TASTING PANEL: SAUVIGNON BLANC

It’s not hard finding a swathe of gold-medal savs – New Zealand has the prime conditions for this grape.

This wine should be classed as a national treasure. No other country can replicate the intensity of flavours that our styles of sauvignon blanc possess, and our judges sipped solidly on the best of the best

What’s more summery here in New Zealand than a game of cricket on the beach? A game of cricket on the beach with cold sauvignon blanc in the chilly bin, that’s what. Just like our favourite summer sport, there’ll be 11 of the best and brightest on the field from the get-go. And so it is that our 3rd dish sauvignon blanc tasting panel features a first-ever First X1, and they’re all gold medal winners. This year marks 50 years since Ross Spence (of Matua Wines) first had a crack at planting sauvignon blanc in New Zealand, and 40 years since Montana produced the country’s first commercial Marlborough sauvignon blanc from its Brancott Valley vineyard. Back then, no one could have predicted sauvignon blanc would one day comprise more than 72 per cent of our nation’s total wine production and almost 90 per cent of our total wine exported. No other country makes it like we do; it’s our global calling card in the world of wine, and if we were looking for a liquid national treasure, it would be the gum-tingling, lipsmackingly crisp, grassy, herbaceous, passionfruit-laden beverage we know as Marlborough sauvignon blanc.

After a couple of less than awesome vintages, all it takes is for the stars to align and Marlborough will dominate in the gold medal stakes again. All but one of these wines (congratulations Nelson!) hailed from sauvignon blanc’s holy land, as did a huge proportion of our silver and bronze medal earners from the 112 entries.

“The 2018 vintage was clearly a game of two halves – before the rain and after,” offered Colin. “Those producers who exercised careful crop management and kept yields low enough to fully ripen before the rains created stylish wines, showing concentration, complexity and depth of flavour. Those harvesting later had to contend with dilution and disease. There were many 2018 wines that showed expert skill from talented winemaking teams to recover from the effects of these twin pressures.”

“New Zealand sauvignon blanc is a very competitive class to judge, there are just so many punters making a good drink out there!” reckons Ross. “For me a sauvignon blanc needs to be in balance; on the nose I’m looking for tropical, herbaceous and floral aromas, while on the palate, a clear acid profile with good length is very important. A lot of the wines judged this year had all these attributes, and the 2018 Golds had the X factor to boot!”

A CHEESY ROMANCE

Our judges were also very impressed to see several wines entered in the oak-influenced and ‘blended’ categories. In fact, five of our gold medal wines underwent full or partial fermentation in oak – a huge indicator of how our preferences for sauvignon are changing. We’re looking for interesting, groovy, complex sauvignons that linger long on the tastebuds, provide the perfect partner for all manner of meals and have the ability to age beautifully. New Zealand sauvignon blanc comes in many different styles; barrel-aged, wild yeasts, lees contact, skin-contact and blended styles, so there’s a sip out there to suit all palates.

Our judges agreed the classic food match for sauvignon blanc is goat’s cheese. “And it’s a classic for a reason,” says Colin. “In salads over summer the lifted acidity and crumbly, lightly creamy texture of goat’s cheese is a perfect foil for sauvignon blanc’s vibrancy.”

The other obvious summer option is seafood. Few things could be more delicious than your favourite white-fleshed fish, fresh-caught, simply pan-fried in butter, dressed with lemon juice and washed down with crisp NZ sauvignon blanc. “It’s bottled sunshine” laughs Colin.

So get your team together and celebrate our First XI!

“Five of our gold medal wines underwent full or partial fermentation in oak”