Weekend wine guide: Not all Marlborough sauvignon blanc is created equal
Look for the letters AMW on the label of a Marlborough sauvignon blanc if you want to be sure a wine is made exclusively from grapes grown in that famous region. Under the “85% rule” in New Zealand’s regulations, a bottle that contains up to 15% wine from another region can still be labelled of Marlborough origin.
To protect the integrity and reputation of the wines, Appellation Marlborough Wine was launched in 2018. To qualify for the AMW mark, verifying 100% Marlborough, a wine has to meet defined production standards and pass an independent tasting assessment. Only a third of Marlborough’s 169 wine producers belong to AMW, producing rewarding wines, such as these.
Blank Canvas Holdaway Vineyard Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025
★★★★★
This single-vineyard wine flows from Dillons Point, in the lower Wairau Valley. Harvested from vines averaging 25 years old, it was tank-fermented and bottled by August. Pale lemon/green, it is mouthfilling and dry, with pure, well-ripened, passionfruit/lime flavours, showing exellent intensity and a crisp, finely textured, sustained finish. $32
Clos Henri Estate Wairau Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025
★★★★½
Clos Henri, near Renwick, is owned by a top producer of Sancerre, in France’s Loire Valley. Certified organic, this estate-grown wine has the weight and roundness typical of the central Wairau Valley, with generous ripe, tropical fruit flavours, a touch of complexity, fresh acidity and a dry finish. Best drinking mid-2026+. $25
Cloudy Bay New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2025
★★★★½
New Zealand’s most famous wine is sourced from company-owned and contract growers’ vineyards in the Rapaura, Fairhall, Renwick and Brancott districts of the Wairau Valley. The wine is mostly cool-fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged on its yeast lees; a small part of the blend is fermented in large oak vats. Light lemon/green, it is satisfyingly full-bodied, with deep, vibrant, tropical fruit flavours, gentle herbal notes, appetising acidity and a smooth, dry, lingering finish. $46
Greywacke Marlborough Wild Sauvignon 2023
★★★★★
This is a top example of sauvignon blanc from outside the region’s mainstream. Fermented with indigenous (“wild”) yeasts in mostly old French oak barriques, and barrel-matured, it is currently delicious, but ageworthy, too. Weighty and fleshy, it is sweet-fruited, with rich, ripe fruit flavours, showing excellent complexity, and a dry, well-rounded, lasting finish. $42
Wine of the week
Rohe Blind River Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025
★★★★½
This good-value wine from the Rapaura Springs stable was grown in Marlborough’s driest, coolest, most wind-swept sub-region, south of the Awatere Valley. It has strong tropical fruit and green capsicum flavours, with fractional sweetness skilfully balanced by lively acidity. Fresh, direct and punchy, it’s a vividly varietal wine with loads of drink-young appeal. $25
All wines are 13-13.5% alc/vol.
