Sauvignon Blanc

Section 94 is one of New Zealand great white wines, made from a small portion of vineyard land that was named Section 94 on the country's original lands and survey map. It's the brainchild of the highly experienced viticulturist-winemaking duo, Ivan Sutherland (one time Olympic medal winning rower) and James Healy, the grapes are 100% barrel fermented in new French oak followed by aging in oak. Complex, great and long lived maverick wine.

Layers of depth with nutty aromas and full bodied with dry flavours. Drinks well on release and can also age, as this example shows. It is 100% Sauvignon Blanc but is not labelled with the varietal as Sutherland and Healy want to highlight what's possible from the land first and foremost.

This lovely dry Sauvignon Blanc has delicious bright fruit flavours and a French-Kiwi connection as it is made in the Loire Valley, France, by a family that also owns a winery in Marlborough. 

Flavours here are remarkably aromatic on the nose with floral and fruit aromas of citrus, apple and gooseberry aromas with hints of passionfruit on the palate.

This is one of our staff favourites at Regional Wines; Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc which is dry, full of flavours of tropical fruit with notes of zingy citrus coupled with tropical fruit and a long finish. 

Whitehaven Wines began life in 1994 as a romantic business for a couple of corporate escapees, Sue and Greg White, who had given up life in the rat race of Auckland for another kind of life aboard their yacht. When sailing around the country, they took shelter in the Marlborough Sounds from Pacific storms and fell in love with the region. An easy thing to do when harbouring in the spectacularly pristine waters of the Sounds. They decided to settle there on terra firma once more and try their hands at wine production, hiring a winemaker and beginning a business which has now been around for 26 years. Greg has sadly passed away now, leaving a legacy as well as his wife and daughter, Sam, to run the winery. Their winemaker is Peter Jackson.

Succulent dry white modelled on the great dry whites of Bordeaux. This classic and beautifully balanced, bone dry blend contains 44 % Sauvignon Blanc, 36 % Semillon, 11 % Clairette Blanche and 9% Chenin Blanc from South Africa's Western Cape.

What the critics say...

"There is no doubt that Duncan Savage is one of the best white wine winemakers in South Africa. His track record speaks for itself. Taming Sauvignon Blanc and more so, Semillon, from cool climate sites in the Cape, has revealed the real potential of these varietals in a blend to a whole new generation of winemakers and consumers. The 2015 however, must be Duncan's most anticipated wine with the vintage lauded as possibly the best ever in SA for white wines. A Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon based blend incorporates small amounts of Clairette Blanche and Chenin Blanc this year. This slightly bigger blend perhaps explains the wines broader aromatic profile. There is still the dusty lemon and herb spice, yellow grapefruit and lime peel freshness, but also extra notes of white pear, white pepper, white crunchy peaches and green apple zest. Once again, the pithy minerality of crushed gravel underpins both the nose and palate and there's an almost German, Pfalz-like strawberries and vanilla ice cream exotism in play. The palate is bold, intense and concentrated with pithy gravelly notes balanced by massive fruit concentration and length. The vintage's sublime quality is indeed standing up to be counted! Duncan has perfectly captured the essence of 2015's greatness. But the wine remains classical, measured, restrained and fresh and finally unlocks its hallmark lemon and pineapple pastille fruit character on the long, intense finish. This is a truly grand expression, a wine that will demand its place in your cellar. Could this be Duncan's greatest white expression to date?" Drink now to 2028+ (96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Dog Point Vineyards has the largest amount of certified organic vineyard land in New Zealand, thanks to its visionary founders, Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, who grow grapes for themselves and sell to a number of other winemakers in this country. 

The Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc is one of Marlborough's best, thanks to high quality grapes, post ferment lees aging and the result is a dry, medium bodied white from one of the world's biggest Sauvignon regions. This is an iconic wine from an exceptionally dedicated winemaking team.

Lively new Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough with smoothness and interesting textural mouthfeel from a portion (1%) of barrel fermentation and 8% wild yeast ferment both adding complexity to the vibrant fruity appeal. 

