for making quality dry white wine.’

Steve Smith MW, co-owner of Pyramid Valley and Smith & Sheth, concurs, ‘We can get the grapes properly ripe at 12.5-13.5% alcohol. They don’t get overripe because it’s not hot – and at full ripeness we also have an energy and natural acidity, which most other parts of the New World and many parts of Europe cannot achieve anymore because it is getting warmer.’

A great New Zealand Chardonnay, he notes, will be quite complex rather than overtly fruity, with delicious ripeness and a sense of energy and freshness.

Evolution of style

The complexity is further enhanced by evolving winemaking techniques. In recent years, winemakers have dialed back smaller, newer oak in favour of older, larger formats or concrete and clay vessels.

This helps to highlight fruit purity and minerality, giving more linear, precise wines. Wild fermentation, extended lees maturation, and intentional reduction have become common, resulting in more textured, complex wines with a stronger sense of place.

Brajkovich observes: ‘Whereas in the past many NZ Chardonnays were very similar, based on the model of Côte de Beaune, we are now seeing more diversity of style, with less oak, more zest and greater drinkability when young.’

Single vineyard expressions are increasingly common, aided by the benefit of detailed understanding of clonal selection. ‘We now possess a collection of different selections of Chardonnay that complement each other,’ says Smith. ‘You can do a lot of the crafting of the wine this way, for example balancing fruit expression or acidity.’

Demand and diversity

Although total plantings have remained static, consumer interest in New Zealand Chardonnay is quietly growing. Some producers, such as Cloudy Bay and Isabel Estate in Marlborough, are struggling to meet demand and are expanding Chardonnay plantings.

Despite its limited production, the variety offers genuine depth and quality. It was difficult to narrow down the accompanying wine selection for this article (see below).

New Zealand Chardonnay might currently be overshadowed in a crowded global marketplace, but it delivers outstanding quality at a fraction of the price of many Burgundies, Californian Chardonnays, or even Australian counterparts, making it an exciting prospect for savvy Chardonnay lovers.

Around the regions: Where to find the best NZ Chardonnay

Chardonnay is grown across New Zealand with all regions producing genuinely exciting wines. From The Landing’s sleek examples revitalising Northland wine to Central Otago’s minerally, precise styles, each area has distinctive characteristics.

Here are the key regions…

Hawke’s Bay

The country’s second-largest wine region is a hotspot for premium Chardonnay, with over 1,000ha planted. There’s a temperate maritime climate and kaleidoscopic soils courtesy of four river systems.

Varied subregions – ranging from cooler coastal to warmer inland sites such as the Gimblett Gravels – produce rich, structured wines with yellow stonefruit, citrus and creamy nut notes.

Wairarapa

Just 62ha planted, but excellent quality with high-profile producers. Long dry summers and cool nights enhance elegance, while the deep free-draining soils contribute texture and minerality.

Expect ripe lemon, white peach, tangy acid and savoury depth.

Marlborough

Best known for Sauvignon Blanc, though Chardonnay is increasingly being grown in the clay-rich soils of the Southern Valleys subregion.

Grapefruit, stonefruit and red apple with crisp acidity are typical; palate structure is more linear than Hawke’s Bay. Chardonnay plays a key role in the region’s distinctive sparkling wines. 1,083ha planted.

Nelson

High sunshine, protective hills and a cooling maritime influence yield intense fruit expression – think stone fruit, melon, orchard fruit and citrus – with crisp structure.

The clay soils of the Moutere Hills add depth and silky texture, whilst alluvial Waimea Plains wines are fine and fragrant. 109ha planted.

North Canterbury

The long, dry growing season, cool nights and often limestone-rich soils produce complex, structured Chardonnays with vibrant acidity. Fine citrus, white peach and flinty minerality are typical.

Just 99ha are planted here, but top producers have put the region on the Chardonnay map for seriously ageworthy wines.

Central Otago & Waitaki

World-renowned for Pinot Noir, but Chardonnay plantings (92ha) are steadily increasing for still and sparkling wines. The dry, semi-continental climate gives excellent tension, fresh acidity and concentrated flavour.

Expect bright citrus, white peach and nectarine, green apple, white flowers and saline, oyster shell minerality. The tiny North Otago region of Waitaki Valley (just 6ha) is gaining attention for limestone-driven fragrant, zesty wines.

Gisbourne

At 582ha, Chardonnay is the region’s dominant variety, and its high sunshine, mild climate and rich, alluvial soils deliver aromatic, lushly fruited wines with good body and texture.

Many wines are made for early-drinking pleasure but the best mature well with good complexity.

Top New Zealand Chardonnay: 12 to try

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Ben Glover, 52, is the leading force behind The Coterie in Marlborough, New Zealand. In this collaborative space he makes the fruit of his family vineyards into the wines of his brands Zephyr, Bob Short for Kate, Massey Dacta and Spoke – the latter is a co-project with UK-based merchant Liam Steevenson MW.

While Ben’s story neatly traces the rise of Marlborough as the powerhouse of New Zealand’s wine industry, he has now come full circle. With The Coterie, he has, ‘established a place for the next generation to come make their wine, rock the world and show off Marlborough in a provocative and new light. Without barriers and with an open collective collaborative culture,’ he says.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for wines from Ben Glover

Paying it forward

The Coterie is a culmination of sorts, and a realisation. ‘Before Covid, I just wanted to do everything myself,’ Ben says. ‘But you really can’t, you’ve got to let go and start giving.’ By this he means giving youngsters the same opportunities he enjoyed as Marlborough – New Zealand’s biggest wine region – grew rapidly.

New Zealand went from 2,600 hectares in 1981 to almost 42,000ha in 2023, according to figures from the Wine Institute of New Zealand. From this total, 71% of those hectares are in Marlborough, where Sauvignon Blanc now accounts for 81% of plantings, according to The New Zealand Winegrowers Vineyard Report 2023.

‘All growers and business owners are brand owners who need to look after “Brand Marlborough”,’ says Ben. ‘That means paying it forward; that’s what the pioneers did. We’re now at a phase where Marlborough desperately needs those again.’ The Coterie is intended to be part of this – and the Glovers’ farming background is key to the idea of expressing the land and region.

Farming families

Ben’s earliest memories are following his father ‘in the long grass, trying to keep up with him, feeding our cows’ when the family were dairy farmers in Blenheim, Marlborough. As the oldest of four children, he learned to drive a tractor at age 10. ‘Just good, honest New Zealand rural life,’ he says.

Farming friends had done well with a relatively new crop and so in 1988, 15 years after the first vines had been planted in the region, Ben’s parents, Wendy and Owen Glover, also planted 8ha of vines and switched from dairy to grape farming.

‘That’s where it really started,’ says Ben. ‘One minute I was out with cattle, the next I was weeding these horrible vines that just kept wanting to grow.’

Those first 8ha were Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Semillon, grown as a cash crop to be sold as sparkling base wines to Australia. But the family had also branched out into garlic and deer farming. Ben describes his father as ‘a pretty diversified farmer, entrepreneurial. It shaped how I see the land. I’m not a very good scientist. Chemistry doesn’t excite me, it’s very much hands-on, observational.’

This is why, eventually, he hit on oenology and viticulture after neither law nor accounting held his attention. Ben discovered he, ‘really liked wine, the making side of it. Winemaking can live in the grey space of your brain; it does not have to be black and white,’ he says.

Riding the wave

On graduating, Ben thought he would take over the home farm, but his father – who was selling grapes to a certain Brent Marris, now of Marisco and The Ned fame – was in no mood to retire. ‘Luckily,’ Glover notes. Marris was ‘the dynamic young winemaker for Oyster Bay’, who had started his own side project in 1994.

That side project became Wither Hills. Marris offered the new graduate an opportunity to come on board his new project in 1998.

‘We had a fantastic time,’ Ben remembers. ‘We grew the Wither Hills brand. The first six years it was family-owned, then it was bought by Lion Nathan, a large multi-beverage company. Those years were brilliant,’ he adds, citing the dynamism of a changing industry.

‘It was just like riding a big Malibu surfboard on an endless break. I had a really cool, good mentor in Brent Marris – in winemaking and blending, but equally in selling wine and building relationships in the marketplace. For me it was brilliant to see, learn and understand all that.’

Learning curves

With these years of on-the-job training under his belt, 2007 became a pivotal year for Ben with two key developments. Upon the departure of Marris from Wither Hills, Ben became chief winemaker for the company and also started his own side project. He called it Zephyr, named after the classic Ford motorcar model, a family heirloom.

The Zephyr wines were made from the fruit on the Glover family farm, from the Kerseley vineyard which later became the Kerseley and Brawn Vineyards in the Dillons Point subregion of Marlborough where the deep silts lend a more savoury edge to the fruit. Parents Wendy and Owen did much to keep it rolling along.

Ben did this with his employers’ full permission. Increasingly, however, things at Wither Hills ‘got more and more corporate’ and so he switched to a head winemaker role at then family-owned Mud House in 2012. But when it was sold to Accolade in 2013, Ben was once again caught in a corporate culture.

‘It was pretty cut-throat,’ he remembers. ‘They were not too interested in longevity. It was a frustrating time. I left in 2016 and went live with Zephyr and the family business.’

A different focus

‘I haven’t really looked back,’ Ben admits. ‘Corporate structure tends to subdue or kill innovation because there’s so much pressure to deliver, but looking back, I took good discipline from that.’

The experience was crucial because he knows both sides of the industry: farming grapes, which is driven entirely by wildly different growing seasons; and corporate winemaking driven by supply, demand and global market forces.

Now, as a boutique winemaker he says: ‘It’s a hell of a lot tougher. It’s just how farming is. You’re relying on Huey upstairs to give you a good harvest.’

To solidify the Zephyr business, Ben and his wife Susie bought half of the vineyard from his parents in 2017, which by then had grown to 35ha.

‘We bought 15-odd hectares and converted them to organics straight away, another naive decision,’ he says. Susie, a schoolteacher by profession, is now a key part of the operation.

‘She’s extremely intuitive in regard to what needs to get done and how to get the best out of people, whether it’s a six-year-old child, a precocious 18-year-old or me, a 52-year-old man,’ says Ben.

But having made the big decision to shift the focus back on the home vineyards, an even bigger decision came along.

Coming full circle

‘In 2018, there was a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy a property in Marlborough that had come up for sale quietly,’ Glover says. ‘That was part of the Seresin Estate winery. An 8ha property with 3ha of vineyards and a 1,200-ton facility, simply stunning.’

Sue and Ben then clubbed together with friends and family to reinvent the vineyards and its winery as The Coterie. It is co-owned by the Glovers, their in-laws Sally and John Flanagan, Ben’s brother Jack Glover and Rhyan Wardman, chairman of local New Zealand airline Sounds Air and another wine industry veteran.

‘It was very much a decision with the heart and the head,’ Ben says about this innovative venture. ‘We set the business up as a custom crush facility focused on organics. We have 13 clients currently ranging from 1 ton to 400 tons of fruit. We want to promote organics and help anyone who’s in that space, give them a facility where they can thrive.’

He adds: ‘It’s a really tight-knit group. We’re all different, but that’s what’s exciting. You talk, discuss issues, problems, whatever. Sharing is key. I really enjoy that because it’s a bit of giving back.’

Ben loves that he returned to the vineyard, literally and figuratively. ‘I’m really enjoying doing more and more viticulture, tucking lifting wires and leaf plucking by hand. I don’t mind evolving back to that peace. I think that’s a really cool journey.’

Zephyr Wines at a glance

Founded: 2007

Owner: The Coterie

Average annual production: 60,000 cases

Vineyard area: 75ha

Key vineyards: Brawn Vineyards (organic) and Kerseley Vineyard in the Dillons Point subregion of Marlborough are the original Glover Family vineyards first planted in 1988. Brink Vineyard in Renwick, Wairau Valley, is Marlborough’s oldest organic vineyard planted in 1992. Alice Mills Estate is also in the Wairau Valley.

Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir

Brands: Zephyr Wines, Massey Dacta and Bob short for Kate (a homage to Ben Glover’s sister who died of cancer a few years ago) are made from estate-owned vineyards, with some bought-in fruit for the latter. Spoke is made from estate-grown and bought-in fruit in a collaboration with UK merchant Liam Steevenson MW of Vineyard Productions in Bristol.

Ben Glover wines to try

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In addition to AMW’s recently launched map and tightening of the source area for AMW-certified fruit, it has updated its yield requirements with a minimum sugar ripeness level for members, whose grapes – other than those destined for low-alcohol products – must now exceed 18 Brix at harvest.

It has also appointed its first CEO, Michael Wentworth, to drive membership and advocacy goals and to create greater public awareness of the group. AMW chair, John Buchanan, said: ‘Up until this point, AMW’s growth has been rather organic. We’ve made significant in-roads with wine buyers and enthusiasts over the past few years and it is critical that we capitalise on this momentum.’

Established in 2018 due to concerns with the rapid industry growth that brought with it an increase of bulk wine shipments and secondary non-winery aligned brands, AMW aims instead to promote the region’s diversity and create guardrails to prevent ‘the dilution of brand value of Marlborough that is occurring because of the dilution of the product itself’.

According to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), New Zealand’s bulk wine exports comprised 41% of the total volume in 2023, the overwhelming majority of which is Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

In addition to the parameters above, AMW-certified wines must be 100% Marlborough fruit, be bottled in New Zealand, certified by Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, BioGro NZ or an equivalent, and have been approved by an independent panel of local winemakers.

There are now 54 members of varying sizes who have signed an enforceable code of conduct and who use the AMW logo on their labels and marketing. At its inception, only Sauvignon Blanc wines were permitted but in 2022 certification was expanded to all varieties grown in the region, with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and aromatic wines now bearing the AMW mark.

‘Ultimately, wines that are certified under the AMW regulations offer drinkers an authentic, quality expression of Marlborough. Sadly, with bulk wine shipments and expansion of vineyards into marginal areas, that’s not always the case, so by elevating the profile of AMW we give wine drinkers a choice,’ said Wentworth.

New Zealand’s Geographical Indications (GI) Act was passed into law at the end of 2016, permitting the registration and global protection of place names but without further restrictions such as varieties or production methods, and only 85% of fruit needs to come from a particular GI for it to be on the label. While such flexibility is largely welcomed in a young country like New Zealand, whose regions are still in the process of refining what works best for them, the flipside is that it provides little official encouragement towards or benchmarking of quality expectations.

The Marlborough GI, as with most others in the country, follows geo-political boundaries rather than wine-growing ones. AMW’s map delineates the wine-growing areas and has a near overlap with where the region’s rainfall sits below 900mm, an especially important variable for a thin-skinned disease-susceptible variety like Sauvignon Blanc.

AMW’s recent agreement with members to stay within its map’s boundaries rather than those of the wider GI’s is anchored in the view of many producers that Marlborough is at its planted limits for quality wine production. Wentworth said: ‘As quality land has become scarce within Marlborough, we are increasingly seeing expansion into marginal areas, areas with very high rainfall. We are not looking to limit growers ability to grow where they want, taking on all the associated risk, all we are seeking is a more realistic border to reflect quality winemaking, and for those that make the choice to grow outside the region, not to be able to utilise “Marlborough” on the label.’

AMW regards its advocacy as a driver of change, and pressing New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) for better regulation will be one of Wentworth’s key tasks.

‘NZW last year introduced a voluntary code of practice for bulk wine shipments, seeking buy-in from producers – that is still under review,’ he said. ‘We believe the industry needs tighter regulations in place, to take some real leadership and implement compulsory standards. It’s the only way to ensure consistency across the industry and maintain quality standards. It’s not about impacting people’s livelihoods, it’s protecting our hard-earned reputation and giving wine drinkers confidence that they are purchasing a quality product, reflective of the region.’

With the dominance Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has in New Zealand’s industry, it’s a concern many share, but lobbying for the tightening of GI regulations and national minimum Brix standards will likely be a long game.

