Fans of the mass-produced, bungee jump into a gooseberry style of Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc might not appreciate the ambition or the layered complexity of this wooded, wild yeast-fermented style from the Dog Point team. But tough on them. It’s one of the most complex whites in New Zealand, with notes of gunflint, blackcurrant leaf and vanilla spice, lots of racy, mouth-watering acidity and a savoury finish. Deliberately released late by Jamey Healy and Ivan Sutherland’s in oder to challenge received notions about Sauvignon Blanc.
Country: New Zealand
2022 Blank Canvas Holdaway Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough
( £21.50, 13%, Noel Young )One of the most exciting Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs I’ve had in a long while, Matt Thomson and Sophie Parker-Thomson MW’s brilliant white is a nuanced, layered single vineyard expression from Dillons Point. It has lime, gooseberry and pink grapefruit flavours, subtle, stony reduction and sappy, mouth-watering acidity. Satisfyingly dry, focused and long on the palate.
Insider Talk
by Peter Pharos
“When art critics get together,” Picasso is meant to have said, “they talk about form and structure and meaning. When artists get together, they talk about where you can buy...
2019 Pegasus Bay Main Divide Riesling, Canterbury
( £10.99, 13%, Majestic )New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is what (almost) everyone seems to want to drink from the so-called Land of the Long White Cloud these days, but why not try this amazing Riesling from Matt Donaldson’s Pegasus Bay Winery in the South Island instead? Rich, textured, perfumed and slightly exotic, it’s a medium-dry style with flavours of honey, lime juice and nectarine, lots of racy acidity and wonderful structure and depth. Brilliant with spicy food.
Wine’s Next Big Thing
by Andy Neather
Not long after the Millennium, I lifted a glass of sparkling wine to toast the wedding of two good friends in London. They were both Italophiles and had somewhere managed...
A Bag Of Tricks
by Margaret Rand
You can always rely on Olivier Bernard for a good quote. Olivier is the chatelain of Domaine de Chevalier, on which you can always rely for a good wine, and...
2020 Craggy Range Te Muna Sauvignon Blanc, Martinborough
( £12.50-£16.99, 13.5%, Harvey Nichols, Specialist Cellars, The Wine Society, Vinum )Ahead of Sauvignon Blanc day tomorrow, I’ve been enjoying a few glasses of this Kiwi example from the brilliant Craggy Range. Most New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc comes from Marlborough, so this is something a little different, not least because a part of the wine was fermented in foudres and smaller oak barrels, but also because it comes from Martinborough, a region best known for its Pinot Noirs. Tangy, zesty and complex, with lime, passion fruit and nectarine flavours, racy acidity and a dry finish. The mid-palate is textured and slightly salty.
2018 Fincher & Co The Dividing Line, Marlborough
( £18.95, 13%, The Pop Up Deli )So much Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc tastes as if it’s come out of the same bottomless tank, that it’s a pleasure to come across something that restores your faith in the quality of New Zealand’s most popular wine style. Made by Master of Wine Liam Stevenson, this was picked early (by hand, not machine) and fermented with lots of solids in old French oak barrels. Dry, savoury and complex, it has appealing notes of gunflint and elderflower with subtle oak and a hint of passion fruit. Very smart.
2019 Kumeu River Village Hand Harvested Chardonnay, Kumeu
( £10.50, The Wine Society )If Michael Brajkovich MW were a Burgundian rather than a New Zealander, he would be among the most celebrated white winemakers in the Côte de Beaune, right up there with the likes of Dominique Lafon, Pierre-Vves Colin Morey and Jean-Marc Roulot. The good news for us is that we can buy his amazing Chardonnays at ludicrously cheap prices. This is only his entry-point wine, but is typically well balanced, refreshing and focused, with just a hint of oak spice, leesy complexity, some struck match undertones and a chiselled, refreshing finish. A Kiwi wine that’s better than many Puligny-Montrachets.
2013 Blank Canvas Grüner Veltliner, Rapaura, Marlborough
( £16.99, 13%, Bottle Apostle, Cambridge Wine Merchants )Grüner Veltliner is rare enough in New Zealand, but one with six years of bottle age is unique. But what a brilliant wine this is. Part of Matt Thomson and Sophie Parker-Thomson’s off-the-wall series of small volume Kiwi whites and reds, this wouldn’t look out of place in a line up of top Austrian examples of the grape. Partially barrel fermented in larger French oak barrels, it’s bright, focused and remarkably youthful, with notes of bay leaf and white pepper, crunchy minerality and pear and citrus fruit.
2017 Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay, Nelson
( £44.99, 13.5%, New Zealand House of Wine )Consistently among New Zealand’s best Chardonnays and a wine that ages extremely well under screwcap, this wild-yeast fermented white hails from the Home and Rosie’s Blocks at Neudorf’s vineyards in Upper Moutere. Fresh, elegant and savoury, it has deftly interwoven (12% new) French oak, flavours of citrus and cinnamon, impressive focus and a tangy, mineral-edged core. A very classy, well-judged white.
2015 Dog Point Vineyard Chardonnay, Marlborough
( £21, 13.5%, The Wine Society )Not as well known as the Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc releases, but every bit as good in my opinion, this is frequently among my favourite South Island Chardonnays. Toasty, savoury and enticing, it has citrus and beeswax notes supported by fresh, palate cleasning acidity and a nutty finish. Just starting to develop bottle-aged complexity.