The elephant in the room as I tasted these wines was the likelihood of the United States imposing tariffs on all our agricultural products. It is a nervous time for our wine exporters as the US is our biggest market for wine and was in fact our only export market to see growth last year. Some wineries will aim to shave back that cost increase to mitigate the final price on US shelves. Others will have little choice but to see that price increase passed on, hopeful the insatiable demand for our sauvignon blanc outweighs the price increase. Time will tell. 2024 Astrolabe Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc Price RRP $31 Rating Excellent to outstanding Bright, fresh, floral, a touch of passionfruit, ripe gooseberry, leafy herbs, wisps of pea pod, very classic. Wonderfully zesty palate, great concentration and depth, really tangy, fresh, structure here, almost a little stony aspect that adds a tingly quality. Firm in a good way with great length. With air the wine continues to be powerful and full of interest. www.astrolabewines.co.nz 2021 Pegasus Bay Minuetto Sauvignon Semillon Price RRP $40 Rating Outstanding Powerful nose, fascinating expression, gunflint, citrus, smoke, oak influences, sweet pea, herbs, almost honeyed, wonderful complexity. Simply brimming over with flavour, matched with a creamy texture, lovely mouthfeel and great length. Beautiful balance, integration, with a line of acidity keeping this fresh. Far from your typical sauvignon blanc. www.pegasusbay.com 2024 Main Divide Sauvignon Blanc Price RRP $21.99 Rating Very good to excellent Attractive nose that is just what you’d expect for the variety. The palate steps it up with another layer of flavour; the gooseberry you might expect to see meets red capsicum and then orange zest. Fresh, crisp, nice generosity of flavour, and with good carry. Superfluous to say too much here as it’s just so easy to sit back with a glass of this. www.maindivide.com 2024 Astrolabe Kēkerengū Coast Sauvignon Blanc Price RRP $38 Rating Very good to excellent Pea pod and asparagus nuances, an impression of sweet fruits, spice, a sense of development perhaps? The palate is rounder and more mellow in texture, light to medium-bodied in flavour intensity, some spice and herbal notes rejoining the fray on the close. A game of two halves for me — I love the nose, but the palate was having one of those grumpy days, a bit less giving. www.astrolabewines.co.nz 2024 Rapaura Springs Bull Paddock Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Price RRP $29.99 Rating Excellent Begins with a stony/ earthy quality, parting as gooseberry, then herbs come through. Perfume, dry honey, tomato leaf, even more fragrant with air. The palate melds classic sauvignon notes with fruit pastille and sweet licorice, richly textured, full of flavour, deceptive power, refreshing yet not strident acidity. A wine to make you think, holds your attention. www.rapaurasprings.co.nz 2022 Jules Taylor OTQ Sauvignon Blanc Price RRP $35 Rating Excellent If you’re on the hunt for a "typical" sauvignon blanc, look elsewhere. Bready aspects, creamy butterscotch, a lightly herbal backdrop. Clotted cream and butterscotch lead, backed by chopped herbs, gooseberry and spice, quite supple, rounded, palate richness on a medium-intense frame. That creamy lactic note re-emerges on the close. Hits the food friendly button. www.julestaylor.com 2024 Thirteen Forty Five Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Price RRP $19.99 Air New Zealand Airpoints Rating Very good to excellent Treads the typical path of gooseberry, herb, wisps of feijoaperhaps. Nicely engaging. Thepalate is almost tingly, very bright andcrisp, the gooseberry and cut grass notes joined by flecks of citrus zest. Youthful, fresh, you can’t go wrong with this. Very easy drinking. www.airpointsstore.co.nz 2024 Riverby Estate Single Vineyard Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Price RRP $22 Rating Excellent Clearly youthful, initially perfumed with hints of fruit pastille, before the core of cut grass and herbal qualities comes through. Ripe fruits, hinting exotic. There’s a lightness of being, certainly lovely flavour depth without any sense of heaviness. Cooling, refreshing with a touch of grip adding to the texture. Flavours more intense now, long carry, quite lovely. www.riverbyestate.com