NZW thus far seem happier for an ad hoc approach to appellatory regulations to occur. Charlotte Read, general manager of brand for NZW, said: ‘We applaud the efforts of any collaboration of members that combine resources to amplify a strong premium New Zealand wine message. One of the enablers of the New Zealand wine industry’s rapid rise to global prominence has been our flexible regulatory system. At the current time we do not believe there is an industry consensus for a change to existing settings, but, of course, private initiatives are free to innovate as they so choose.’

So far, AMW is the only entity to pursue a stricter approach. Central Otago, where a significant proportion of fruit and wine moves out of the region to be processed in other wineries or bottling facilities, is more focused on subregional GIs, with Bannockburn registered in February 2022 and Bendigo likely to follow suit. While Central Otago has largely maintained its premium pricing and reputation, it’s an area on which its producers and regional body Central Otago Winegrowers Association (COWA) continue to keep a close eye.

Wentworth believes AMW won’t be going it alone for long. ‘There is a genuine interest in what we are doing from other regions within the country, and I believe it won’t be long before we see other regional groups like ours emerge throughout New Zealand. This now gives the wine drinker a genuine choice – we just need to amplify our message and encourage people to look for the AMW logo as their guarantee of quality and authenticity.’

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As you enjoy a glass of festive fizz, take yourself back to the start of 2000 and consider this commentary on the state of New Zealand sparkling wine:

‘If you can imagine an oloroso Sherry with bubbles, you will understand why we did not linger… They were made from poor-quality fruit and showed a lack of sparkling wine technique… The Blanc de Blancs was the worst of all, with thin, unripe fruit, which lacked acidity because, ironically, it had been deacidified.’

So wrote Champagne and sparkling wine writer Tom Stevenson about the New Zealand fizz scene some 23 years ago. Mercifully, there were glimmers of hope in his scathing criticism – he also commented that ‘the potential of Marlborough for sparkling wine is, so far, beyond dispute’.

Today, not only Marlborough but many other New Zealand wine regions have fulfilled that potential, producing sparkling wines that are very good indeed.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 19 top New Zealand sparkling wines to try

New Zealand’s sparkling wine history extends quite a bit further back than 2000, however. The first traditional-method fizz was made by Hawke’s Bay’s Mission Estate in 1963 – though while the method of its sparkling pink Fontanella may have been traditional, its use of Pinot Gris was decidedly less so.

Selak’s Champelle followed in the 1970s, but it was the 1980s when things really started to ramp up. This was the era of Champagne Deutz’s Marlborough investment, Cloudy Bay’s Pelorus and Daniel Le Brun transferring his 12 generations of Champagne roots to Marlborough.

Further south, Rudi Bauer (now of Quartz Reef) and partner Clotilde Chauvet (who was also making Champagne in Rilly-la-Montagne) were making strides in Central Otago.

Daniel Le Brun remembers his amazement at encountering Marlborough vineyards for the first time in 1978. ‘It was perfect conditions that summer, there wasn’t a clump of grass anywhere… just a small amount of topsoil then nothing but gravel – fantastic! I thought, this has to be the place.’

The generosity of spirit of pioneers such as Bauer, Chauvet and Le Brun helped other producers gain knowledge and confidence, and alongside the burgeoning local production was increasing investment from France, not only with Deutz but also in time from Chandon, Mumm and LVMH (who purchased Cloudy Bay outright), which provided technical finesse and international attention.

Charms and challenges

What was always clear was New Zealand’s excellent raw material for high-quality sparkling wine. The country’s wine regions (with the exception of the slightly more temperate far northern climes) are classical cool-climate viticultural environments. Allied with high UV/sunshine hours and significant diurnal shifts these deliver good phenolic ripeness without high sugar (alcohol) and retain decent natural acidity.

For sparkling wine, this translates to precise fruit expression, laser-like acidity and rich palate fruit weight. Producers benefit from these benevolent growing conditions which allow the focus to be on getting things right in the winery.

That part, however, is easier said than done. The challenge for New Zealand sparkling wine producers in a young industry already operating within a high capital-cost environment is the significant investment required for specialist sparkling winemaking equipment, and the luxury of capital and space to hold back stock for reserve wines.

For many, the latter is simply not an option and vintage wines are common as a result. But collaborations are a frequent solution to the former problem. It is quite common for producers to share in or make their sparkling wines at another winery with the gear. For example, a number of Marlborough producers use No.1 Family Estate as a processing facility. Soljans is an Auckland home for others.

Boutique industry

Sparkling wine is produced the length and breadth of New Zealand. Distinctive regional expressions range from the weightier fruit of Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne to the rapier precision of Central Otago.

The majority are made in the traditional method, aided by widespread planting of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir plantings (Pinot Meunier is the rarity). There is also a solid range of Charmat (tank-method) wines and an increasing number of quirky pétillants naturels.

As might be expected, Marlborough’s produces the lion’s share. It’s nearly 3.5 times that of Hawke’s Bay, which in turn is about twice as much as Gisborne and three times as large as Central Otago.

In 2023, total New Zealand sparkling production was 1.7% of the national harvest and 2.7% of exports. While exports have steadily crept up over the past decade, production share has been in steady decline, down from 5% in 2005 and 3% in 2011.

Labour of love

This seemingly downwards slide is not quite what it seems. Instead, it reflects the ever-increasing dominance of Sauvignon Blanc, now 78% of the total harvest. And fortunately, sparkling producers remain undeterred.

Johanneshof Cellars’ Edel Everling says: ‘It’s definitely labour of love; a passion. It’s hard to get a return due to the hand labour involved but it’s a point of difference for us. It satisfies our curiosity for what our vineyards can do.’

‘We have only done it for 33 years so we are still learning,’ she laughs.

For Daniel Le Brun’s daughter Virginie, being asked ‘Can it ever really be as good as the real thing?’ generates a look of polite disdain.

For her, there is no longer any need for comparison. The better question is, how good can New Zealand sparkling wine be? And when will its reputation catch up with what is being delivered in the glass?

Perhaps now’s the time for more consumers to find out.

Méthode Marlborough

Méthode Marlborough is a society of 12 like-minded Marlborough sparkling wine producers. Established in 2013, it aims to promote the benchmarking, understanding and enjoyment of quality Marlborough sparkling wine.

All Méthode Marlborough wines are grown, bottled, matured and disgorged in Marlborough, and made in the traditional method from one or a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Wines must be aged for a minimum of 18 months on lees from the first disgorgement but, in practice, members’ wines average 36 months on lees.

Member producers – whose wines can be identified with a back-label emblem – celebrate Méthode Marlborough Day with consumers each March and provide one another with collaboration and support.

New Zealand sparkling wine: 19 exciting wines to try

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Marlborough’s problem is one of transition: for people visiting New Zealand, even for many nationals, it is a place you go past if you’re going somewhere else. Its location – a 30-minute drive south of Picton (the main port of entry to the South Island via the Cook Strait car ferry from Wellington) – means people are either trying to make it north to the ferry or continuing south to Christchurch, Otago or even west to Nelson and the West Coast region.

That’s a shame because Marlborough has everything to offer if you just stop and take a bit more time. Its main centre Blenheim is a functional town but set in beautiful part of New Zealand. And the mountains and hills feel close, especially the dramatic Richmond Range to the north.

Indeed, as Auntsfield winemaker Luc Cowley pointed out, you can always orient yourself in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough’s main wine-growing area: the blue mountains (the Richmond Ranges) lie to the north and the green mountains lie to the south. These latter are more a shade of brown in summer, hence their name: the Wither Hills.

The Marlborough Sounds, too – a collection of ancient valleys flooded with Pacific ocean waters along a 1,500km stretch of coastline – is a stone’s throw away. While many patrons of the car ferry admire its beauty as they pass through the parade of pristine, almost uninhabited bays and coves before hopping in their vehicle and driving on, it is a very good reason to hang around.

Diversity in abundance

There is much else on offer in Marlborough – and that is true of the wines, too. The region has considerably more to recommend it than the Sauvignon Blanc upon which it made its reputation. What’s more, most cellar doors are focused in a relatively small and easily navigable area around Blenheim and Renwick 8km to its west, with the region’s airport lying in between.

In this road trip, we’ve allocated two days to the Wairau Valley so visitors can really get an idea of how diverse the sub-region and its wines can be. Further information can be found on the wine tourism map at marlboroughwinenz.com, while the more energetic traveller can take advantage of local bicycle routes.

We’ve grouped our three-day itinerary so it can easily be rearranged. For instance, those travelling down from North Island could arrive in Picton and head straight to the Marlborough Sounds before returning to Picton the next morning and heading south to Blenheim. Both days 1 and 2 finish around Renwick, which allows travellers to take the 1.5-hour drive along State Highway 6 (SH6) further west to Nelson.

If you only have two days available, start with the day 2 itinerary then do day 1’s suggested trip in reverse (ie, drive out to Renwick and head up SH6 before turning east onto Rapaura Road). Fit in the wineries you want before continuing on Rapaura Road to meet SH1 and continue your journey south.

Day one: Wairau Valley from Blenheim

Grab a breakfast coffee and toastie from Sammies on Scott Street. A Kimcheese (kimchi and cheese – add a pork and fennel sausage pattie if you want) is a monumental start to anyone’s day. From there, it’s a short drive just out of town to Lawson’s Dry Hills – a pioneer of sustainable practices in Marlborough and producer of fine aromatic white wines. From here, a variation on our itinerary would be a 15-minute drive down State Highway One (SH1) to Seddon and the Awatere Valley. This sub-region is slightly cooler than the main Wairau Valley and contains many newer – and sizeable – vineyard plantings, which deliver some truly exciting wines. One of the few cellar doors here is Yealands.

But our main route heads north on SH1 for 15 minutes, crossing the Wairau river to stop off the roundabout at Tuamarina to visit the memorial to the Wairau Affray of 1843 and a glimpse of the country’s often violent colonial past.

From Tuamarina, head back the way you came and turn right onto Rapaura Road at Spring Creek where a number of wineries have their cellar doors. We suggest the pan-regional Saint Clair and idiosyncratic Rock Ferry on the way to a tasting and lunch at Cloudy Bay on Jacksons Road. One of Marlborough’s flagship brands, owned by French luxury goods giant LVMH, its cellar door will impress even the most corporate-cynical.

From Cloudy Bay, get back onto Rapaura Road and head west (and then south) to Renwick. There are many wineries on this stretch, so how many you have time for will depend on how long that lunch was.

The proudly organic Te Whare Ra is one of Marlborough’s must-visit wineries and Framingham has a well-deserved reputation for its Rieslings. Hans Herzog produces a range of unexpected varieties and wines, while Huia is an unsung gem. Bubbles fans can stop in at No1 Family Estate, while Nautilus provides a glimpse into day 2 as some of its fruit (in particular its Pinot Noir) is sourced from the Southern Valleys sub-region. And the excellent Fromm is near the airport on your 11-minute drive back to Blenheim.

Day two: Southern Valleys from Blenheim

Fuel up for the day at Burleigh Gourmet Pies, a Marlborough landmark on the southwestern edge of Blenheim town – try the signature pork belly pie. Then, just a few hundred metres west along New Renwick Road is the turn-off for the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre (see ‘address book’, below), which includes Sir Peter Jackson’s impressive collection of World War I aircraft.

Back on New Renwick Road and the turn-off south to Auntsfield marks the first stop on our Southern Valleys wine tour where wind-blown loess has settled in the valleys and provided the clay so essential to its Pinot Noir.

Brancott Valley is the next one along and, although there are no major cellar doors, a number of producers source fruit from here, and Dog Point sits at the base of the ridge that separates Brancott Valley from Omaka Valley. At the head of the Brancott Valley lie two vineyards with stellar reputations: Clayvin, now part of Giesen, and The Wrekin. The latter’s excellent organic fruit is used by numerous brands and highlighted on their wine labels, from one-man-band outfits to the more established Jules Taylor Wines.

Back onto the New Renwick Road again and continuing onto Dog Point Road, Omaka Valley is the next one along, and here you’ll find the must-visit Greywacke – make sure you book an appointment-only, no-charge tasting in advance (weekdays 11am or 2pm) by emailing through the website.

Drive back up towards Renwick to take the SH63 west a short distance before ducking down to the more expansive Waihopai Valley. Once home to the New Zealand government’s not-so-secret satellite listening facility (the huge white domes have since been dismantled, although the facility is still in operation), it also houses Spy Valley Wines and Churton – both well worth a visit, although Churton is by appointment only.

Finally, call in at nearby Clos Henri, which is owned by the Bourgeois family from Sancerre in the Loire, before heading back to Blenheim.

Day three: Picton, Nelson, Marlborough Sounds

Time to head into the locals’ playground: the stunning Marlborough Sounds. Drive up to Picton with a quick stop at Johanneshof cellar door on the way. Once in town, park the car, check the ferry timetable and stop in at Toastie for a snack while you wait. There is a range of truly breathtaking resorts and lodges throughout the Sounds, each of which offers a variety of activities, but Punga Cove, Bay of Many Coves Resort and Furneaux Lodge are among those recommended.

The more adventurous early-riser might want to combine this leg with a spot of guided kayaking or a stint on the Queen Charlotte Track, a 71km-long walking and biking track running from Anakiwa, at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound in the south (about 30 minutes’ drive from Picton) to Meretoto/Ship Cove in the north of the Sounds. A local operator such as Wilderness Guides should steer you in the right direction.

Once you’ve chosen your activity, board the ferry, or bike, walk or paddle your way to your chosen destination. Then, whether you’ve hiked, paddled, snorkeled, sailed or cycled – or merely strolled the jetty – it’s time to sit back and relax with a glass of Marlborough wine.

How to get there

If you already have your own vehicle, Cook Strait ferries run between Wellington and Picton, the journey time being around 3.5 hours; otherwise it’s a 300km (4-4.5 hour) scenic drive from Christchurch. Otherwise, hire a car after arriving into Marlborough Airport Blenheim: Air New Zealand flies from Auckland and Wellington, and Sounds Air runs limited services from Christchurch, Wellington and Paraparaumu.

Your Marlborough address book

Accommodation

14th Lane

Ideally located in central Blenheim. Formerly The Builder’s Arms, the views aren’t great and it boasts no restaurant or bar, but the rooms more than compensate.

Furneaux Lodge

Tucked all the way up in the stunning Marlborough Sounds, just over the hill from Captain Cook’s favourite NZ anchorage, this place is as magical in the rain as it is in the sun.

Hotel d’Urville

Full of character, both inside and out, the rear bar flows into an outside area which doesn’t quite match the inside vibe but is surprisingly comfortable on summer evenings.

Restaurants & cafés

Arbour

The fine-dining Marlborough experience on everyone’s lips, winemakers included. Named NZ’s Best Regional Restaurant in 2022 by Cuisine, it also has a coveted ‘two hats’ rating from the food and drink lifestyle publication.

Frank’s Oyster Bar and Eatery

Another restaurant that comes recommended by local winemakers, you’ll find this one in central Blenheim.

The Store

In Kekerengu, a 50-minute drive south of Blenheim on SH1, its sweeping vistas across a wild coastline make it well worth the stop on the way to Christchurch.

Things to do

Festivals

The summer months of January, February and March respectively feature the Picton Maritime Festival, the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival and the Havelock Mussel and Seafood Festival.

Marlborough Farmers Market

Held on Sundays at Blenheim’s A&P showgrounds, this is a great way to enjoy a range of regional produce with a minimum of travel.

Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre

A must-visit for historic aircraft enthusiasts, or for an extra-special occasion, this renowned aviation museum at Blenheim offers the chance to book a flight on a fully restored World War II-era Avro Anson – a package starting at NZ$990 (£475) per person including a 25-minute flight. Or a 20-minute flight in a Boeing Stearman biplane, costing NZ$395 (£189) for one or two people.

Love NZ Sauvignon?

