Anne Krebiehl MW, Freddy Bulmer and Roger Jones tasted 163 wines, with 6 Outstanding and 57 Highly recommended
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc: Panel tasting scores
163 wines tasted
Exceptional 0
Outstanding 6
Highly recommended 57
Recommended 90
Commended 10
Entry criteria: UK retailers and agents were invited to submit their latest release, still, dry Sauvignon Blanc wines from any region in New Zealand
Over two days, three of us tasted 163 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs that presented a brilliant overview of what’s on the market right now.
Most wines, four-fifths in fact, hailed from Marlborough and most, just under two-thirds, from the 2025 vintage.
Two things stood out.
First: while Marlborough still rules the Sauvignon Blanc roost and provided all the top-scoring wines, other regions offer worthwhile alternatives. Second: the 2025 vintage is weaker than 2024 but still holds plenty of treasure.
Sauvignon Blancs submitted from Central Otago where temperatures differ between day and night scored really well, while wines from warmer Hawke’s Bay were weakest, showing that the latter is a better hunting ground for other varieties.
2025s are good to go
As regards the vintages, 2025 with its higher yields and tricky growing season, featuring a cool January, i.e. midsummer in the southern hemisphere, meant we could really tell the wheat from the chaff.
Vines needed careful handling and management to ensure full ripening and thus aromatic development of the crop load.
Roger Jones put it succinctly when he noted that ‘wines that had some love and care, with time on lees, or with some careful oak age, but not necessarily always with oak’, did best.
This means that you should enjoy the 2025 wines while they are young and alive with primary fruit and flavours.
Those who adore varietal Sauvignon Blanc aromas in the greener spectrum will be in for a treat, especially with wines from the Awatere Valley sub-region, which is vibrant in 2025 with pea shoot, lime and green asparagus.
Freddy Bulmer noted another clear and positive development, particularly pertinent for 2025.
He found the wines well-integrated ‘with relatively few that seemed to compensate for underripe fruit by adding sweetness, which has been a particular issue at the entry level in the past’.
See all notes and scores from the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc tasting
The judges
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc panel tasting results:
Wines were tasted blind
New Zealand’s aromatic whites: Tailor-made for summer
My other passion: Freediving with Haysley MacDonald of te Pā Wines
