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Panel tasting results: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc on show

New Zealand has arguably made Sauvignon Blanc its own, and within the country itself, a pleasing diversity can be found across the regions.

By Anne Krebiehl MW

Published 9 August 2026 In Tastings

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five bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc — (Image credit: Future)

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Anne Krebiehl MW, Freddy Bulmer and Roger Jones tasted 163 wines, with 6 Outstanding and 57 Highly recommended

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: Panel tasting scores

163 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 6

Highly recommended 57

Recommended 90

Commended 10

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Entry criteria: UK retailers and agents were invited to submit their latest release, still, dry Sauvignon Blanc wines from any region in New Zealand

Over two days, three of us tasted 163 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs that presented a brilliant overview of what’s on the market right now.

Most wines, four-fifths in fact, hailed from Marlborough and most, just under two-thirds, from the 2025 vintage.

Two things stood out.

First: while Marlborough still rules the Sauvignon Blanc roost and provided all the top-scoring wines, other regions offer worthwhile alternatives. Second: the 2025 vintage is weaker than 2024 but still holds plenty of treasure.

Sauvignon Blancs submitted from Central Otago where temperatures differ between day and night scored really well, while wines from warmer Hawke’s Bay were weakest, showing that the latter is a better hunting ground for other varieties.

2025s are good to go

Te Kano Estate vineyard in Central Otago

As regards the vintages, 2025 with its higher yields and tricky growing season, featuring a cool January, i.e. midsummer in the southern hemisphere, meant we could really tell the wheat from the chaff.

Vines needed careful handling and management to ensure full ripening and thus aromatic development of the crop load.

Roger Jones put it succinctly when he noted that ‘wines that had some love and care, with time on lees, or with some careful oak age, but not necessarily always with oak’, did best.

This means that you should enjoy the 2025 wines while they are young and alive with primary fruit and flavours.

Those who adore varietal Sauvignon Blanc aromas in the greener spectrum will be in for a treat, especially with wines from the Awatere Valley sub-region, which is vibrant in 2025 with pea shoot, lime and green asparagus.

Freddy Bulmer noted another clear and positive development, particularly pertinent for 2025.

He found the wines well-integrated ‘with relatively few that seemed to compensate for underripe fruit by adding sweetness, which has been a particular issue at the entry level in the past’.

See all notes and scores from the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc tasting

The judges

Anne Krebiehl MW

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Decanter Magazine, German Expert, Wine Writer and DWWA Judge

Anne Krebiehl MW is a freelance wine writer and lecturer. Her work has been published widely in both trade and consumer publications, including World of Fine Wine, Harpers Wine & Spirit and The Drinks Business.

Since 2013, she has reviewed wines from Alsace, Austria and England for the US Wine Enthusiast Magazine. She was a judge at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2014 and 2015.

In the UK, she gives lectures – particularly on German wine – consults for London restaurants and translates wine-related texts.

She completed her WSET Diploma in 2010 and was admitted to the Institute of Masters of Wine in September 2014; her dissertation explored the subject of ‘The Future of Premium German Pinot Noir’.

In addition, she is an accredited member of both the Circle of Wine Writers and the Association of Wine Educators

Freddy Bulmer

Freddy Bulmer is a buyer at The Wine Society, who he joined in 2013 after working for a couple of small independent wine merchants in North Yorkshire. Freddy became a buyer at the beginning of 2017 and is now responsible for the buying of The Wine Society’s Australian, New Zealand, Austrian and Eastern European wines

Roger Jones

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. He is a DWWA judge, with a focus on New World regions