See our January 2024 issue (on sale from Wednesday 3 January 2024) for an extensive panel tasting of more than 200 current-release New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, with notes and scores by judges Roger Jones, Freddy Bulmer and Cat Lomax.

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This year marks 50 years since vines were first planted on a commercial scale in New Zealand’s Marlborough region.

While now synonymous with Sauvignon Blanc, the perceived wisdom at the time was that the South Island too cold for the variety. So it wasn’t until two years later, in 1975, that growers replaced those original Germanic and fortified varieties.

And then, in 1979, Montana Wines (renamed Brancott Estate by parent company Pernod-Ricard in 2010) released the first Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 15 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022 wines – all under £20

‘It was a ground-breaking, direction-changing moment that changed the fortunes of the New Zealand Wine industry,’ Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers, told Decanter at the country’s recent annual trade tasting in London.

‘We have a variety, and a place, and a people and a culture – an open-mindedness to innovation and a confidence in being uniquely New Zealand. When you get all that right in the moment, as Marlborough did with Sauvignon Blanc, then it sets you apart.’

Jamie Marfell, chief winemaker of Brancott Estate and sister winery Stoneleigh, has worked 32 of the 50 years that vines have been planted in Marlborough and has seen the style of Sauvignon Blanc evolve considerably.

‘What we thought was good in the past – picking early, aiming for 11% alcohol, focusing on greener notes – is not what we aim for now,’ he says. ‘Back then we were worried about acidity – even deacidifying – now it is the opposite: acidity is our gold when it comes to Sauvignon Blanc.

‘Now we pick riper, looking for around 13%, and with that natural acidity and alcohol all you need to do is tweak the residual sugar – just one or two grams – to get the perfect mouthfeel, texture and richness without losing any of that aromatic purity.’

Sustainability over sub-regions

This evolution in style has come hand-in-hand with investment in the vineyard, particularly in replanting older vineyards.

This is key, says Marfell, given the price of land in Marlborough: 50 years ago it was between NZ$80 and NZ$120 a hectare, now it is NZ$400,000 a hectare, with much of the viable vineyard pockets already planted out.

The focus on regenerative farming has seen New Zealand become one of the greenest winemaking countries in the world, with 96% of its vineyards certified sustainable, 10% of those also certified organic and several biodynamic.

Producers have been quick to promote this on wine labels far more readily than identifying sub-regions or single vineyards.

‘It’s safe and simple being Marlborough,’ says Natalie Christensen, chief winemaker of Yealands, explaining that not only is it a brand in itself, with instant global recognition, but producers can blend within the Marlborough sub-regions when vintages are difficult.

‘For consumers, brands still come first. We like to think people know all about sub-regions and single vineyards, but there is a long way to go.

‘Putting a sub-appellation on the label is useful to celebrate it – to be proud of the unique qualities of a certain vineyard or area. And yes, that certainly helps as part of consumer education, which is important. But widespread sub-regionality will take time.’

Varied Marlborough Sauvignon styles

Awatere is the most distinctive of Marlborough’s sub-regions, lending herbaceous, nettle and tomato leaf aromas and flavours to its Sauvignon Blancs. In general, Wairau is what many might call the ‘classic’ Marlborough style, with punchy tropical and passion fruit tones, while the Southern Valleys offer more of a gooseberry, citrus and melon spectrum.

While most wines are purchased and enjoyed within a year or so of the vintage, aged Sauvignon Blanc releases are increasingly common, showcasing nutty, earthy almost truffle-like notes that offer exciting food-pairing opportunities. Brancott Estate’s Chosen Rows 2015 and 2013, as well as Jackson Estate’s 2017 Somerset Sauvignon Blanc are characterful examples.

Partially barrel fermented and/or matured wines are another particular style (along with those fermented with wild yeasts) which some argue masks the purity of fruit for which Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has become famous. Several new releases tasted, however, were successful, such as Greywacke’s Wild Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Vineyard Productions’ Spoke Resolute 2021 and Saint Clair Family Estate’s Barrique 2020.

The following 15 Sauvignon Blancs from the 2022 vintage – all under £20 – are a selection of more than 50 tasted at the New Zealand Annual Trade Tasting in London.

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2022: 15 wines under £20

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It’s not often that you can say that one estate has been largely responsible for launching a wine region onto the world stage, but if any single winery could be said to have sparked a global demand for Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, that producer would have to be Cloudy Bay.

While wines were already being made in Marlborough in the early 1980s, before David Hohnen joined forces with winemaker Kevin Judd to launch Cloudy Bay in 1985, it’s just that they hadn’t yet had much of an impact beyond New Zealand’s borders.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for six Cloudy Bay wines, including the 2022 Sauvignon Blanc

Yet within a couple of years of Cloudy Bay’s launch, the country had gained a worldwide reputation as the go-to source for zesty, fruity premium Sauvignon Blanc – and Cloudy Bay had become its standard bearer. Nearly 40 years on from then, and Cloudy Bay is as much in demand as ever.

So what is it that Cloudy Bay has been doing so right for all these years? And, just as important, perhaps, what is it that they do that has helped them maintain their reputation as producers of one of the world’s best Sauvignon Blancs over the course of four decades?

Unlike many Marlborough producers, Cloudy Bay has remained relatively small, sourcing its Sauvignon Blanc grapes from three valleys in the Wairau sub-region. The area enjoys a mild maritime climate, with the heat of the summer sunshine tempered by the cooling breezes blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. Perhaps surprisingly the temperatures here are around half a degree lower, on average, than those of Sancerre.

Greywacke sandstone

While the valley’s soils are quite variable in geological character, Cloudy Bay’s vineyards are largely planted on free-draining alluvial soils with a good scattering of greywacke sandstones. ‘These rocks help to bring yields down,’ says operations winemaker Daniel Sorrell, ‘And this in turn helps us to build concentration and substance in our wines.’

Along with concentration and freshness, Sorrell aims to build a specific fruit profile in his Sauvignon Blancs. ‘We’re not looking for thiols,’ he says ‘as these fall over quickly – within six months of bottling they will have turned into flavours like canned asparagus and cat’s pee. These are definitely characters we’re not looking for in our wines, but we don’t want the other extreme either – that oily, fat style of Sauvignon Blanc with that tropical fruit character.’

Instead, what Sorrell and his colleagues seek out are bright citrus characters, with plenty of citrus and stone fruit notes and a refreshing streak of acidity. Not only do these characters make the wines attractive in their youth, the balance inherent in this profile lends the wines a surprising capacity to age (see the tasting notes below). The Cloudy Bay team are prepared to be pretty ruthless in order to achieve their aims – in some years up to 30% of the fruit harvested doesn’t make the cut and is sold off to be bottled under someone else’s label.

Climate change

One challenge Sorrell and his team are having to meet with increasing frequency is the compression of the harvest cycle in Marlborough. ‘We used to have a far bigger spread in picking dates than we do now,’ explains Sorrell, ‘but now harvest begins earlier because of climate change. We used to start picking Pelorus in March and now we begin in mid-February.

‘And,’ he continues, ‘bad weather now sets in towards the end of harvest, bringing heavy rains with it, so we have to make sure everything is picked beforehand.’

Nevertheless, the Cloudy Bay team are becoming adept at fine tuning both their viticultural techniques and their winemaking to address the exigencies of the changing climate while maintaining the wines’ hallmark elegance.

If there’s one thing wine buffs know about ageing capacity, it’s that Sauvignon Blanc doesn’t make old bones. But while that may be true of the vast majority of cheap, cheerful Sauvignon Blanc on the market, closer examination reveals that under the right conditions, the grape can age – just think of high-quality white Bordeaux, for instance, or the very best wines of Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé.

‘Most Sauvignon Blancs are drunk within a year of bottling,’ Sorrell confirms, ‘but we wanted to show the pedigree of these wines and prove that they really can age.’

To prove it, alongside the new release 2022 (as well as oaked Te Koko and sparkling Pelorus Chardonnay-Pinot Noir), Sorrell opened three other Sauvignon Blancs that, by coincidence were all the winery’s earliest and warmest vintages: 2003, 2006 the current ‘record holder’, the 2019.

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon: new releases and some older vintages

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Roger Jones, Melanie Brown and Rebecca Palmer tasted 116 wines, with one Exceptional, five Outstanding and 40 Highly Recommended.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc panel tasting scores

116 wines tasted

Exceptional 1

Outstanding 5

Highly recommended 40

Recommended 45

Commended 21

Fair 4

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest releases of still white wines made with 100% Sauvignon Blanc from any region in New Zealand

New Zealand wines – particularly Sauvignon Blanc – suffered severe shortages in the 2021 vintage, so it was gratifying to see such a large number entered for this two-day tasting. In our discussions during and following it, we three judges considered regional and vintage differences as well as the range of Sauvignon Blanc styles, notably considering whether there is a lighter, more focused style emerging.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top wines in the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc panel tasting

Highlights came from Wairarapa on North Island, which showed real quality and refinement, thanks in part to the free-draining alluvial gravels and clay silts of the terraces which produce small, concentrated berries. On South Island, wines from Waipara showcased a fresh, clean style that impressed. Likewise, it was pleasing to see what Central Otago (especially the Bannockburn sub-region) can produce – it is certainly a region to watch.

Marlborough dominated, with the Wairau sub-region a positive. Notably, we questioned whether Marlborough producers were moving away from punchy, fruity styles (that made the region’s name and which many consumers still love) to a more elegant ‘European’ style. Melanie Brown wondered if Marlborough winemakers were ‘scared to own their classic style’, or whether Mother Nature and financial circumstances had forced them into higher yields, thereby producing lighter-styled wines.

See all 116 wines from the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc panel tasting

Roger Jones considered whether producers were just responding to consumers’ changing palates. ‘Maybe Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc drinkers are moving away from old favourites that had oak and big bold flavours? Obviously plenty still enjoy these flavour-packed styles, however as a global Sauvignon Blanc standard, not just within Marlborough, it is pleasing when refinement, quality and depth combine to give a perfect wine.’

‘There’s been lots of hype about the 2021 vintage,’ said Rebecca Palmer. ‘The gross generalisation is that because yields were down then quality was up, almost as if that’s a given. But the relationship between yield and quality isn’t linear. The growing season was stop-start, affected by frost then cool weather at flowering. And hang-time is crucial to the development of aroma and flavour.’

Brown agreed: ‘I do wonder whether this was a factor in the wines submitted here: far too many I’d describe as “decent enough” but lacking the personality and balance we might have hoped for in order to give more Highly recommendeds and Outstandings.’

Due to Covid restrictions, New Zealand only fully opened its borders on 31 July 2022, and has been partially or totally locked down since March 2020. This resulted in few container ships docking, meaning delays of more than three months to take stock out of the country, not to mention the cost hike.

But it is not all doom and gloom. The 2022 vintage is looking promising, shipping should become easier and NZ Sauvignon Blanc will remain a favourite, despite this temporary mid-life crisis. Until the 2022 vintage makes it on to retailer shelves and wine lists, Decanter readers have some excellent wines to try from this panel tasting, showcasing New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc at its very best.

Top scoring New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

The judges

Roger Jones is the retired former owner of The Harrow at Little Bedwyn restaurant in Wiltshire. He is now a wine writer, judge and consultant with a particular interest in the hospitality trade, as well as helping charities. He is a DWWA judge, with a focus on New World regions.

Melanie Brown is founder and CEO of Heist Group, which includes New World-focused online wine merchant Specialist Cellars and The Laundry restaurant, Brixton. From New Zealand, she arrived in the UK in 2015 to work as a chef for the likes of Raymond Blanc, Peter Gordon and more.

Rebecca Palmer is associate director of Corney & Barrow, based in the UK, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. She heads up the commercial buying team, covering most world regions. At DWWA 2022 she judged in the New Zealand and USA & Central America categories.

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With fewer than 3,000 hectares, plantings of New Zealand Pinot Gris represent a drop in the ocean – about 10% – when compared to the powerhouse of Sauvignon Blanc. But according to New Zealand Wine Growers, it is close to overtaking Chardonnay as the country’s second most planted white grape.

While some wines are made in a Pinot Grigio style – a typically light-bodied ‘dry white wine’ – the best examples follow Alsace Pinot Gris. These are off-dry, with a weightier, oily mouthfeel and rich pear, honeyed stone fruit and spice flavours.

In this young winemaking country the variety is a still a baby. The oldest vines are just 25 to 30 years old, so the potential is there for more development and complexity in future. Winemakers are also experimenting with wild yeast fermentation, skin contact, lees and barrel ageing as well as concrete eggs and amphorae to enhance mouthfeel and texture in this naturally low-acid variety

The majority of plantings (more than 40%) are in Marlborough, where the South Island’s cooler climate imbues great aromatics as well as crisp acidity to offset residual sugar. But fans will find examples from all corners of both islands.

New Zealand Pinot Gris is a perfect dinner companion, matching perfectly with dishes as diverse as roast pork, mussels (or cauliflower) in a cream sauce, Thai green curry or a simple cheese board at the start or end of a meal.

The country has a wealth of top-drawer Pinot Gris from producers such as Misha’s Vineyard, Dry River, Prophet’s Rock, Greywacke, Valli and others. But here are 10 New Zealand Pinot Gris that won’t break the bank, starting from just £9.99.

New Zealand Pinot Gris: 10 top buys for less than £20

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Never likely to match the popularity of the country’s Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand Pinot Noir is nonetheless an undoubted success story.

Although the first vines were planted almost 140 years ago, in 1883, New Zealand Pinot Noir didn’t really find traction with either producers or consumers until more than a century later.

Today, with more than 5,800ha planted (all figures from New Zealand Winegrowers), it is the country’s top red grape variety by far, with approximately 14.5 million bottles exported in 2021.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 20 marvellous New Zealand Pinot Noirs

It flourishes in New Zealand’s cool South Island regions of Central Otago, Marlborough, North Canterbury with smaller amounts in Nelson. Exciting wines are also being made in the North Island, notably Martinborough in the south, plus a few top producers in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne.

Thanks to this diversity of regions, climates and soils there is a broad range of styles, from rich, soft, dark wines with prominent oak and warm alcohol, to pale, lean, red-berried Pinots with brisk acidity and a firm structure.

The evolution of Central Otago

In the south of South Island, Central Otago used to be the home of big, oaky, black-fruited and extracted Pinots – which certainly got the region a loyal fanbase. But today more freshness and elegance is evident and the wines are far better balanced. That’s not to say that those overt, bold examples have disappeared – there are plenty of them – but the best wines strike a harmonious chord between ripeness and restraint: plush, silky and perfumed with a firm tannin structure.

There are six sub-regions in Central Otago, which collectively farm about 1,600ha of Pinot Noir. Gibbston Valley is the coolest and highest, delivering lighter but intensely spiced red-berried wines. Bannockburn by comparison is the warmest and driest, giving ripe, full-bodied, black cherry-driven Pinots, while Bendigo, enjoying big diurnal temperature differences on its stony soils, produces vibrant, aromatic styles.

Canterbury’s variety

Stretching 200km down the east coast, North Canterbury boasts alpine foothills and coastal plains, producing diverse Pinot Noirs from its 430ha of vines. The warm, dry, protected Waipara Valley sub-region is gaining the most acclaim, with a long growing season ensuring the spicy, earthy Pinots are expressive, layered and graceful, with good structure, freshness and definition.

Approachable Marlborough

At the top of South Island, Marlborough produces about half of New Zealand’s Pinot Noir, with 2,721ha under vine in 2021. Thanks to better understanding of clones and terroirs, the simple valley floor blends of two decades ago have been replaced by single-vineyard or sub-regional blends from the Awatere, Wairau and particularly Southern Valleys, whose wines are fuller-bodied.

Within their light- to midweight cherry-berry fruit spectrum, Marlborough Pinots have notable freshness and lifted aromas and, in recent years, producers have improved their structure, intensity and intricacy. Perhaps not yet as complex or ageworthy as Pinots from other New Zealand regions, they still offer great drinking pleasure in the short to medium term.

