Sauvignon Blanc Ratings Archives

It’s the wine on a restaurant list or shop shelf that is a sure bet at an affordable price. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is one of wine’s greatest success stories. Having shot to popularity in the last decades of the 20th century, it has since been enjoying the kind of success that makes other wine-producing nations watch with envy. Much of its crowd-appeal is due to the style’s consistency and instant recognizability. The pungent pop of lime, passionfruit, fresh bell pepper and grass aromas that precede a palate of zingy acidity, bright fruit and whisper of sweetness is, for many, a fridge staple. These aromatic wines are downright explosive to the senses. This especially true when compared to the more tempered, bone-dry French Sauvignon Blancs, like those from Sancerre, where the variety grows on the inland Loire Valley’s chalk, limestone-gravel and “silex” (flint) soils or from the gravel and quartz-laced soils of Pessac-Léognan, in Bordeaux, where it’s often blended with Semillon and other local varieties and aged in oak for a richer, creamier style. Unlike the aforementioned regions, Aotearoa-New Zealand “Savvy B” vines are never far from the ocean. Those cool sea breezes and big diurnal temperatures, combined with a wide variety of free-draining soils, contribute to bold aromatics that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world. A whopping 77% of all of the island nation’s wines are made from this variety—which is grown all across the country. In the northern Hawke’s Bay region, where the climate is warmer, Sauvignon Blanc tends towards the tropical end of the spectrum. Down on the southern end of the North Island, in Wairarapa, the aromatics veer more vegetal. Around Nelson, at the top of the South Island, the varietal strikes a balance between the two. But it’s Marlborough, located in the South Island’s northeast corner, that grows the lion’s share of Sauvignon Blanc with nearly 59,000 acres planted out of the nation’s 65,628 acres. The coastal region is protected by mountains in the north, south and west, making it low on rainfall and humidity and high on sunshine. Soils vary from alluvial with “greywacke” (large river stones), to clay and wind-blown loess. “The cool ocean surrounding our small islands provides a moderating influence on temperature,” says Jules Taylor, founder of the winery of the same name, who has decades of winemaking experience in Marlborough. “Combine this with our small land mass that never builds heat over the summer like the bigger continental locations, and you get a perfect situation that allows us to grow fruit that retains a vibrant acidity and highly aromatic flavor profile.” Recent years have ushered in an age of experimentation in Marlborough. The region’s quality-driven producers are using winemaking techniques like wild ferments, lees and skin contact as well as barrel aging, which add entirely new flavor and textural dimensions to Sauvignon Blanc. As these forward-thinking winemakers gain better understanding of their sites, they’ve sharpened Marlborough’s regional and subregional differences. This helps them champion and defend their unique patch of land from the increasing number of wines made by multinational companies who buy juice in bulk and bottle overseas to capitalize on the fame of the Marlborough name. By buying from small-batch grower-winemakers and those with the Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW) certification of authenticity logo on the back label, consumers can help support these smaller producers while ensuring they’re getting top quality bottles. Or you can follow this guide. Below we’re rounded up 11 of the most highly rated New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs from producers we know and love. Best Splurge Best Buy Best No Sulfites Added (NSA) Best Awatare Valley Best Central Otago Best Martinborough Best Marlborough Best Marlborough Organic More New Zealand Coverage Wine Enthusiast Writer-at-Large Christina Pickard takes us on an eco-friendly tour of the South Island. Get to know the country with this regional guide to NZ wine. Take a look at the best wineries (and more) on Waiheke, New Zealand's "Island of Wine." The country produces red wines, too—here are the best. North Canterbury is “The coolest little wine region in the country,” according to locals. Beset by surging demand, production shortages and supply chain woes, New Zealand's wine industry has been facing challenges over recent years. In the Shop Shatterproof Outdoor Wine Glasses Now in New Looks Shop Now