Sacred Hill Orange Label Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015

11 January 2016By Yvonne

Sacred Hill Orange Label Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $19 ★★★★½ You can buy this wine pretty much everywhere, which is a good thing if you’ve a hankering for pungent, classic cut grass, lemony, limey notes, a twang of snappy acidity and a mid-palate rich in lemongrass, passionfruit, peach, pepper and a burst of basil.  It’s … Read More

Richmond Plains Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2015

11 January 2016By Yvonne

Richmond Plains Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $21 ★★★★ Fact: Richmond Plains produced New Zealand’s first sauvignon blanc from fully-certified organic and biodynamic grapes years ago, and they’re still doing excellent work.  Floral and forward, it’s stacked with peach and passionfruit, tangy citrus and even a squeak of feijoa makes it in there.  It’s a sauvignon … Read More

Waipara Hills Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015

11 January 2016By Yvonne

Waipara Hills Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $20.90 ★★★★★ This is a massive, tropical, truckload of tastiness powered by sweet lemon and passionfruit sorbet.  It has all that crispy, crunchy acidity that we know and love in Marlborough sauvignon, yet it’s incredibly rich and complex and has strong, textural length of flavour.  Simon McGeorge heads the … Read More

Tohu Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015

11 January 2016By Yvonne

Tohu Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $20 ★★★½ This is a highly fruity and tropically-scented sauvignon that’s packed with passionfruit, peach and lovely lemony goodness on the palate as well.  At just 10% alcohol it’s definitely one of the more generously proportioned low-alcohol styles I’ve tried and it has good length of flavour too.  Widely available … Read More

Marisco Pride and Glory Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011

5 January 2016By Yvonne

Marisco Pride and Glory Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011 $65 ★★★★★ Yes, you saw it correctly, a four year old sauvignon blanc that’s a new release!  For Brent Marris and his team this has been a special project to produce a sassily complex sauvignon sourced from the Waihopai Valley that oozes white peach, lemon verbena, creamy … Read More

Tiki Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015

5 January 2016By Yvonne

Tiki Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $15-$19 ★★★★½  This is a cracker of a new release sauvignon that bursts with tangy lemon, lime and passionfruit all bound up in crushed basil and lemon verbena.  It has a core of intense tropical fruit cloaked in vibrant, gum-tingling acidity followed by a finely textured finish.  Darn lovely.  www.blackmarket.co.nz … Read More

Brightwater Vineyards Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2015

22 December 2015By Yvonne

Brightwater Vineyards Nelson Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $20 ★★★½ Gary and Valley Neale know a thing or three about growing tasty, aromatic white wines in sunny Nelson.  This sauvignon is saturated with ripe limes, passionfruit, peach and tangy red capsicum flavours and a (classic for Nelson) round, fleshy, ultra-easy mouthfeel.  It’s ultra-friendly, approachable and darn easy … Read More

VNO ‘Skinny’ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015

27 November 2015By Yvonne

VNO ‘Skinny’ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $16.99 ★★★ “Light” or “skinny” wines are here to stay, the category is growing and they’re improving all the time – completely putting me in my place because I was one of the early cynics who thought they’d be just a fad.  With a limey, lemony lift combined with … Read More

Mud House Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015

24 November 2015By Yvonne

Mud House Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $14.99 ★★★★ Named after the mud-block house that original owners John and Jennifer Joslin built on their Marlborough vineyard, this wine has, over the passing decades and through multiple ownership changes, gone on to do great things.  Now firmly in the hands of a winemaking team headed by Ben … Read More

Cloudy Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015

20 October 2015By Yvonne

Cloudy Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2015 $35 ★★★★ If you close your eyes and someone pours this into a glass there’s no way you could mistake the “Marlboroughness” of it.  Soft grassy goodness, sweet basil, red capsicum, sugar-snap pea and lemongrass saturate the nose and osmose through onto the palate.  This 2015 vintage is softer … Read More