Martinborough’s perfect blend

In the south of North Island, Martinborough is a key sub-region of Wairarapa, with some 60% of the 1,100ha under vine, about half of it (300ha) Pinot Noir. Frequently compared to Burgundy due to its climate, soils and small family-run grower-winemaker estates, its Pinots are making big waves. Simplistically, the wines combine the fragrance and freshness of Marlborough with the succulent dark richness of Central Otago, and a complex, earthy, savoury quality all of their own.

While New Zealand offers a vast range of Pinot Noirs in all styles and prices, these 20 wines are a selection from 45 premium, UK-available wines, tasted non-blind at Decanter’s offices in February 2022.

See tasting notes and scores of 20 New Zealand premium Pinot Noirs

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Shropshire-born Sam Weaver swapped the long-established London wine trade for the nascent grape-growing region of Marlborough, New Zealand in 1988. More than 30 years later, his two sons – Ben and Jack – are taking over the reins of the family‘s biodynamically-farmed Churton estate, which has recently become the country’s first traditionally ploughed vineyard. 

‘I was born and brought up in a rural farming family in Shropshire and always felt more comfortable in the rural and practical realm of winemaking than working in the highfalutin’ London wine trade. We first went to New Zealand to visit the Kiwi side of my family – of which there were many – and we’ve added to the numbers. I do miss Britain’s proper ale and pork pies though!

‘We’ve just become the first New Zealand estate to plough its vineyard by horse and plough. At first we didn’t know if it would be possible, so we acquired an old single-furrow horse-drawn plough from the local agricultural museum. Having proved it worked by dragging it behind a baby Kubota tractor, we replaced the tractor with two Clydesdales: Xena and Gordon.

‘We’re on a mission to reduce our carbon footprint through reducing the use of tractors. By reducing soil compaction, improving water retention and biological activity in the soil we will make better wine as a result.’

‘Most Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is ubiquitous with its overtly fruity, herbaceous style. They are usually very technically made wines, meaning there has been a lot of intervention. What’s more, they’re often regional blends. At Churton, we produce wines from a single terroir, respecting Sauvignon Blanc through cropping at low yields, before fermenting the wines naturally with indigenous yeasts. The fruit quality is so good that we can successfully make very low-intervention wines of depth, character and restraint.

‘Other than Marlborough my other favourite wine regions are Burgundy and Jurançon. But if I had to choose it would be Jurançon. It is such a beautiful area in the foothills of the Pyrenees. They have such a strong attachment to their land, their culture and their terroir.

‘Speaking of Jurançon, it’s a little-known fact that we are New Zealand’s first and biggest producer of Petit Manseng. In 2007, when we were expanding the vineyard, the nursery let us down with some Pinot Noir and asked if there was any way they could make amends for the mistake. Their first importation of Petit Manseng vines had just been released from quarantine and knowing and loving the variety through my connection with the late Didier Dagueneau [Les Jardins de Babylon], I took every single plant they had.

‘We’re handing over the reins of the business to our sons, Ben and Jack. Having grown up on the farm, they are both passionate about our place, making wine here and have the energy to work hard at it. Importantly they have a connection with the new generation of wine drinkers who appreciate low-intervention wine such as their Natural State range.

‘I’m most proud of breaking the conventional model of winemaking in New Zealand. Designing and planting Churton’s 23ha vineyard on a hillside is a model of what can be done with a farm ecosystem. We can make great wine that speaks of its place.’

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New Zealand Chardonnay has earned its place in your wine cellar, and I encourage you to take another look at what the country has been up to. Diverse styles across a range of prices offer far more texture, concentration and complexity than you may have found in the past.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top-scoring New Zealand Chardonnay 2020 wines

Chardonnay is grown in all wine regions in New Zealand, reflecting varied soil types and generally cooler-climate conditions. Some 16 clones are available, and average vine age for many growers of the variety is now 25 years, which is also showing positively on the wines released.

The use of amphorae or concrete eggs, as well as a trend towards less new barrel usage in favour of second- and third-year wood, to neutral and even no oak at all, gives winemakers more opportunity to harness a sense of place in their wines.

Producers are also increasingly releasing different expressions of Chardonnay to reflect vineyard and regional character. Organic, biodynamic, indigenous ferment and single- vineyard wines are becoming more common too.

New Zealand has been blessed with three outstanding successive vintages in 2019, 2020 and 2021, across all 10 regions. And the Chardonnays in particular have been fantastic. Of the 39,934ha of producing vines across the country in 2020, just 3,222ha (8.5%) was Chardonnay, and just 230ha of this was from permaculture-managed vineyards – those maintained as an agricultural ecosystem, self-sustaining, using no herbicides or pesticides.

There are currently 50 member producers of the Organic Winegrowers New Zealand organisation, and within this group only 31 make Chardonnay, mostly for still wine production. It is interesting to note that there is an increase in wine businesses converting to or practising permaculture vine-farming in New Zealand – a very positive move if the quality of Chardonnay, as well as other varieties, is indicative of these farming practices.

Year of texture

Chardonnays from the 2020 vintage, which should be well represented in the UK, show more complexity in their aromas, showcasing mineral attributes alongside pure fruit. There’s a riper fruit profile on the palate, too, featuring more defined flavours of grapefruit and lemon to white peach, baked apple and even quince. Baking spices from barrel-toasting is also evident in many, alongside richer apricot and baked custard notes.

Mouthfeel is a feature of many of the 2020 Chardonnays I’ve selected here, thanks to fine tannins from the fruit as well as wood, naturally higher acidity and extended time on lees to contrast the core of fruit.

See all 32 New Zealand Chardonnay 2020 wines tasted for this feature

There’s no mistaking the impact of oak in a few wines, but thankfully this has been used only when the fruit concentration can support it. Many producers are now very judicious with the oak in their Chardonnays, instead letting the impacts of soil, indigenous ferments, lees and excellent fruit speak louder.

Looking forward, 2021 was by no means an easy vintage for New Zealand wine producers, with some challenging weather conditions affecting flowering. An increase in export demand has not been helped by logistical hurdles from shipping lags and Covid-19. Despite all this, the 2021 vintage has delivered some exceptional quality overall from much reduced harvests. Just 23,507 tonnes of Chardonnay was crushed, down by 4,000 tonnes compared to 2020 figures.

New Zealand is not immune to the effects of climate change. Layering in the impact of an already challenging 2021 vintage, along with ozone depletion and a high UV-index, as well as earlier harvest windows, can mean the expressions of Chardonnay you encounter will vary.

If you’ve not seen docu-movie A Seat at the Table (Studio Nash/Republic Films, 2019), then now’s a good time. It strongly suggests that New Zealand Chardonnay is world-class and that the Kiwi wine industry itself needs to focus more attention on the variety. That’s good news for wine lovers.

Cameron Douglas MS’ top New Zealand Chardonnay 2020 wines

The below list features the top-scoring 18 wines, as published in the Expert’s Choice article in Decanter’s April 2022 issue, plus a further 14 wines that also impressed.

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Sauvignon Blanc is one of the world’s most popular wines. Yet despite the continued popularity of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, it was New Zealand that really put the style on the international map.

Over 40 years ago, when the first bottles of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc were produced, this crisp, dry, unoaked, unashamedly fresh and fruity wine style was the perfect antithesis to the woody Australian Chardonnays or sweet Rieslings that provided the bulk of white wine fare in the UK.

Fast forward to today, and more than five million glasses of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc are enjoyed worldwide every day, according to New Zealand Winegrowers.

While Marlborough still dominates production, and is the style most drinkers associate with New World Sauvignon Blanc, there are excellent examples to be found from Hawke’s Bay, Wairarapa, Nelson, Canterbury and Central Otago too.

And styles are more varied than you might think. Yes, there are still those championing that pungent passion fruit hit that continues to make New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc so popular, but wines using wild yeasts, skin contact, oak ageing and lees work mean there are more complex examples worth exploring.

With screwcaps ensuring freshness and fruit purity, these wines are best enjoyed within one to three years of their vintage, but the best wines will take on appealing smoky, waxy, nutty and earthy notes with careful bottle age, up to a decade or more.

Of course there are plenty of other excellent Sauvignon Blancs beyond New Zealand to enjoy – from the Loire, Bordeaux, Austria, Australia, South Africa, Chile and the US, each with their own distinct character – perfect to toast International Sauvignon Blanc Day (#SauvBlancDay).

Introduction by Tina Gellie in 2020. Wines updated in 2021 – all tasted and scored by Decanter experts. 

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As with so many wine regions, New Zealand had its share of new and unexpected challenges for the 2020 harvest in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But a high-quality fruit harvest across most wine regions, in addition to the New Zealand Government listing the wine sector as an ‘Essential Service’, came as real blessings.

Scroll down for 20 top New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs from the 2020 vintage

The 2020 vintage has been an excellent year for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, with an increase in plantings, crush, fruit quality, ripeness and flavour. Nearly all of the early-release wines I’ve tasted have punched above their weight (some well above) in terms of concentration, purity, balance and complexity.

Regional signatures are strong, and techniques in the winery such as extended lees contact, less use of new oak and gentle handling has captured more of this variety’s subtleties, minerality and vine maturity.

‘Clean and ripe, good concentration without being overblown, and beautiful fragrance,’ is how Chris Scott, chief winemaker of Church Road Wines, describes his 2020 Sauvignon Blancs.

‘2020 was an exceptional vintage,’ agrees Ben Glover, winemaker at Zephyr Wines in Marlborough. ‘The region expressed itself well, with the mineral, salty, stony soil attributes loud and strong, along with riper yellow fruit flavours – particularly physalis (cape gooseberry) and honeysuckle.’

‘It’s a Goldilocks vintage,’ adds Anna Flowerday, winemaker at Te Whare Ra Vineyard and Winery in Marlborough. ‘Not too cold, not too hot – just right. Favourable conditions during flowering led to a nice, even set and moderate crops.’

New Zealand’s dominant variety

Of New Zealand’s total area under vine planted across all varieties (39,935ha), Sauvignon Blanc continues to command the lion’s share. It grew from 24,605ha in 2019 to 25,160ha in 2020.

A total of 326,058 tonnes of Sauvignon Blanc was crushed – that’s 73.58% of the country’s total – an 8% increase on 2019. Pinot Noir comes in distant second with 7.7% of the crush and Chardonnay with 6.2%.

Marlborough remains the largest regional producer of Sauvignon Blanc, with a whopping 295,301 tonnes crushed, followed by Hawke’s Bay (12,422), Nelson (7,868), Gisborne (4,376), North Canterbury (3,773) and Wairarapa (1,771).

Todd Stevens, winemaker at Neudorf in Nelson, says: ‘2020 was extremely good for Sauvignon Blanc. The mild-to-warm spring, December rains and then a dry summer was a sequence that culminated in near-perfect conditions to ripen fruit and make exacting, delicious wines.’

Misha Wilkinson of Misha’s Vineyard in Central Otago said that while yields were well down in the region, Sauvignon Blanc did very well. ‘We grow ours on a perilously steep slope and unusually this year it was the first variety we picked. It is already showing fabulous flavours.’

An evolving and ageworthy wine

Style-wise, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is evolving. In the 2020 wines I tasted for this article, I noticed more texture, mouthfeel and layering from lees contact. Producers are leaving grape skins in contact with the juice for longer, as well as using older barrels of varying sizes for fermentation, ageing or both.

The classically pungent, herbaceous and tropical style expected of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is easily on show for many of the wines I’ve recommended, but even these are showing more purity from vine age and what is clearly a remarkably good vintage.

Pied de cuve (cultivating the naturally occurring wild yeasts on the grape skins in the vineyard) is proving a valuable technique to produce wines with more depth, character, site expression, texture and flavour.

And while most wine lovers enjoy their New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs within the year of vintage, don’t be afraid to keep them – the style is more ageworthy than you think. Have a look at my drinking windows: many of these wines will develop over the next five to eight years with ease.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2020

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Every year New Zealand Wines hosts its New Zealand in a Glass tasting in London where wines from across this diverse country are poured – from Central Otago in the south to Northland near the tip of the North Island.

For a time this was very much a two-wine showcase, with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir strutting their stuff, and little else in between. In recent years, however, the breadth of the Kiwi offering has increased markedly, with big guns like Syrah and Chardonnay suddenly stealing some of the limelight, and lesser-known varieties (certainly for New Zealand) such as Grüner Veltliner and Cabernet Franc vying for attention.Tasting wines from across the spectrum at this year’s event, it’s striking how many previously fledgling varieties are now standing toe-to-toe with Sauvignon and Pinot.

Chardonnay is fast becoming a Kiwi benchmark and is made in myriad styles – from bright, crunchy and fresh to rich, opulent and creamy.

Syrah is widely planted and responsible for some of New Zealand’s most revered reds, but increasingly Bordeaux varietal wines and blends are getting a look in too.

More obscure grapes such as Lagrein and Tempranillo are popping up with increasing regularity and producing some noteworthy wines. The esoteric is ubiquitous, it would seem, even among perennial safe-players like New Zealand.

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Rebecca Gibb MW, Roger Jones and Philip Tuck MW tasted 53 New Zealand oaked Sauvignon Blancs, with 3 Outstanding and 18 Highly Recommended...

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs produced using any level of barrel fermentation or maturation

Scroll down to see the tasting notes & scores

The verdict

With quality on display across the board, this tasting proved that New Zealand’s oaked styles of Sauvignon Blanc deserve attention. Rebecca Gibb MW shares the highlights…

Famed for its distinctive rainbow of flavours and its succulent acidity, Marlborough is the home of New Zealand Sauvignon, representing 89% of the country’s plantings, and its dominance was reflected in this tasting, accounting for three-quarters of entries.

While New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has made its name in its pure, fruit-filled expression, there have long been barrel-influenced examples since Hunters wowed the crowds at the 1986 Sunday Times Wine Club with its Fumé Blanc.

However, oaked examples have remained a sideshow in the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc story. This tasting showed that the sideshow should be brought on to the main stage, with a very respectable average of 89.2 points scored across a field of more than 50 wines.

There were some sublime examples: Cloudy Bay’s Te Koko, Greywacke’s Wild Sauvignon and the least famous of the Oustanding triumvirate, te Pā’s Oke, which all offered wildly different stylistic interpretations of the relationship between Sauvignon Blanc and oak. But qualitatively, there were few disagreements: harmony, texture and complexity were the name of the game.

Quick link See all 53 wines in the panel tasting

Philip Tuck MW, wine director at Hatch Mansfield, explained: ‘This tasting was all about interplay of oak and varietal character and it’s easy to get it wrong. When you put Sauvignon Blanc in oak you are compromising the high aromatics. Getting it right is a challenge but when you do get it right it’s very nice. There were only a handful of wines that were overoaked.’

It is clear that the use of new oak currently plays a minor role in the most successful oak-influenced Sauvignon Blanc styles, with secondfill or older barrels chosen for their contribution to texture rather than flavour. Barrel fermentation followed by maturation tends to produce a more harmonious expression – a method common to many of the finest wines in the tasting.

However, the varying approaches reflected the flexibility of New World winemaking: levels of oak ranged from 2.5% to 100%, and new oak proportions from zero to 100%.

There were just three wines that took a leaf out of the Bordeaux (and Margaret River) book, blending Semillon with the Sauvignon Blanc: Te Mata’s Cape Crest, Seresin’s Marama and Hans Herzog’s Sur Lie included a small splash of the rich, weighty variety. But the panel was united in its belief that this pairing could be worth exploring as New Zealand moves into Sauvignon Blanc 2.0.

Tuck noted: ‘I’m surprised there were no more with Semillon in the blend – why not add some?’ But who’s going to buy these top-rated wines?

Wearing his restaurateur’s hat, Roger Jones of the The Harrow at Little Bedwyn, commented: ‘Selling wines over the bar, people want clean Sauvignon Blanc, but if it’s got oak and complexity they are lost. You really need to focus on it and have it with food, which is not what New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is necessarily known for.’

