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Marlborough Country without the lung disease
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These days, if you are into political correctness and happen to be a Marlborough Man, you better have a kiwi accent. Not that calling a New Zealander a ‘kiwi’—the avian equivalent of a sewer rat—is particularly PC.Marlborough is convoluted region of New Zealand’s South Island, and it doesn’t offer much to the nine or ten people on the planet who still smoke, but for cognoscenti of quality .jpg)
sauvignon blanc, it may well outrank King Bordeaux and Queen Loire. Marlborough is home to more than 60% of New Zealand’s entire wine output and claims bragging rights to having introduced the rest of the world to the glories a whole new Valhalla for complex, exciting, concentrated wines.
sauvignon blanc, it may well outrank King Bordeaux and Queen Loire. Marlborough is home to more than 60% of New Zealand’s entire wine output and claims bragging rights to having introduced the rest of the world to the glories a whole new Valhalla for complex, exciting, concentrated wines.Especially sauvignon blanc.
This grape, whose name means ‘savage white,’ has origins in southwestern France, not far from the Spanish .jpg)
border. It’s a fairly forgiving varietal no matter where it is grown, but prospers best in a maritime climate. It loves sun but not much heat, and requires a long growing season with cool nights to sprout its astral, un-kiwi-like wings; cool nights are key to preserving malic acid, which adds counterpoint and complexity to fruit sugars. Herbaceous notes, which may remain masked when the grape is grown in depleted vineyards, bubble to surface in young, nitrogen-rich soils.
border. It’s a fairly forgiving varietal no matter where it is grown, but prospers best in a maritime climate. It loves sun but not much heat, and requires a long growing season with cool nights to sprout its astral, un-kiwi-like wings; cool nights are key to preserving malic acid, which adds counterpoint and complexity to fruit sugars. Herbaceous notes, which may remain masked when the grape is grown in depleted vineyards, bubble to surface in young, nitrogen-rich soils.Marlborough has all the above; thus, the decision to concentrate on sauvignon blanc (and to a lesser extent, like-minded pinot noir and chardonnay), according to Marlborough-born rocket scientist 
William Pickering “isn’t rocket science.”
William Pickering “isn’t rocket science.”Still, when any wine reaches beyond basic quality quotients and tiptoes into the realm of the sublime, there are nuances of flavor, weight and evolution that nearly—but not quite—defy description. In the case of Marlborough sauvignon blanc—nearly always identifiable in blind tastings—it’s a combination of electrifying citrus (inevitably grapefruit and often nectarine), and a subtle but unmistakable flintiness.
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Thirty-five years ago, the reason that nobody spoke about Marlborough sauvignon blancs is that there weren’t any. First cultivated in 1975, the rapidity with which these vines have stolen center stage is astonishing; for the past few years, Marlborough sauvignon blanc has taken home the door prize at the International Wine for Oysters Competition. Now household names, wineries like Hunters Wines, Cloudy Bay Vineyards, Saint Clair Estate Winery and Grove Mill have come of age cutting edges, not corners—pioneering screw caps, for example, while exploiting centuries-old viticulture technique.The result? They’ve taken the yawn out of sauvignon.
Ranking and even surpassing traditional centers for sauvignon blanc like Bordeaux, Sancerre, Quincy and Pouilly-sur-Loire, the leadership role being usurped by Marlborough is (with apologies to Philip Morris) more than smoke and mirrors.
TASTING NOTES:
Hunters Wines Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2008, around $19: Grapes from Wairau Valley, minimal handling and anaerobic processing results in a crisp and minimal, oak-free handling results in a crisp, gooseberry laden mouthful with lots of pineapple and honeydew.
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Saint Clair Estate Winery Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, Marlborough, 2008, about $30: Big, dense and well-balanced, yet still nicely crisp with lemon, grapefruit and honeysuckle; a perfect wine for grilled veggies and shrimp.Grove Mill Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2008, about $16: Mango, nectarine and grapefruit wrapped in a brambly sports coat; perfumed with pungent guava and a nice dusty mineral bite..jpg)
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2007, about $40: Pretentious price, potent peach and passion fruit on the palate; a full-blown sauvignon with all the components in place. Mineral laden, herbaceous with fresh-cut grass and unmistakable kiwi—that, or the national bird/rodent wandered too close to the fermenting vat.
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