Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc Celebration to focus on ‘purity and place’

The second International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration, which will take place in Marlborough in January 2019, will focus on New Zealand’s place within the wine world.

The three-day celebration, which will run from 28-30 January 2019, will begin by exploring New Zealand’s place within the wine world on day one.

The second day of the event will shift its focus to exploring pertinent topics like climate change, sustainability and flavour, while the final day will ask what New Zealand needs to do in order to succeed both domestically and globally going forward.

“Speakers will challenge theories and perceptions on everything from winemaking secrets to future proofing and stylistic preferences of Sauvignon Blanc,” said Patrick Materman, chairman of the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration committee.

Over 400 guests are expected to attend the event, including local and international winemakers, international wine writers, wine and lifestyle influencers and key decision makers from the food and drink industry.

Six other key Sauvignon Blanc producing countries will be invited to host tastings of their own wines. Countries in the running to attend are: Australia, Austria, Chile, France, South Africa and the USA.

The event will also include a garden party featuring a traditional Maori powhiri welcome ceremony and a mountainside gala dinner featuring models wearing theatrical costumes designed by artists in the World of WearableArt collective.

The inaugural International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration in 2016 saw the hashtag #nzwine appear on 56 million social media feeds around the world.

New Zealand has a goal of reaching $2 billion worth of annual wine exports by 2020. 17% of the world’s Sauvignon Blanc originates from New Zealand despite New Zealand accounting for less than 1% of the world’s annual wine production.