With his business hat on, Tuck added: ‘Commercially it’s a risk. The winemakers are adding cost to the wines because they are releasing them later.’

These styles are not destined to be New Zealand’s bread and butter, but for restaurants and interested consumers looking for the next stage in their Sauvignon Blanc experience, there is a diverse array of aromatics and textures on offer.

The scores

53 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 3

Highly Recommended 18

Recommended 30

Commended 2

Fair 0

Poor 0

Faulty 0

Top New Zealand oaked Sauvignon Blancs from the panel tasting:

See all 53 wines from this panel tasting

About New Zealand oaked Sauvignon Blanc

New Zealand oaked Sauvignon Blanc While its claim to fame may be fresh and fruity Sauvignon, New Zealand’s winemakers are now experimenting with more varied and nuanced styles. Rebecca Gibb MW reports

If you think New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc can only be fashioned in one style it’s time to taste the country’s leading variety in its increasingly varied interpretations. The fruity yet green style for which the country has become world famous is still a mainstay, but winemakers are now seeking to make Sauvignon Blanc that is less reliant on primary fruit aromas and more interesting texturally.

Sauvignon Blanc producers are achieving a sophisticated, savoury alternative using a variety of methods, which include allowing wild yeast to do its job on rather cloudy juice in tank, French oak barrel or both. There’s also a small but significant number of high-quality producers playing with foudres and the odd amphora. Sacred Hill and Cloudy Bay were early adopters of barrel fermentation in the 1990s but as Tim Heath, senior winemaker at Cloudy Bay, explains: ‘Barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc styles are not as easy to make as you think and can easily become overblown. It becomes quite disjointed with oak and overpowers the fruit. It’s a difficult balance to strike.’ Indeed, the natural fruitiness of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc can be difficult to tame, which can lead to a wrestling match between the grape and the wood.

Subtle expression

Experience and research has shown that picking Sauvignon Blanc by hand, rather than machine harvesting, followed by whole bunch pressing diminishes the level of thiols responsible for the exuberant aromatics reminiscent of passionfruit and herbaceous boxwood. A more subtle Sauvignon expression better integrates with oak – when oak, and particularly new oak, is only one part of the fermentation story: Auntsfield, for example combines conventionally fermented tank parcels with barrel-fermented whole bunch lots to achieve harmony in its single-vineyard Sauvignon Blanc. What’s more, allowing partial malolactic fermentation can also reduce the flamboyancy of fruit – Greywacke allows two-thirds of its highly successful Wild Sauvignon to undergo conversion – but it’s a fine balancing act. Lees stirring also adds an extra dimension to Sauvignon Blanc as we know it, contributing weight, texture and more complex layers.

In the world of Sauvignon, Marlborough unoaked Sauvignon Blancs are inimitable. The barrel-fermented styles are idiosyncratic too: they’re not as razor fine as those of Sancerre, but look positively vibrant next to a Californian Fumé Blanc. While they share a similar weight to Bordeaux whites, New Zealand Sauvignon tends to offer more tropical fruit and lacks the textural, grassy elements that Semillon brings to Bordeaux blends.

Increasingly sophisticated Sauvignon Blanc is emerging from the bottom of the earth. If you thought you knew New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and have previously dismissed it for being overly fruity, perhaps it’s time to think again and try some of the alternative styles that Kiwi winemakers are now dishing up.

NZ Sauvignon Blanc: The Facts

1975 First Sauvignon Blanc planted in Marlborough

1979 First Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc produced by Montana

2002 Sauvignon Blanc becomes New Zealand’s most planted variety

2018 Sauvignon Blanc covers 23,102ha, representing 60% of New Zealand’s vineyard area and 86% of exports

(Source: NZ Winegrowers Annual Report 2018)

NZ Sauvignon Blanc: Know your vintages

2018 Hottest summer on record, leading to early ripening. Coastal regions affected by ex-tropical cylones in February, delaying harvest and elevating botrytis pressure. Ripe Sauvignon.

2017 Difficult season with a cool start and poor summer. Wet, warm and cloudy autumn created botrytis pressure. Early picked crops were the most successful.

2016 Record crop. Warm, often humid. Harvest period was dry and sunny. Excellent whites and highly attractive reds.

2015 Dry and warm. Small, low yielding crop after early frost and cool flowering. Ripe, perfumed and fully flavoured wines.

2014 Record early vintage. Dry and warm summer with little disease pressure. Excellent wines across the board.

2013 Touted as the vintage of a lifetime with a warm, incredibly dry summer and autumn. Ripe, concentrated wines across the North and South Islands.

See all of the wines tasted here

The judges

Rebecca Gibb MW

Gibb spent six years living in New Zealand, where she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. Her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has a consultancy business The Drinks Project.

Roger Jones

Jones and his wife Sue own The Harrow at Little Bedwyn restaurant, where he combines chef duties with a love of wine. Jones frequently travels to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, food and wine matching; he set up The Tri Nations Wine Challenges to promote wines from these countries.

Philip Tuck MW

Philip Tuck MW has been in the wine trade for over 30 years, since joining Avery’s in Bristol in 1986. He then worked for wineries in various countries including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, the US, Chile and Italy. Tuck became an MW in 1999 and is currently wine director at Hatch Mansfield.

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A recent Loire vs Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc masterclass, hosted by Rebecca Gibb MW and Jamie Goode, set out to discover the differences between the two key Sauvignon-producing regions at opposite ends of the world.

Jointly organised by Sopexa, Central Loire Valley Wines, Loire Valley Wines (yes, two different trade bodies represent the Loire!) and New Zealand Wines, the blind tasting of 12 Sauvignon Blancs pitted one Loire and one Marlborough wine against each other in each of the six pairs.

It was a fairly tough tasting, with styles ranging from green and crisp to creamy and oaky, but the wines in five of the pairs were distinct enough to enable correct identification – which will surely be a relief to the terroirists out there.

How to tell the difference

Loire Sauvignon Blanc occupies the green fruit spectrum (think apple, gooseberry and cut grass), and can be floral, steely, zingy, flinty or even slightly peachy, depending on which appellation it comes from.

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc tends to be more pungent and intensely flavoured, still with green fruit at its core but filled out with riper, tropical fruit flavours.

About Loire Sauvignon

There are around 123,000ha of Sauvignon Blanc planted throughout the world, of which around 10,000ha are in the Loire and 20,600ha in Marlborough.

The Central Loire, where 50% of all Loire Sauvignon Blanc is produced, is mostly composed of chalky marl capped by Portlandian limestone, although Touraine sits on part of the so-called Paris Basin, which is a limestone over clay-flint composition.

Touraine’s reputation for producing lower-priced wines has meant that land has remained attractively cheap, and it is now benefitting from a new wave of young winemakers keen to make names for themselves. Keep an eye on this appellation if you like Sauvignon.

About Marlborough Sauvignon

Marlborough’s free-draining soils are mostly sandy loam over deep gravel. The region experiences more maritime influence than the Sauvignon-producing areas of the Loire, benefitting from cooling sea breezes.

However, the ozone layer is thin over New Zealand, contributing to 40% more UV radiation than is typical at that latitude. This intensity of light, combined with the free-draining soils, requires irrigation in many cases.

Sauvignon Blanc differences – wine by wine:

The wines were blind-tasted in pairs, in the order they appear below.

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You can't mention Greywacke without mentioning Cloudy Bay...

And mentioning Cloudy Bay brings history – the weight of New Zealand’s fate once seemingly hung on its shoulders.

Of course, brands such as Brancott and Villa Maria have more than played their parts in the high-volume arena, but Cloudy Bay was at the forefront of the country’s transformation into an international power in the ‘fine wine’ sphere, particularly in the case of its Sauvignon Blanc.

Now that its reputation is firmly in the bag – wine exports have been increasing every year for the last two decades and more, and New Zealand claims one of the highest average bottle prices of all wine-producing countries – certain winemakers have begun to explore alternative expressions of the styles the country’s success has been built on.

Enter Kevin Judd. The man who spent 25 years making Cloudy Bay – and therefore a key player in New Zealand’s formative years – established his own label, Greywacke, in 2009. He doesn’t own his own winery, instead making use of the facilities at Dog Point Winery in the lower Brancott Valley.

His label is named after the sedimentary greywacke pebbles which are evident in the main Rapaura vineyard but, as Kevin was keen to point out at a tasting earlier this week, ‘Greywacke isn’t about a bit of earth’. Asked how he selects his grapes, Kevin sums up the whole spirit of Greywacke in one sentence: ‘I do select, but there’s no recipe’. A winemaker who sits back and lets the wine do the talking.

And the results are intriguing. His winemaking may be seen as a brave step too far by some; if it ain’t broke, why try and fix it? However, his time at Cloudy Bay has clearly given him the freedom to experiment, and this is what he brings to Greywacke. The range of seven wines is a foray into a world of barrel-aged Rieslings, natural fermentations and just a bit of luck.

Kevin was in the UK to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Greywacke, and to mark the occasion we were treated to two examples of each of the seven wines – the first vintage of each wine, and the most recent. It was interesting to see not only how well they can age, but also how he has refined the winemaking processes for each after years of trial and error.

Greywacke: Then and now

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Thanks to one of the hottest summers in New Zealand's history, there is a clear vintage expression across both the reds and whites from 2018 says Rebecca Gibb MW, who reports on the weather conditions across the country and selects her top white wines from recent tastings…

Triathletes clad in neoprene return to the open waters of New Zealand’s coast each November donning a couple of swimming hats to avoid ice-cream headaches, but in late 2017 the waters were so unseasonably warm even the wetsuits could be comfortably ditched in favour of a pair of budgie smugglers.

Scroll down for Rebecca Gibb MW’s top New Zealand white wines from 2018

It wasn’t the swimmers’ imagination. A so-called marine heatwave meant that water temperatures were between 2 and 4°C above average and this was the main driver behind the hottest summer in New Zealand since records began in 1909. Temperatures across New Zealand were 2.1˚C higher than the 30-year average (1981-2010), pushing the balmy summer of 1934/35 out of the record books. The heatwave began in November, which is not technically summer in New Zealand. In Central Otago’s Cromwell, there were 23 consecutive days above 25˚C up to 10 December.

And the crazy barbecue weather kept on coming. Hot and dry weather – Auckland received just 9% of its average rainfall in December – meant vines successfully flowered and there was an abundant crop ready to ripen early: on the eve of 2018, the vines were tracking 10-14 days ahead of their ‘usual’ schedule.

But weather can be unpredictable when you’re a remote island at the bottom of the world and February brought the remnants of two tropical cyclones. The first, named Fehi (1 February), broke the heatwave. Felton Road’s owner Nigel Greening says: ‘2018 was bewildering: if we had not had the cyclone come through and break the heatwave, we would have been in deep [trouble].’

That said, many Central Otago growers report it was their earliest-ever harvest. Amisfield picked its Riesling on 5 March – three weeks earlier than normal. Winemaker Stephanie Lambert says: ‘2018 epitomised Central Otago’s unpredictability more than ever. It was hot, it was cold, we were worried about sunburn, lack of sun, lack of wine, low acidity, disease, lack of flavour, it had it all for us.’

Meanwhile, cyclone Gita (20 February) dropped 300% of the South Island’s monthly rainfall in just 18 hours. While the North Island’s wine regions of Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Wairarapa dodged the worst of Gita’s wrath, the country’s most prolific region, Marlborough, was affected. For the early ripeners this caused a few headaches but the Sauvignon Blanc berries were still tough at this stage.

Vintners were on high alert for botrytis with high humidity and the February deluge. Picking was delayed until March but the temperatures remained high: the average temperature in Marlborough in March was 22.3˚C compared with 16.3˚C in March 2017. Nights were unseasonably warm.

The cyclones also affected the crop level. At 419,000 tonnes, 2018 is the fourth-largest harvest on record but it is well below initial expectations. In the glass, you can expect Sauvignon Blancs with ripe flavour expression, broader palate weight, gentler acidity and immediate accessibility. Vintners report that Pinot Noir is flavoursome and lush with lower acidity and alcohols nudging 14% and beyond.

Will it be a great year? It is difficult to say at this early stage but they will show a clear vintage expression when compared with the far cooler 2017 season.

Rebecca Gibb MW’s top New Zealand white wines from 2018

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How different can wines made from grapes grown on opposite sides of the road be? Rebecca Gibb MW found out during a visit to Ata Rangi in Martinborough, New Zealand, and reports on her favourite Pinot Noir wines tasted.

The year was 1988 and the wine world had only just discovered the electrifying flavours of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

The idea that this tiny, lamb-chop shaped country at the end of the earth would soon become a reputed Pinot Noir producer seemed as likely as Italy beating the All Blacks.

We might still be waiting for the latter, but many of us wine lovers are now thankful that Clive Paton sold his milking cows and bought a piece of land in the then-rural backwater of Martinborough to grow Pinot Noir.

Scroll down to see Rebecca’s Ata Rangi Pinot Noir tasting notes

Paton and his wife Phyll attended the International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) in Oregon in 1988 as part of a Kiwi contingent, where they met Don and Carole McCrone.

This meeting led to a long-lasting friendship and the beginnings of a cross-hemisphere collaboration: Don, a politics professor turned grape grower in Carlton, Oregon, decided he too wanted to make Pinot Noir in New Zealand.

The McCrone Vineyard

In 2001, a 4ha block neighbouring Ata Rangi was up for grabs and the McCrones purchased it with a little help from their friends, who drove in the vineyard posts and planted a selection of Pinot clones.

The first release – a tiny bottling in 2006 to test the waters – was met with critical acclaim. But it has not been produced every year, with the fruit often making its way into Ata Rangi’s second-tier Pinot, Crimson, while waiting for the vines to mature.

In 2012, the McCrone’s sold their eponymous vineyard to Ata Rangi due to health reasons.

A string of superlative New Zealand growing seasons from 2013 to 2016 has provided four enigmatic single-vineyard bottlings, making an interesting comparison to Ata Rangi’s ‘estate’ Pinot Noir – a flagship blend of fruit from vineyards surrounding McCrone.

A Burgundian comparison

Despite being just across the road from Ata Rangi, the McCrone Vineyard is a pretty unique site on the Martinborough terrace, as winemaker Helen Masters explains: ‘There’s about 800mm of clay before the gravels, so it’s markedly different to our other vineyards.’ The result is a richer, rounder expression than the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir, with cocoa-powder-like tannins.

The classic Ata Rangi Pinot Noir, with its older vines, offers finer detail and greater nuance, but the comparison between the pair is almost Burgundian: the vines are all within spitting distance, they are tended and vinified in the same way, and yet the personality of the two sites is clear to taste.

The Ata Rangi Pinot Noir remains the superlative wine, but don’t forget that the vines have a 20-year headstart on those at McCrone.

While the late Spanish filmaker Luis Bunuel once famously said, ‘age doesn’t matter, unless you’re a cheese’, he could have appended that quote with ‘or a vine’.

Ata Rangi factfile

Founded 1980

Founder Clive Paton

Total hectares 32

Key named vineyards:

Home Block (Pinot Noir)

McCrone (Pinot Noir)

Craighall (Chardonnay and Riesling)

Lismore (Pinot Gris)

Petrie (Chardonnay)

Kotinga (Pinot Noir)

Di Mattina (Pinot Noir)

Comparing vineyards:

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New Zealand isn't generally known for its mature wines at present, but there are some gems worth trying if you can find them. Rebecca Gibb MW picks out 15 examples for drinking now...

The success of New Zealand wine has relied heavily on one variety that’s best consumed young for its flamboyant fruit and youthful vigour.

Sauvignon Blanc has been both a blessing and a curse, placing New Zealand firmly on the world wine map but also strengthening the perception that New Zealand wines are not ageworthy.

This perception, however, is a misconception that needs to be detonated.

