New Kiwi wine alliance will shun Sauvignon Blanc

Destiny Bay

(Image credit: Destiny Bay)

A group of five fine wine producers in New Zealand have formed a new association to ‘set themselves apart’ from the Sauvignon Blanc market.

The Specialist Winegrowers of New Zealand is made up of ultra-premium wineries which specialise in a single variety or style.

Member wineries include Vinoptima from Gisborne which focuses on Gewurztraminer, Syrah specialist The Hay Paddock and Waiheke Island’s Bordeaux blend specialist, Destiny Bay, whose wine retails at $275 in the US.

Mike Spratt of Destiny Bay told decanter.com: ‘All of our wines are expensive to make so they are aimed at the fine wine market not the commodity end so that is quite different to the rest of New Zealand.’

However the Kiwis’ flagship varietal, Sauvignon Blanc, is excluded from the portfolio with the group claiming there were few producers who specialised solely in the variety.

Chris Canning of Syrah specialist The Hay Paddock added ‘Sauvignon Blanc is such a cut-throat market.’

‘There was a little prejudice toward the variety. We want to decouple ourselves from the New Zealand wine brand image that is slanted toward Sauvignon Blanc.’

A domestic launch is planned for March with an event in both the US, UK and Hong Kong to follow.

New video: How to Analyse Colour, with Steven Spurrier

Written by Rebecca Gibb

Explore More

Rebecca Gibb MW is a wine journalist and editor who has also founded Bamboozled games, ‘the world’s first wine and spirit puzzle makers’. Having spent six years living in New Zealand, she has recently returned to her native north-east England. While in New Zealand, she became a Master of Wine, graduating top of her class and winning the Madame Bollinger medal for excellence in tasting. A former winner of both the UK’s young wine writer of the year and the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer, her first book The Wines of New Zealand was published in 2018. She also runs wine events and has her own consultancy business The Drinks Project. She was a judge at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA).