Allan Scott Steytler Stellenbosch + Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2021 $16.99 
A first for me, tasting a New Zealand-South Africa collab sauvignon, and it’s really really interesting. Both the Scott family in Marlborough and the Steytler family in Stellenbosch machine-harvested a parcel of sauvignon blanc at night and processed the juice into wine. Both wineries then separated a portion from the tank for blending. Steytler shipped their wine to New Zealand in a flexitank container where it was trialled and blended with the Scott family’s wine to create a sauvignon aromatically layered with lemongrass, feijoa and fennel. On the palate it has huge herbaceousness, hints of jalapeno and a whisker of walnut on its crunchy-crisp finish. It’s less tropical and passionfruity as New Zealand’s classic sauvignon styles and leans more toward the green herb and mineral spectrum, so it may polarise but sometimes that’s a good thing. Allan Scott Wines