Scroll down to see the wines

It’s increasingly apparent that Sauvignon Blanc – which makes up 72% of the country’s wine production – does not need to be ‘picked, pressed and pissed before Christmas’, as some of the cruder winemakers used to joke. The finer examples of the varietal can be cellared for five years or more.New Zealand’s best reds – from Pinot Noir to Cabernet Sauvignon – also have the components to be able to age gracefully: concentration of fruit, natural acidity, ripeness of tannin and a splash of ‘je ne sais quoi’.

Recent tastings of older vintages have shown that many producers have underestimated the drinking windows of their wines and, in future, will have to rewrite their back-label blurbs with the advice: ‘will drink beautifully for a decade or more.’

The rapid evolution of New Zealand’s wine scene has made it difficult to confidently predict the longevity of its wines, as there aren’t decades of vintages to use as a yardstick. The majority of New Zealand’s vines were planted after 2000. As a result, many vineyards have only recently attained a level of maturity that is considered conducive to making fine, ageworthy wines.

The evolution of New Zealand’s vineyard area:

Year / Total plantings (ha)

2000 10,197

2005 21,002

2010 33,200

2017 37,129

Nigel Greening of Central Otago’s Felton Road, which was founded in 1992, explains: ‘While there will be a few examples of mature wines from mature vines, they will be rare. The point here is that the way mature wines show now will not be any indication of the future, or the norm for that future. ‘

In the past decade, while young vines have matured, viticulture has improved dramatically and winemakers have gained a better understanding of their sites, allowing them to refine their techniques.

While there are a small number of mature wines today that were produced from mature vines in the early noughties – notably from Martinborough and Hawke’s Bay – New Zealand continues to break new ground with every harvest.

Fifteen mature New Zealand wines for drinking now:

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The land of the long white cloud is an essential port of call for all Pinot lovers on their quest for the perfect glassful. Here, Anne Krebiehl MW selects 20 of her current favourites that combine the ethereal appeal of the great Burgundy grape with New Zealand's island individuality...

New Zealand gets under your skin. There is something about its remoteness, about its big skies, vivid with moving cloud by day and lit by countless southern stars at night.

Its landscapes are varied: from pastoral, grassy plains, craggy coastlines and magical beaches via temperate rainforests alive with the rattle of a thousand crickets to stark, sunbaked, snow-covered rocks, ravines and icy lakes. Wilderness runs right through it, thrilling all of the senses, making you feel intensely alive.

That Pinot Noir should feel so much at home on these two islands on the other side of the globe is our good fortune. Those of us who love this grape variety in all its infinite nuance can enjoy its expressions from a climate that unites cool briskness with bright, intense sunshine.

This sunny but cool brilliance makes it into those screwcapped bottles and explains their intensity of cranberry and cherry, redcurrant and mulberry.

We are spoilt for choice with New Zealand Pinot Noir at various price levels. Spend little more than £10 and you are guaranteed vibrant fruit and ample freshness, often on a lighter body that makes these Pinots so food-friendly. The pleasure-for-money ratio of these well-made wines is immense.

Here’s a tip: while they are made for immediate drinking, all apart from the very simplest will benefit from a little bottle age without losing any of their fruity intensity. Stocking up on some special offer bottles and storing them somewhere cool and dark for a year or two will create a little extra Pinot-ness.

Move up the price scale and you start to find wines with slightly more body and background, until you reach single vineyard wines from boutique producers that are undoubtedly world class. If you are playing, and perhaps collecting, at this level the prices are still civilised.

Screwcaps keep these wines in pristine condition for cellaring and fine, aged Kiwi Pinot Noir is a treat. Just like wine styles everywhere, the pendulum has swung towards elegance.

Regions

I look to Canterbury, Martinborough and Nelson for alluring savouriness, and to Central Otago for corralled power and beauty (even though there are still some hot and clumsy wines around).

Yet it is in Marlborough that the Pinot landscape has really shifted: it used to be about simple, confected fruit, but is now the source of very well made, high-volume wines, and the sights are set for increasing sophistication.

Purity

Small-parcel wines, sadly not over here yet, show what is possible. But no matter where you go, the focus at every level is on expressing purity, site and fruit. The Kiwis have made giant steps in a very short time, and now they are fine-tuning.

The very best of their wines capture the boundless, visceral beauty of these windswept islands right here in my glass – and under my skin.

Anne’s 20 top New Zealand Pinot Noir wines for your cellar:

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Amy Wislocki charts the rise of Cloudy Bay from plucky 1980s pioneer to one of New Zealand's best known wine producers, and reviews the latest releases.

Cult winery Cloudy Bay helped to drive New Zealand wine exports in the 1980s and 90s, but it really proved its mettle with the introduction of Te Koko, a pioneering oaked style of Sauvignon.

Scroll down for the tasting notes on Cloudy Bay’s latest releases

By New Zealand’s standards, cult Marlborough winery Cloudy Bay is part of the old guard, established in 1985 by David Hohnen, who was already famous for founding Cape Mentelle in Western Australia’s Margaret River.

Hohnen took out a high-interest bank loan to secure several key vineyard sites in the Marlborough region, and started to make a name for the winery with its Sauvignon Blanc.

Its brand recognition (is there a wine drinker anywhere who hasn’t heard of Cloudy Bay?) is largely explained by the fact that it was one of the first New Zealand wines to be exported, making a name for itself with its pronounced, fruit-forward character compared to the typically more restrained French Sauvignon Blancs that consumers were used to at the time.

The winery went on to pioneer a distinctive, more textured style of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in 1996 – Te Koko.

Fermented by wild yeasts and aged in old French oak, early vintages were ‘all about malolactic fermentation, oak and ripeness,’ explains Tim Heath, senior winemaker at Cloudy Bay.

In 2010 a change of direction saw the oak influence being reined in, for the better.

Cloudy Bay’s founding winemaker Kevin Judd left in 2009 to establish a new winery, Greywacke – six years after Cloudy Bay was bought by luxury goods firm LVMH (Louis Vuitton Möet Hennessey).

Today the company also produces a Chardonnay, and two Pinot Noirs from two vineyard sites in Central Otago.

The company is cagey about Cloudy Bay’s production volumes, but states that its Sauvignon Blanc accounts for 65% of production; the Te Koko for 5%; then 10% each for sparkling wine Pelorus, the Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs.

Latest Cloudy Bay tasting notes:

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New pastures for New Zealand Sauvignon

New Zealand producer Brancott Estate has revealed the result of its design collaboration with New York-based Studio Dror.

New Zealand wine group Brancott Estate has unveiled a sculpture in its vineyards created by New York-based designer Dror Benshetrit.

Studio Dror’s eight-metre high sculpture lies in the middle of Sauvignon Blanc vineyards in Marlborough. The sculpture is called ‘Under/standing’.

It is made from 52 individual components that lock together once the matrix-like structure is erected into a standing position; intended to represent the complexity of winemaking and the ‘vineyard’s ongoing transformation’.

It is the latest of several collaborations between wineries and artists and designers.

New York-based Studio Dror is led by Tel Aviv-born designer Dror Benshetrit, who has previously been named in the ‘power 200’ of Wallpaper magazine.

He is known for his innovative work with structures; in particular, a structural joint system named QuaDror. He visited Brancott in 2014 to get inspiration for the project.

As part of the collaboration, Brancott’s chief winemaker, Patrick Materman, has created a limited edition wine range named Reflection and including a Sauvignon Blanc/Sauvignon Gris 2016 blend and a Pinot Noir 2015.

The wines will be available at the Brancott Estate Heritage Centre, via the Brancott Estate Wine Club (brancottestatewineclub.com) and in New Zealand Travel Retail for NZ$60 for the Sauvignon $80 for the Pinot Noir.

Brancott is owned by French drinks group Pernod Ricard and was one of the first to produce Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand.

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New Zealand's recent Kaikoura earthquake ruined enough wine to fill more than five million bottles, according to new industry estimates. See a report below, alongside a video of cracks in the landscape caused by the quake.

Marlborough lost just over 2% of its annual production in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck New Zealand two weeks ago, according to trade body New Zealand Winegrowers.

Marlborough produces ‘well over’ 200 million litres of wine annually, it said.

A fifth of the region’s tank capacity was damaged to varying degrees, NZ Winegrowers said.

It said that there was, however, a sense of relief overall.

‘While this is frustrating, this is not a major concern as vintage 2016 was a near record one,’ said the body’s CEO, Philip Gregan. ‘This means there is plenty of wine available to continue our market growth.’

He added, ‘The process of tank repair is already underway but it is going to be a big task which will continue for many months.’

Striking photos of the Kaikoura earthquake’s epicentre in North Canterbury show a huge crack in the landscape. It is reported to have raised seabeds by more than a metre in the area. See video footage below.

The quake killed two people and injured nearly 60, according to local media reports.

An earthquake that hit Christchurh in New Zealand in February 2011 was reported to have killed 185 people, with hundreds more injured.

Video credits: Youtube / GNS Science

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Wineries in Marlborough and Canterbury in New Zealand have been assessing the damage caused by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and several reported aftershocks.

New Zealand earthquake: Wineries assessing damage

Yealands Family Wines, in Marlborough, said that ‘while there is some damage at the winery, the winery building withstood the conditions well, as it was designed to do.

‘It remains closed for safety reasons while the damage is being assessed and cleaned.’

The cellar door will also remain closed for the next few days, and visitors are advised to call in advance before coming to the winery.

The epicentre of the earthquake was northeast of Christchurch, and the South Island has had hundreds of tremors since the initial earthquake.

At least two people have died in the earthquake, and the aftershocks have left some people without power and water.

Mt. Beautiful Winery, in North Canterbury, said on Twitter ‘Thankfully no injuries incurred to our team; only minimal damages to our tank farm, barrel room & office.’

Yealands also said on its Twitter account that it was ‘grateful for your kind words and support. Look forward to raising a glass with you all very soon!’

Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers, said in a statement that winemakers in Marlborough and Canterbury appeared to all be safe.

‘Wineries are now very much in assessment and clean up mode. There have been plenty of reports of broken bottles and damaged tanks which is what you would expect in an earthquake of this size, but most wineries are reporting any damage as minor.’

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New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has certainly sculpted a niche for itself, but are we truly satisfied with the ubiquitous Marlborough style? Our tasting team compares it with styles from potential contenders...

• Scroll down for our top five recommendations & regions to watch

Although Marlborough is by far the largest Sauvignon Blanc producing region in New Zealand, we are now seeing more and more exciting examples coming from other regions, including those that up until recently specialised in red varieties such as Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago.

What Marlborough has achieved in such a relatively short time is admirable, helping to make New Zealand Sauvignon a household name almost single-handedly.

But, such rapid success has also brought weary palates in some quarters and the challenge for New Zealand as a whole more recently has been to show that it is not a one-trick pony when it comes to Sauvignon Blanc.

This has opened the gates for producers in other regions of New Zealand who have witnessed Marlborough’s rise.

Below, Decanter’s tasting team take you through the best regions for exciting New Zealand Sauvignon. And yes, Marlborough is still on the list…

Five exciting New Zealand Sauvignon:

Regions to watch

Marlborough

Producing approximately 90% of all Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand, you can’t miss Marlborough. Now divided into sub-regions including Wairau Valley and Awatere Valley with an increased focus on terroir, the over-riding style is one of pungent gooseberry and citrus with some herby qualities. Colloquially described as ‘cat’s pee on a gooseberry bush’.

• See also: Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to change your mind

Central Otago

Best known for its high quality Pinot Noir, Central Otago is David to Marlborough’s Goliath, producing just 45 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc in 2014 according to nzwine.com. The Sauvignon here gravitates towards passion fruit, grapefruit and gunflint flavours.

Hawke’s Bay

Another red specialist, Hawke’s Bay made its name with the quality of its Merlot & Cabernet blends and Syrah varietals. It now produces over 1,000 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc in a tropical fruit style that works well with oak.

Nelson

Another big Pinot Noir region, Nelson offers a cool, restrained style of Sauvignon that verges on tropical and stone fruit flavours with herb and mineral notes. In terms of Sauvignon production, it sits between Hawke’s bay and Central Otago.

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• Who is buying New Zealand wine?

Sarah Kemp, Decanter managing director, says: Too often I find Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc unexciting, tasting more like alcoholic fruit juice than wine. Many of them are bland and one-dimensional and lack the texture and complexity I find in Sauvignons from other regions such as Friuli and Austria.

Bob Campbell MW, DWWA Regional Chair for New Zealand, replies: 

When the world discovered Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in the 1980s, Oz Clarke wrote: ‘No previous wine had shocked, thrilled and entranced the world before with such brash, unexpected flavours of gooseberries, passion fruit and lime or crunchy green asparagus spears … an entirely new, brilliantly successful wine style that the rest of the world has been trying to copy since.’

‘Predictable’

At that time you could walk into a supermarket or wine shop anywhere in the world, choose any bottle of wine with ‘Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc’ on the label and the wine would deliver pretty much what you expected.

Predictability, uniqueness and a market that was thirsty for the fresh and punchy flavours of this new wine rapidly drove production and sales to unexpected heights. New Zealand’s vineyard area of Sauvignon Blanc is now more than four times greater than the area of Sauvignon Blanc in Italy and Austria combined. 90% of that land is in Marlborough.

• WSET Level 2: Sauvignon Blanc grape

‘The best got better and the worst got worse’

Two things happened as production expanded; the best wines got better and the worst wines got worse.

All Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is certainly not equal. When I search for inexpensive Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc on UK wine shelves, I recognise few of the brands. The wines I don’t know have most likely been shipped in bulk and bottled in Europe. I don’t have a problem with that process, but in the battle to meet a low price point, quality is usually the first casualty.

When the price dips below £7, so does my expectation of finding an exciting wine with texture and complexity. That’s as true for Bordeaux and Burgundy as it is for Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

At the other end of the scale you’ll find lots of wines with character, texture and complexity.

Quality conscious producers seek out the best vineyard sites, reduce crop levels for greater concentration and often build texture through barrel fermentation and extended contact with the yeast lees.

Most winemakers seek to enrich the texture without impacting on the wine’s aromatics. Others go a step or two further – Cloudy Bay’s Te Koko is a good example.

• Try it with: Michel Roux Jr: Leek Terrine with Goat’s Cheese Recipe

‘I’m not trying to make Sancerre in Marlborough’

If it’s terroir you’re after, an increasing number of wines now express strong sub-regional and vineyard identity. Astrolabe’s Sauvignon Blanc is a textbook example of the cool Awatere Valley style, while a recent 10-vintage tasting of Dog Point’s Section 94 Sauvignon revealed a crystal-clear imprint of vineyard character.

The best Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs are serious, high-quality wines by any international measure. Collectively they demonstrate the diversity of a dynamic wine region that is now home to winemakers from France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

As Sancerre producer Henri Bourgeois explained when he established Clos Henri (another wine to try): ‘I am not trying to make Sancerre in Marlborough, but I am trying to make the world’s best Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.’

Marlborough winery Yealands Estate is offering fans the chance to tour their vineyards through a new app – the first of its kind in New Zealand.

The Yealands Estate White Road Tour app allows users to take a 40 minute tour of the 7.5km Seaview Vineyard, the single largest privately owned vineyard in New Zealand.

Highlights include seeing the babydoll sheep and other animals used to help in the vineyards, as part of Yealands’ efforts in sustainable winemaking practises.

• Animals in vineyards – Unlikely helpers

Users can also see where solar panels play music to the vines. The estate said that studies have shown plant tendrils respond to different wavelengths in music.

‘Our intention with this app is to enhance our visitors’ overall experience by engaging with them as they go on their own personal tour,’ said Peter Yealands, founder of Yealands Wine Group.

‘It allows users to go at their own pace and focus on their particular interests, be it our breath-taking views of the Cook Strait or many of the sustainable farm practices that we implement.’

Wineries worldwide are ofng more ‘virtual’ tours of vineyards; in July 2015, a selection of California wineries starting offering tours through Google Street View.

