New Zealand: Articles on New Zealand Wine & Wine Regions

If you mention New Zealand wine in conversation, most people will assume you mean sauvignon blanc, and with good reason.  New Zealand sauvignon blancs are considered to be the world's best by many wine experts.  And, if you are looking for the best of New Zealand's sauvignon blancs, you will inevitably end up in Marlborough.

Hawke's Bay, the oldest wine region in New Zealand, is known for its top-quality red wines and chardonnays.  In fact, 30 percent of all chardonnay grapes grown in New Zealand are planted in the Hawke's Bay wine region.

IntoWine.com asked a panel of wine experts for their recommendation for the best New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc:

Sauvignon Blanc has a split personality right now. I say this because there are those who believe that New Zealand has found the best, true expression of Sauvignon Blanc the world has ever known. Because of this, Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand has been all the rage in recent years. Interest and demand for a product, unfortunately, does not always translate into quality. Many New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc producers have simply begun to let quality slide in order to make a few more bottles of wine and cash in on the image of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. In my opinion, there are still some really good producers making consistent high-quality products, you simply have to find them. My support falls behind the Saint Clair Pioneer Block 3 '43' Degrees Sauvignon Blanc. This is a focused, very direct, herbaceous, linear expression of Sauvignon Blanc – the sort of thing you want and expect and respect, when you get it. This single vineyard wine claims to have a unique planting scheme which delivers pungent, high-acid, gooseberry, pine resin aromas and flavors. At about $20, this wine is a bargain for any purist in search of the lost art of Sauvignon Blanc. – Ben Spencer is a diploma student with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and an IntoWine Featured Writer.