Tropical aromas and creamy notes add complexity to this wine, which drinks beautifully now with fresh fish and can age for three to five years. 

Smith & Sheth is a relatively new wine brand, which is made by extremely experienced wine hands. Viticulturist and Master of Wine Steve Smith sourced grapes for this wine from low yielding old vines averaging 25 years in age from the rocky, bony soils around the Renwick township in Marlborough. These were blended with biodynamically grown grapes from the elevated slopes of Sam and Mandy Weaver's Churton Vineyard. The result is a concentrated, refreshing and super intense Sauvignon with drive and backbone, coupled with the refreshing tang provided by bright acidity, which makes every sip linger. 

Complex, dry, fleshy textured Sauvignon Blanc from Huia Wines in Marlborough; 50 to 60% of the grapes were fermented in older French oak with wild yeasts giving the wine a beautiful complex nose. Certified organic.

The delicate tropical fruit aromas (a proof of ripe Sauvignon grapes) and clean mineral and fruity palate testify to La C?te des Monts Damn?s' pedigree as an exceptional wine from one of the finest slopes in the Sancerre appellation. - Family Bourgeois.

If the words Fum? Blanc bring to mind a bygone era, try this beautiful modern dry wine, which is Malcolm Rees-Francis' take on the theme and has flavours of creamy, savoury notes, complementing a beautiful full bodied Sauvignon Blanc style. It's made from handpicked grapes fermented in barrel in order to coax complexity, texture and weight from Sauvignon Blanc.

All the grapes were grown on Rockburn Winery's Parkburn Vineyard and the grapes were fermented with wild yeasts in French oak. 

One of the Wairarapa's most deliciously succulent and bone dry whites with fabulous flinty flavours. This Sauvignon Blanc benefits from complexity gained from a little time in old oak on lees. It's made with grapes grown on Martinborough's majestic Te Muna Valley where Big Sky Wines is situated on the windswept plains on alluvial soils. 

Jeremy Corban and Katherine Jacobs founded Big Sky Wines in the Te Muna Valley, Martinborough, in 2005. They have since expanded their small vineyard, which is predominantly planted in Pinot Noir and also has a little Sauvignon Blanc, which they give extra textural complexity to with a little time in old oak on lees.

This Single Vineyard wine is made from grapes grown at Auntsfield Estate. The style is aimed towards texture, complexity and length, balancing the typical Marlborough fruit spectrum and aromatics with richness and mouth feel. The nose shows intense and pure aromas of fresh passionfruit, ripe melon and lime. The palate is powerful, tight and elegant. This wine displays intense ripe fruit flavours of passionfruit and white peach, with citrus notes of lime and mandarin pith.

One of New Zealand's best white wines and a must try for lovers of great wine. Flinty, complex, fresh, bone dry and a gorgeous expression of Sauvignon Blanc. It is made from the best end of Churton Estate's biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc vineyard. Ripe flavours and a full body are balanced by vibrant fresh acidity, which in turn is supported by creamy notes, savoury flavours and a lingering zesty finish.

This is one of Marlborough's best whites and one of New Zealand's greatest wines. It expresses the Weaver family's desire to express Marlborough in the glass across the gamut of classic French grape varieties. All Churton wines are certified organic with Bio-Gro New Zealand and are also made from biodynamically farmed grapes. 

Churton founder and winemaker Sam Weaver cut his teeth on the classic wines of the world while working in fine wine retail in the United Kingdom. His background is in microbiology and he was raised on a farm, so when he and his wife Mandy founded Churton Estate, it combined all of his passions. The couple and their adult sons, have created one of this country's most high quality small wineries, which lives up to the dream of creating 100% estate grown grapes, 100% certified organic production and 100% bottled on site, nearly all of the wines without fining or filtration. All grapes are hand picked and natural yeasts ferment the majority of Churton wines. These incremental qualitative decisions impact at every step of their winemaking provides exceptional quality grapes which in turn express themselves in outstanding wines.