• Best apps for wine lovers

Yealands Estate White Road Tour app is available worldwide through the Apple Store and Google Play, and is in seven different languages.

Looking for inspiration? Decanter's Tina Gellie has picked out ten exciting wines from a recent New Zealand wine tasting in central London...

Ten exciting New Zealand wines to try

Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are still the bread and butter of the New Zealand wine industry, each variety making up some 70% of white and red plantings. And Chardonnay – the dominant grape between 1993 and 2003 – is also seeing a revival, comprising about 12%.

But there is much more to Kiwi wine than this popular trio, particularly aromatic whites such as Riesling and Pinot Gris – often made in delectable off-dry styles – as well as fledging plantings of ‘alternative’ varieties like Albariño (very encouraging) and Grüner Veltliner.

Beyond Pinot Noir there is less diversity in the reds, with Syrah undoubtedly the leading light, especially wines co-fermented with Viognier in homage to Côte-Rôtie.

But the Bordeaux grapes of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec still offer some interest, either as varietals or in a blend, as do unusual and exciting finds such as Stanley Estates’ Lagrein.

The following 10 wines are great examples of experimental New Zealand winemaking, much like we are seeing in Australia.

Related content:

• New Zealand Chardonnay: Panel tasting results

• New pastures for New Zealand Sauvignon

• New twists on Australian wine classics

Link: Find more WSET stories

- This article is written by a journalist on a journey of discovery - and on a mission to learn about wine.

By John Elmes

I’ve always been a bit circumspect around Sauvignon Blanc. Those I’ve drunk in the past have generally left me cold, a combination of tartness and sour or synthetic fruits warping my view. I seemed to encounter every flavour except those I now know to be typical of the variety.

Bizarrely, novice wine lovers seem to be able to describe the characteristics of Sauvignon Blanc quite successfully, often without having even tried the wine. That might be a reason for its popularity, you can hedge your bets that the wine you’re about to drink is crisp, dry, and refreshing.

Sauvignon Blanc is aromatic and traditionally displays potent green fruit, floral and vegetable fragrances, contrasting though those might sound. Not many people would simultaneously denote green apple and asparagus, or gooseberry and green bell pepper. With Sauvignon Blanc you can, and do.

• Use the where to study map on the WSET website to see which courses are available near you.

Wines are high in acidity, medium-bodied, and almost always dry. Therefore, Sauvignon Blanc needs a cool climate to preserve these qualities, though it can abide a moderate one. This is why you see some from the cooler New World regions, beside those from the brisk climates of northern France.

As one expects fresh, crisp wines with green fruit and herbaceous flavours, Sauvignon Blancs are near-exclusively unoaked. The notable exception is the Californian Fumé Blanc, a type synonymous with the Napa Valley. Though the grape can cope with the moderate climate, it is too warm for the grape to retain its herbaceous characteristics. Fumé Blanc was described by one WSET tutor as a “quirky” alternative to traditional Sauvignon Blanc, and is widely credited to Californian wine trail-blazer Robert Mondavi. Another quirk is that they can be unoaked, lightly oaked, or heavily oaked – an outlandish step. However, with some Fumé Blancs you can still taste hints of grape’s herbaceous heritage, breaking through the spicy oak flavours of vanilla, toast or liquorice.

France is the native homeland of Sauvignon Blanc and the Loire Valley, the epicentre for the typical wines produced in the country. The villages of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé – not to be confused with Pouilly-Fuissé – face each other across the banks of the Loire river and produce dry, medium-bodied white wines with high acidity, and moderate or pronounced aromas of green fruit and herbaceous notes – gooseberry, grass, blackcurrant leaf or even nettle. It might seem strange, but you really can smell and taste these aromas and flavours, even though, to me, the idea of tasting nettle seems simultaneously ridiculous and painful. I encountered many of these traits on a Domaine Girault Sancerre, Le Chene du Roy, during a lesson tasting. As mentioned, I was no fan of Sauvignon Blanc before, but its nuances have converted me like a vinous Damascene moment.

Bordeaux is also a prime Sauvignon Blanc growing spot, though its white wines are often blended with Sémillon, with the latter dominating. The two grapes balance out each other’s characteristics to produce dry, medium/high acidity, medium- or full-bodied wines, occasionally with oaky flavours. Ironically, Bordeaux was where the grape originated, but – as befits western history of appropriation – the Loire region plundered it and made it its prodigy.

• Bordeaux dry white wines to try

Moving into the new world, New Zealand rivals France commercially with its Sauvignon Blancs. The cool climate of Marlborough in the South Island is widely regarded as a new classic region for punchy Sauvignon Blancs characterised by traditional pungent, intense flavours with additional tropical fruits such as kiwi and passion fruit. Further west, in Australia, you find clean and intensely fruity Sauvignon Blancs in Adelaide Hills.

I think Sauvignon Blanc shares a little of Chardonnay’s versatility because it produces excellent wines in all the popular global wine-growing spots. On South Africa’s Western Cape, the cooling influences of Constantia and Elgin, afford them a reputation for Bordeaux or New Zealand-esque Sauvignon Blancs. Those following the New Zealand format tend to be lighter in body and less intense or complex, while the Bordeaux-style wines have more intense, herbaceous characters.

Last but not least, Casablanca in Chile is an up-and-coming area for herbaceous, fruit-led Sauvignon Blancs. These wines are acutely aromatic and refreshingly fruity, with citrus, green apple and grassy notes.

As is the capricious nature of wine, I can now say I like a variety I previously disliked. Long may it continue.

Interested in studying for a WSET qualification like John? Learn more here.

John Elmes Biography – WSET, UK Based Journalist

Vineyard Activities – Factors that influence wine – WSET Level 2

Jane Anson picks her top five wines from a Cloudy Bay tasting of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir vintages going back to 1987 and 1998 respectively, organised as part of the winery's 30th anniversary.

I was lucky enough to attend the recent Cloudy Bay 30th anniversary tasting at London‘s Somerset House, held to mark three decades of the winery founded by David Hohnen and Kevin Judd, and now owned by luxury goods giant LVMH.

We tasted through the 2015, 2010, 1998, 1992 and 1987 Cloudy Bay vintages of Sauvignon Blanc and 2010, 2003, 2001 and 1988 vintages of Pinot Noir. The most recent two vintages were under screwcap.

Jane Anson’s top wines from the Cloudy Bay anniversary tasting:

Cloudy Bay, Sauvignon Blanc 2015

Stockist: Berry Bros & Rudd 6 bottles £96 (en primeur)

On pre-release, just bottled in August. Cloudy Bay has clearly taken note of criticisms that surfaced around five years ago that over-production was dulling the style of the wine. This is back to those star bright Sauvignon Blanc aromas, thrillingly tight, packed with flavor and poise.

The emphasis is on stone and tropical fruits (they pick relatively late, and peel back canopy shade on the fruit during the growing season to chase the pyrazine away). Fresh acidities suggest good ageing potential.

Cloudy Bay, Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Stockist: Richard Dawes Fine Wine 6 bottles £84 (in bond)

I love this leap back five years, it brings a softening of the freshly cut-grass aromatics, the mid palate is a little creamier and is showing attractive savoury herbs. A portion of the fruit (20%, 6-15 year old oak) has undergone a barrel ferment to round out the structure.

This was a ripe and powerful year, but there is still great freshness and acidity on show with this wine.

Cloudy Bay, Sauvignon Blanc 1998

Stockist: At auction / Contact winery

The colour has deepened, heading to amber and gold. Bottled under cork (the first year with screwcap was 2003), there is a greater impact of oxidation – partly also due to the warmest vintage on record.

This translates into pretty smoky hazelnut and dried mango flavours, with touches of honey. Real complexity on display, still lovely power and intensity. Salted butter on the aftertaste, this sits at a very pretty stage of evolution.

Cloudy Bay, Pinot Noir 2003

Stockist: Canterbury Wines (Australia) $28*

Around half of the crop was lost to frost in 2003. I love the savoury edge to the fruit here. It doesn’t have the same aromatic impact as the 2010 vintage, but shows potential to develop complexity with a little bottle ageing. Soft tannins, gentle persistency, sweet tobacco leaf on the finish. Bottled under screwcap.

Worth exploring the more recent vintages also. More recently, there is greater emphasis on florality and red fruits, and about 25% whole bunch vinification with less new oak.

*Stockist detail according to Wine-Searcher

Cloudy Bay, Te Wahi Pinot Noir 2010

Stockist: Vin & Table (US) $69.99 / Contact winery

Tasted at the dinner, not in the vertical, this was the best Pinot of the night for me; full of juicy blackberry fruits with precision and a sense of restraint. Described beautifully by Tim as ‘tasty, adult Pinot’, 2010 was the first vintage of this bottling, and is developing into a complex and beautiful wine.

Rising sales of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc in the US have made the country the most lucrative market for New Zealand wine, overtaking Australia.

Total exports of New Zealand wine rose 7% to reach NZ$1.42bn in the 12 months ending 30 June, fuelled by Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc sales to the US, according to the 2015 Annual Report of New Zealand Winegrowers.

US and UK demand rises

Exports to the US and the UK both posted strong increases, up 13% and 11% to NZ$372.2m and NZ$353.9m respectively – but shipments to Australia fell 5% to NZ$362.2m.

The changes mean that New Zealand’s three main markets now each account for about 25% of total exports.

Exports to the US have been driven by Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, alongside other styles such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and red blends from Hawke’s Bay, and are especially strong on the west coast.

Small 2015 harvest

However, the small 2015 harvest is likely to hit exports over the next year, New Zealand Winegrowers chair Steve Green warned.

‘Export volume growth will be constrained in the year ahead, and wineries will draw down on vintage 2014 inventory to meet demand,’ he said.

‘With the supply of 2015 wines tight, wineries will be seeking value growth, rather than volume growth, over 2015/16.’

New vineyards

Some 700 hectares of new vines are expected to come on stream in the next two years to try to meet future demand.

Bulk wine prices, which fell after 2014’s bumper crop, are already rising again, leading to likely price increases for cheaper wines over the coming months.

Sauvignon Blanc dominates

Sauvignon Blanc continues to dominate the export picture, accounting for 86.5% of international volumes, and bulk wine exports are rising fast – up 34% over the year, compared to a 2% increase for bottled wines.

Beyond New Zealand’s big three markets, both Canada and the Netherlands posted strong increases, up 20% and 24% respectively, while exports to China were up 9%.

However, shipments to Germany slumped, falling 31% in value terms to just NZ$10m.

Elegant, slightly reticent nose, but with a perfumed clarity of lanolin, pea pod, passion fruit and spice. The palate is similarly focused, with hints of blackcurrant leaf, flint, tropical fruit and a slightly savoury slant. It has great vitality, a chalky texture and enticing length (13%).

£10.49 Naked Wines

A trio of New World Sauvignon Blancs were in the running for this International Trophy, but it was Small and Small’s Marlborough example that won the day for its textbook expression of the grape.

The fruit is sourced from the south side of the Awatere River where, in the words of Bill and Claudia Small, ‘we can ignore the rulebook and make wine the way we like it – intense and complex, and tasting like it could come from nowhere else on earth’.

The Smalls met while studying at the University of Adelaide in South Australia in the mid-1990s, moving to Marlborough in 2004 to take up jobs with large wine companies. The opportunity to go it alone only came in 2010, thanks to the customerfunded business model of online retailer Naked Wines.

That switch coincided with the raising of a family, yielding a name for this wine in the process. The Smalls’ daughter Sylvia was just eight weeks old when the grapes for this wine’s first vintage were being picked.

Small and Small is still, aptly, far from a large-scale producer, operating mainly from the family’s spare bedroom, making wine in rented space at a local winery and using grapes grown to the couple’s specifications by growers with vineyards ‘in the bits of Marlborough we love’.

‘The grapes are very forgiving for a winemaker,’ the Smalls say. ‘They have so much natural flavour that all our efforts can be focused on giving the wine subtle complexity and drinkability.’

Husband-and-wife team Bill (winemaker) and Claudia (viticulturist) Small

Tasted against

Paul Cluver, Sauvignon Blanc, Elgin, South Africa 2014 • Undurraga, Sibaris Sauvignon Blanc Gran Reserva, Leyda Valley, San Antonio, Chile 2013.

The founder of New Zealand’s Yealands Wine Group insists it will be ‘business as usual’ after selling an 80% stake in the business to a local electricity company.

Peter Yealands said he had been looking for ‘investment options’ for the company since last December, before selling the stake for NZ$89m to Marlborough Lines Limited.

‘I am delighted to keep the company in local hands and to bring a partner into our business that shares our beliefs and growth aspirations,’ he added.

‘I will maintain my role and shareholding in the business and Jason Judkins (CEO) will also now have a shareholding, and essentially it will be business as usual.’

Marlborough Lines MD Ken Forrest said he had been impressed by Yealands’ achievements and growth plans, adding: ‘Opportunities to invest in the electricity industry are limited, and this led to us looking to other options.’

Yealands Wine Group is the country’s sixth biggest wine exporter, shipping more than 1m cases of wine a year to more than 80 countries.

Formed when Yealands Estate acquired Hawke’s Bay winery Crossroads and Marlborough brand The Crossings in 2011, the company owns more than 1,100 hectares of planted vineyards in Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay.

Yealands said the company was performing ‘well ahead of forecasts’, with strong demand from domestic and overseas markets.

He added: ‘Personally, I am really looking forward to getting out from behind my desk more often so that I can again develop more vineyards to assist the rapid growth of our business, in addition to getting more into market.’

[collecton]

The reduced 2015 crop in New Zealand has exacerbated the on-going squeeze of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc grapes, says Cloudy Bay Estate Director Ian Morden.

Cloudy Bay vines

‘The Wairau valley is changing and Marlborough is not infinite. So it’s more important than ever for us to secure good grapes because there are only certain places that are suited to our classic cool climate style such as Renwick, Fairhall, Brancott and Rapaura,’ he told Decanter.com in London.

Following on from last year’s bumper crop, Morden explained that the 2015 wine harvest will be more like 2012 in terms of volume. ‘In general, New Zealand is 20-30% down. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing because the quality is there. I think you’ll find more palate weight and slightly lower aromatics on our Sauvignon Blanc than in 2014. I do expect the quality to drive value in the premium sector.’

Cloudy Bay owns 50% of its Sauvignon grape supply having bought a number of vineyards in Marlborough over the last three decades. But now it is becoming tougher and more expensive to acquire suitable sites. ‘So we also rely on strong relationships with growers, added Morden. ‘Some growers have been with us since the very beginning.’

‘The squeeze on Sauvignon fruit has meant that prices have risen by 30% over the last five years,’ added Morden who joined Cloudy Bay in 2008. ‘Plus we also pay a premium for top quality low yield fruit to get good concentration and balance.

‘These are exciting times for Cloudy Bay and not just because we are celebrating our 30th anniversary this year. We continue to develop new markets and cross into a new generation of wine drinkers. The UK remains very important to us and Asia is developing well. But now the US is our biggest Sauvignon Blanc market.’

According to Morden, Sauvignon Blanc is still ‘the engine room at Cloudy Bay’. And he admits that Cloudy Bay’s Sauvignon Blanc production has increased over the same period. ‘Yes, we have grown but we don’t discuss volumes,’ he pointed out.

The focus on its core offering of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir also remains firmly in place under LVMH’s Chateaux & Estates supremo Jean-Guillaume Prats. As a result, varietals like Gewurtztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris have been discontinued.

Under winemaker Tim Heath, Cloudy Bay’s range of Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blancs continue to evolve towards a more elegant, food friendly style. ‘On the Sauvignons we’re looking for structure and aromatics. And on the Pinots, we want more primary fruit, freshness and less charry oak,’ added Morden. ‘For me, 2012 was our high water mark so far for Pinot Noir. And 2014 was probably our best ever for Sauvignon Blanc.’

Morden was talking to Decanter.com in the Cloudy Bay Garden at a damp and windswept RHS Chelsea Flower Show last night. The garden won a Gold Medal for landscape gardeners Harry and David Rich who are the youngest ever designers to win gold at Chelsea. Their design incorporated a mobile interpretation of the Cloudy Bay ‘Shack’, which Harry aptly described as ‘a Shack on a track.’

See also:

• Marlborough to be ‘fully planted in 5 to 10 years’, says NZ wine chief

Higher consumer demand for New Zealand wines has continued to put pressure on land space and some producers believe Marlborough will be fully planted in as little as five years.

Yealands Estate in Marlborough

Winemakers and grape growers are running out of space in Marlborough, famous for Sauvignon Blanc and which constitutes around three quarters of New Zealand’s wine production.

Vineyard prices in the region were last year rising at more than 10% year-on-year, according to estate agency Knight Frank.

Demand for vineyard space is being fuelled by rising exports of New Zealand wine, which hit NZ$1.3bn annually last year and could rise to $1.5bn in 2015 buoyed by a record 2014 harvest, according to trade body New Zealand Winegrowers (NZWG).

‘In five to 10 years, Marlborough will be fully planted,’ said Philip Gregan, chief executive of NZWG. ‘It’s something we are going to have to live with,’ he told Decanter.com at a tasting in London.

‘We think it will be sooner than that,’ said Simon Kelly, head of European sales for Yealands, which announced before Christmas that was seeking outside funding to buy more land.

‘There’s not a lot of suitable land left in Marlborough. People are planting on the borders [of the region], but they’re places where they risk getting frost problems.’

Marlborough had around 23,200 hectares of vineyard in 2013. Pernod Ricard’s chief winemaker for Brancott Estate, Patrick Materman, previously estimated the region could accommodate a maximum 26,000ha.

Marlborough is the not the only region set to get more vineyards, according to Gregan. He said there are set to be ‘significant’ plantings in Hawke’s Bay in the next few years.

Hawke’s Bay, which had 5,100ha planted in 2013, saw the second highest vineyard estate price rises in the world on the Knight Frank index, which tracked year-on-year prices up to June 2014. Prices were up by almost 18% on average.

Gregan said that the US on course to become New Zealand’s biggest export market in 2015, ahead of nearby Australia and the UK.

Related Content:

• Yealands seeks funds to buy more NZ vineyards
• Export demand sparks rush on Marlborough plantings, says Brancott winemaker

Written by Chris Mercer

Winemakers in New Zealand's Marlborough region still have a long way to go to understand the potential of the land beneath their feet, according to Ara winemaker Jeff Clarke.

Ara vineyards in Wairau Valley. Image Credit: Ara

Marlborough has come far in a short space of time, Clarke told decanter.com at the annual New Zealand wines tasting in London. Yet, while the learning curve has been steep, there are many unanswered questions.

‘One of the things we need to understand about Sauvignon Blanc is that most of our wines are made from vines planted less than 20 years ago,’ said Clarke, who took over at Ara three years ago following 17 years with Pernod Ricard-owned Brancott Estate – formerly Montana.

‘The oldest vines in Marlborough are hopeless,’ Clarke said, because the early clones were too prone to disease and were often not planted in the best places.

There is already a stronger focus on sub-regions within Marlborough, but taking care to age vines for longer could add new dimensions to the region’s classic Sauvignon Blanc style, he said.

Clarke’s interest is partially driven by commercial realities. ‘We’re five to 10 years away from being fully planted in Marlborough, and at that point we will have to try to add more value to existing vines,’ he said.

Late last year, the chief winemaker at Brancott Estate, Patrick Materman, told decanter.com that there was just over 23,000ha of land under vine in Marlborough and that this could expand to 26,000ha, at a stretch.

At Ara specifically, Clarke said he is harnessing the group’s strategy of releasing individual ‘select block’ wines – all from individual parcels on its vineyard in Wairau Valley – to work out how they might be mixed to create improved single varietal wines.

Wine from ‘select blocks’ going into Ara’s flagship Resolute range are being monitored in the cellar. ‘Ultimately, this might tell us that we’re wasting our time with one of these [blocks],’ Clarke said.

‘Or, if we want a Pinot to age for a length of time, we might have to change the cepage, or maybe one of the blocks has ended up over-oaked. Vice versa, we might see that some of the wines are maturing better or contributing more.’ It could take a decade to know for sure.

Several wineries in Marlborough are ‘trying to explore greater complexity and ageability’, Clarke added.

Commenting on the prospects for the 2014 vintage, Clarke said weather conditions have generally been good during the growing season, with warm temperatures and good moisture levels.

Harvesting may begin two weeks earlier than normal, but, barring significant change, ‘there should be some pretty smart wines’, he said.

Written by Chris Mercer

The Christchurch|South Island 'Best Of Wine Tourism' awards ceremony was held on December 7 during the Christchurch|South Island Food and Wine Festival. Local and regional officials in attendance were Mayor Lianne Dalziel of Christchurch, Mayor Kelwin Coe of Selwyn District, Deputy Mayor Marie Black of Hurunui and Councillor Malcolm Lyall of Selwyn.

The 2014 winners were:

Wine Tourism Services: Selwyn Food and Wine Trail

Selwyn Food and Wine Trail is a collection of artisan wine and food producers in Canterbury’s beautiful Selwyn district. Experiences range from unique and memorable wine tastings with growers, to sampling fresh regional produce and destination cafes and restaurants serving local food and fine wine. “Entering, and subsequently winning, the Wine Tourism Services category for the Best of Wine Tourism Awards has exposed us to a much larger market which has enabled us to highlight our unique offer and just how important wine tourism is to the Selwyn District” said Trail coordinator Amanda Mitchell.

selwynfoodandwinetrail.co.nz/

Architecture and Landscapes: Northburn Station

Northburn Station in Central Otago won the Best of Wine Tourism Award for Architecture and Landscapes, this year. General Manager Paul Tudgay said “Owners Jan and Tom Pinckney showed great vision in creating this building and landscape and to get recognition for that is great. We believe that wine tourism is still underdeveloped in New Zealand and that these awards are vital to raise standards and encourage innovation.” Northburn Station is only five minutes from Cromwell and surrounding wineries, 35 minutes to Wanaka, 40 minutes to Queenstown International Airport and 50 minutes to Queenstown.

northburn.co.nz

Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices and Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences: Brancott Estate Heritage Centre

Brancott Estate Heritage Centre is the home of Brancott Estate wines, the original Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, located at Brancott Vineyard, pioneers of Sauvignon Blanc plantings in Marlborough.

Brancott Estate Heritage Centre won the Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices Award for its guided wine experience ‘The Living Land’. This experience enables visitors to discover in one hour how Brancott Estate wines are created with the environment in mind as well as have the opportunity to view the rare and endangered New Zealand native falcon.

Brancott Estate Heritage Centre also won the Innovative Wine Tourism category for the 2014 Awards, in recognition of its ‘Mastery of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc’ programme. This wine experience, which includes a tutored wine tasting, presents the pioneering spirit and history behind the creation of a wine style which has since enchanted the world. The Brancott Estate Heritage Centre was designed and built using environmentally-friendly techniques, and includes a restaurant, specialising in fresh, seasonal produce, cellar door offering wine tastings and tours, and premium hosting facilities.

Kathy Hughes, Brancott Estate Heritage Centre Manager comments “Wine activities are an important part of what New Zealand has to offer international visitors and as a pioneer of wine tourism, we are thrilled with these latest awards that are a fantastic achievement by the Brancott Estate Heritage Centre team and testament to the quality customer experience offered to all visitors.”

In addition, Brancott Estate Heritage Centre received an international Best Of Wine Tourism award at a ceremony held in the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in St. Helena, California on November 7 during the annual general meeting of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network.

brancottestate.com

New Zealand’s representative on the GWC international judging panel was Joanna Fountain, a senior lecturer in Tourism Management at Lincoln University.

“Brancott Estate Heritage Centre provides an exceptional educational experience. The setting is awe inspiring and the welcome and service is highly professional and customer-focused. They are worthy winners and a great ambassador for wine tourism in the South Island.”

About the Great Wine Capitals Global Network

Founded in 1999, the Great Wine Capitals Global Network is an alliance of ten internationally renowned wine regions – Bordeaux, France; Cape Town|Cape Winelands, South Africa; Christchurch|South Island, New Zealand; Florence, Italy; Mainz|Rheinhessen, Germany; Mendoza, Argentina; Porto, Portugal; Bilbao|Rioja, Spain; San Francisco|Napa Valley, USA and Valparaiso|Casablanca Valley, Chile.

The Best Of Wine Tourism awards serve as an industry benchmark for excellence and recognize leading wineries and wine-tourism related businesses within each Great Wine Capital that have distinguished themselves in areas such as innovation, service and sustainable practices.

For more information visit greatwinecapitals.com.

Written by Decanter

New Zealand wineries' confidence in global demand has kick-started fresh vine plantings in Marlborough after a five-year lull, but space will increasingly be at a premium, the chief winemaker for Pernod Ricard's Brancott Estate has said.

Marlborough, which constitutes around 75% of New Zealand‘s wine production, saw its wine grape crush rise by a third in the much-touted 2013 vintage, to a record 251,680 tonnes, versus a historically small 2012 haul. Around 245,000 tonnes were harvested in 2011.

The higher grape haul has helped wineries to rebuild supplies as they seek to target new export markets, such as the US and Asia, as well as improve sales in more established countries, like the UK and Australia.

Marlborough grape prices have risen by around a third over the past year, to NZ$1,600 per tonne, and – despite the strong 2013 harvest – there is a push for new vineyards to meet expected demand.

‘In Marlborough, this is the first year since 2007 and 2008 that new vines have gone in the ground [excluding replantings]’ Brancott’s chief winemaker, Patrick Materman, told decanter.com.

‘There’s a few hundred hectares going in. At the moment, nurseries are unable to supply enough vines for all the demand.’

He thinks, though, that limited nursery supplies could be a good thing to ‘help spread out the plantings’ over several years and retain the region’s premium credentials. Wounds from a supply glut in New Zealand a few years ago have not fully healed.

At the same time, Materman is conscious that Marlborough is approaching the point at which the limitations of land space are appearing on the horizon.

There is currently just over 23,000ha of land under vine in the region, and Materman estimated that this could, at a stretch, expand to 26,000ha. But, if exports from the region continue to increase, and particularly if the US and Asia markets take off, then supplies ‘will be tight’ in future, he said.

One of Brancott’s current projects is Sauvignon Gris, and the Pernod Ricard-owned group plans to launch the varietal at GBP10.49-a-bottle in the UK early next year.

For this, capacity is no problem for the time being. ‘We have planted 100ha,’ Materman said. ‘We’ve done 15,000 cases this year, but we could do 80,000 or 90,000 eventually, no problem.’ Via Brancott, Pernod Ricard has around 90% of New Zealand’s planted Sauvignon Gris at present.

On the 2013 vintage in general, Materman said, ‘I think it’s the best vintage I’ve seen. Our plantings are now at a level of maturity and our understanding has matured as well’.

Last week, Pernod Ricard changed the name of its wine business, which also includes Jacob’s Creek and Campo Viejo, to Pernod Ricard Winemakers, from Premium Wine Brands.

In the past, some have questioned the French firm’s enthusiasm for its wine business. But, Materman, who has been with Brancott – formerly known as Montana – since 1990, said ‘there is a real commitment to make it work’.

Written by Chris Mercer

New Zealand wine producer Cloudy Bay is trying to prevent the 12-fold expansion of a nearby brewery on environmental grounds.

Cloudy Bay Vineyards’ estate director, Ian Morden, told decanter.com that Moa Brewery’s plans to expand in the area ‘will have a substantial impact on the surrounding environment’.

The LVMH-owned New Zealand winery is one of three parties still arguing against the craft brewery’s bid to up production from 1m litre to 12m litres of beer annually, despite the plan securing approval from Marlborough District Council planning commissioner John Maassen last month.

Morden said Cloudy Bay’s concerns are based on independent expert advice and ‘relate to noise, odour emissions, wastewater management, water usage, and traffic’.

The winery does not believe that conditions imposed by commissioner Maassen to protect the local environment are adequate, Morden added.

Cloudy Bay and other opponents plan to launch an appeal in New Zealand’s Environment Court.

Written by Chris Mercer

Chinese investors have acquired more than 300 hectares of vineyard land in Marlborough, according to local reports.

The purchase of the Otuwhero Estate vineyards (pictured), mostly planted to Sauvignon Blanc, comes after the investors, operating as O:Tu Investments, bought the rights to produce, market and sell Otuwhero’s O:Tu brand following the 2011 harvest.

According to a report in the Marlborough Express, investors Min Jia and Xiumei Lin acquired the business from insolvency practitioner Deloitte after Awatere Valley-based Otuwhero Estate Wines went into receivership in September 2010.

The latest deal, which closed on 7 April this year, includes the 256ha Main Block vineyard, of which 170ha is planted to Sauvignon Blanc.

In a separate transaction, O:Tu Investments also bought the as yet unplanted 79ha Donaldson Block, which was not in receivership.

Both deals have now been approved by New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office.

Otuwhero Estates has been managed by Deloitte partners Grant Jarrold and Shari Carter since it collapsed with debts of NZ$29.93m, although preferential creditors have since received settlements.

Jarrold told the Marlborough Express that the acquisition was ‘a good thing’ for the land and for local jobs.

Earlier this year, New Zealand’s government announced a new collaboration with New Zealand Winegrowers to increase the country’s wine exports to China, which were up 50% in the year to June 2012.

Written by Richard Woodard

Marisco Vineyards owner Brent Marris has bought the historic Leefield Station estate in Marlborough to feed growing international demand for the company's wines.

Marisco’s Brent Marris says Leefield is a ‘prime’ site

Marris, who founded New Zealand winery Wither Hills in 1994 before selling it to Lion Nathan, paid an undisclosed sum to acquire the 2,000-hectare Leefield Station property, which dates back to the 1840s.

In buying the estate, which was originally settled by Constantine Dillon, Marris and Marisco will now have potential vineyard land of some 2,265ha in the Waihopai Valley, which was already at the centre of its operations.

The company, which owns The Ned brand among other wines, will plant 100ha of vines over the next growing season at Leefield, but also intends to buy more vineyards to secure supply, with sales reported to be growing by the equivalent of 100ha a year.

‘This property is a prime viticultural site because of its position within a glacial valley filled with mineral-rich soil and beautiful rolling foothills,’ said Marris.

‘We intend to plant our vineyards next season, but will also retain the traditions of high-value sheep and beef production on the property.’

Marris added that the company was ‘deeply committed to celebrating the historical, social and cultural significance of Leefield Station’.

Written by Richard Woodard

Jean-Guillaume Prats, who has just announced his departure as managing director of Cos d'Estournel, will be taking up a new post with LVMH-owned Estates & Wines – makers of Cloudy Bay, Cape Mentelle and other prestigious wines.

From Cos to Cloudy Bay (above): Prats takes up new post at LVMH

Christophe Navarre of Moët Hennessy Wines & Spirits announced Prats’ appointment as CEO of Estates & Wines internally this week.

Effective from February 2013, Prats will be based in Paris, and will be a board member of the LVMH Comité Opérationnel. Since 2011, Prats has been chairman of the board of Domaines Reybier and Château Cos d’Estournel.

‘I made the choice to leave Cos d’Estournel after I have had the privilege of running the estate for 14 years,’ Prats told Decanter.com via email. ‘And [I] join the LVMH group with great enthusiasm.’

He will take over from Estates & Wines president and CEO Xavier Ybargüengoitia, who is due to retire at the end of May 2013; for the first four months they will work together to ensure a smooth transition.

Estates & Wines portfolio includes Cloudy Bay, Cape Mentelle, Terrazas de los Andes, Cheval des Andes, Newton Vineyard, Numanthia and Chandon.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux