Crown jewels: Marlborough sub-regions steal the spotlight

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is pivoting to sub-regional storytelling to make sure it stays seated in the global white wine throne. But, asks Sarah Neish, are consumers ready for this extra layer of detail?

Some brand names have become so deeply embedded in the common consciousness that we rarely stop to revisit why they took on such significance in the first place. Take the George Foreman Grill, for example. How many of us remember the extraordinary boxer behind the toasted sandwich maker when we’re making our grilled cheese lunch? Long before Foreman went on to become the poster boy for kitchen appliances, he spent many years laying the groundwork for excellence.

It’s not dissimilar to another wildly popular brand, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, which last year accounted for a staggering 90% of New Zealand’s total Sauvignon Blanc sales of NZ$1.85 billion (£818.4 million), via 251.1m litres exported to more than 100 different countries – and that was considered to be a “challenging” year, by the way.

Retailer shelves and restaurant lists around the world are awash with expressions of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. But, with the product having become such an eponymous fixture, are consumers at risk of getting Marlborough blindness?

It’s a subject that the planning committee for the forthcoming New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2027 conference is taking seriously. Speaking to the drinks business, event chair Natalie Christensen (also chief winemaker for Yealands) revealed that a core part of the three-day celebration, which is scheduled to take place on 2-4 February 2027 in Blenheim, will be dedicated to exploring “the subregional narratives of singular sites” across Marlborough. “It’s a chance for us to build more depth and layers to the story,” Christensen said. “In the past, we’ve almost taken the success of our Sauvignon Blanc for granted, but this is about making sure we stay in the pole position we are in.”

According to Christensen, the event will shine a spotlight on how different Marlborough soil types and microclimates contribute to wines with significantly different flavour profiles.

Sub-regional seam

The sub-regional seam running through next year’s conference will build on steps already taken by Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW) to combat “the commodotisation” of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. In June 2023, AMW proudly unveiled the region’s first official wine map to highlight the fact that not all Marlborough wine “tastes the same”. “After nearly 50 years of Sauvignon Blanc production in Marlborough, the world is ready for this greater level of detail,” AMW chair John Buchanan said at the time. “Much like other great appellations of the world, value is driven by having a defined area – whether that be a sub-region, a micro-region, a single vineyard or even a certain parcel of a vineyard – as well as quality parameters.”

Marlborough, Buchanan stressed, has “a wealth of stylistic diversity” among its Sauvignons, depending on where they come from. “The map is a key tool in helping us to communicate that message, and celebrating it.”

Indeed, part of the wine snobbery often directed towards Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (more among trade professionals than consumers, if we’re being honest) comes as a result of the very “commoditisation” that Buchanan flagged. Yealands’ Christensen believes that encouraging wine lovers to unearth “hidden gems” from lesser explored subregions of Marlborough will breathe new life into the category.

Powerhouse brand

However, the path ahead may not be quite so straightforward. With Marlborough already a sub-region itself, do buyers believe consumers are ready to drill down even further? Calling Marlborough “a powerhouse of a brand”, Matt Fowkes, head buyer for UK retailer Majestic, says: “It’s already unique for a sub-region of a New World country to be so well-known and recognised – I can’t think of many others that have that same resonance and pulling power with customers – so at a global level I think the main awareness people have is of Marlborough as a whole. However, there are definitely a lot of knowledgeable customers, who either understand the different sub-regions already or are keen to understand them.”

Majestic has been flying the flag for what Fowkes calls “the distinct differences in flavour and texture across Marlborough” for a while and stocks a whopping 35 different Marlborough Sauvignon Banc wines. Among the Majestic portfolio are bottles from the coastal Awatere Valley sub-region, where “sea influences and a cooler, windier climate give flavours of green, citrus fruits, sometimes a bit of gooseberry or passion fruit in there as well”, Fowkes says. “As you travel further inland to places like the Wairau River and the Waihopai Valley, the flavour profile is more about stone fruit, sometimes a bit more herby, and wines are more textural.”

Fowkes says that, across Majestic’s Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs, he is seeing “the £10-plus price point perform really well, with sales in strong growth”.

Leading voice: Natalie Christensen, chief winemaker, Yealands

Scalability is key

At fellow UK retailer Marks & Spencer, the range is more modestly sized (six SKUs of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc), but Joseph Arthur, senior wine buyer, France, Australia & New Zealand, reveals that sales are also in growth. “Year to date our volumes of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc are up 4%, with a healthy average price of £9.82 per bottle,” he tells db.

Within M&S’ Marlborough range, there is a Wairau Valley blend (Tewara), an Awatere blend (Silver Frond) and a single-vineyard Rarangi blend (Clocktower). “I find the Wairau blend to be riper, more tropical in profile with plenty of passion fruit character to accompany the classic gooseberry Marlborough notes. Awatere is always greener for me, whether that be capsicum, asparagus or grassy notes. These are really gastronomic wines,” says Arthur.

However, it’s Rarangi, a village to the north-east of the Wairau Valley, that has the potential to seriously enchant customers. “The Rarangi site is right on the beach under the mountains on the north side of the Wairau river, with unique soils characterised by a pea-gravel topsoil,” Arthur explains. ”Rarangi has a much longer growing season compared to the rest of Marlborough, which gives the wines greater complexity and a wonderful minerality.”

For Marks & Spencer, which has more than 1,000 bricks-and-mortar stores across the UK, success is not only about consumer demand, but also scalability. If people can’t get enough of the wine, but a sub-region is unable to supply the volumes, then that sub-region is likely to remain estoteric at best.

“Outside of the Loire and Burgundy, no white wine appellations come close to the numbers of our Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc at scale,” Arthur says. “While the likes of Spanish Albariño and Margaret River Semillon/Sauvignon blends are proving popular at higher price points, they do not have the scalability of Marlborough or its sub-regions. For example, we are selling more volume of our Single Vineyard Rarangi Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc than we are our Rías Baixas Albariño – this is just as much about scalability as it is consumer demand.”

Photo credit: NZW. Inc. Marlborough’s vineyards have a variety of soils and orientations

Where to start

So where should wine operators start in terms of communicating the differences between Marlborough sub-regions?

According to Marcus Pickens, general manager, Wine Marlborough, there are 169 registered wine companies in Marlborough as a whole. He says that “by far the majority are based in the Wairau Valley” and estimates that “a few (maybe three) are in Awatere and 10-15 in the Southern Valleys”. However, this does not necessarily account for growers who independently sell their sub-regional grapes on to producers across (and outside) Marlborough.

Isabel Estate, for instance, is based in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley, but as well as its core range of wines, it also produces single-vineyard grower wines under the labels Common Vine and Like Vine. These are crafted from “classy fruit” sourced from two lesser-known and “distinctly different” Marlborough sub-regions.

“Firstly, the upper Waihopai river terraces (in the Southern Valleys), which have a passion fruit and lime zest profile with a lovely gravelly minerality,” explains Jeremy McKenzie, chief winemaker at Isabel Estate. “And, secondly, a block in the windswept, ocean-influenced Blind River Awatere sub-region (Awatere Valley), which delivers kaffir lime, jalapeño, lemon grass and a saline palate.”

McKenzie, who is trialling different yeast strains and fermenting formats such as amphorae and French oak puncheons to “balance that classic Marlborough purity with sophisticated mineral-driven complexity”, adds that subregional wines are “starting to become more important as consumers embrace food and beverage origins, and the importance of these from a sustainable and holistic ethos”. People, he adds, “enjoy knowing where products come from”.

Label language: Smith & Sheth highlights Wairau rather than generic Marlborough

Cultural influence

That sense of provenance is amplified by a growing interest in historical and cultural influence. In Marlborough, the Wairau Bar on the shoreline of the Lower Wairau Valley sub-region, was “one of the earliest points of the arrival of indigenous Māori close to 800 years ago,” says Mikela Dennison-Burgess, marketing manager, te Pā Family Vineyards.

te Pā owner Haysley MacDonald traces his ancestry “right back to those early arrivals all those centuries ago”, adds Dennison-Burgess. “The land has been in his family for generations, so to be able to produce award-winning wāina [wine] from those lands is pretty unique.”

Dennison-Burgess explains that “in the Māori language, the Wairau Valley is known as ‘Kei puta te Wairau’, which roughly translates to ‘the place with the hole in the sky’ or ‘the hole in the cloud’. This relates to the fact that the mountain ranges on either side of the valley protect it from the elements, resulting in famously bright blue skies, low rainfall and sunny days. “That combination means that, today, our region is creating some of the most iconic wines in the world.”

Within Wairau Valley, there are three further sub-pockets (Upper Wairau, Central Wairau and Lower Wairau), each with their own idiosyncracies. Lower Wairau is known for having the most intense, pungent and ‘electric’ Sauvignon Blancs, often driven by vibrant grapefruit, passion fruit and green nettle notes, with a salty, mineral or chalky finish due to closer proximity to the sea.

Upper Wairau wines, on the other hand, tend to have a more restrained, elegant style due to cooler night-time temperatures, showing more herbal notes, white stone fruit and higher acidity. Central is generally seen as providing the ‘classic’ Marlborough style – ripe, tropical, with intense passion fruit, stone fruit and a rounded, lush texture.

Awatere Valley

Over in the Awatere Valley, one of the biggest players is Yealands, owner of the 800-hectare Seaview Vineyard. Perched on a clifftop directly above the ocean, Seaview is the largest privately-owned vineyard in New Zealand but, despite this, grapes have “really thick skins, small berries and low cropping”, says chief winemaker Natalie Christensen.

Marewa, the name of Tohu’s flagship Sauvignon Blanc, means ‘to rise up’ or ‘elevate’, which is both applicable to the producer’s high-altitude vineyard and also aspirational. “We’re looking to make a more elegant style of Sauvignon,” says Taylor.

Dry and exposed: Marlborough’s Awatere Valley

Indigenous yeasts

In the Southern Valleys, Greywacke takes the idea of subregional terroir even further through its commitment to using wild (indigenous) yeast in all its wines. According to the producer, this is not only to “incorporate savouriness and build on structure and intensity of mouthfeel”, but also to pinpoint a sense of place.

Founder Kevin Judd believes that microflora and indigenous yeasts are a key but less frequently mentioned part of terroir, and this idea is perhaps best reflected in his Greywacke Wild Sauvignon. Described as “an untamed, unique expression of the season and our Southern Valleys terroir”, it incorporates yeasts only found in the patchwork quilt of the sub-region’s soils, ranging from “young alluvial deposits full of greywacke river stones, to heavier clayloams closer to the mouth of the Southern Valleys”.

Future fine wines

Few are better-placed to assess site-specific potential in Marlborough than Steve Smith MW, founder of Craggy Range, former Villa Maria viticulturist and co-owner of both Pyramid Valley in North Canterbury and premium wine label Smith & Sheth.

“In Marlborough I have a bias to the original rocky soils around Renwick (Wairau Valley), where old vines show a very fine textural, serious tone of place and produce wines with not so much fruit abundance and more refinement,” the industry veteran tells db. “I love those styles and it could be where the future proper fine wines of Marlborough could be made.”

However, Smith remains frustrated at the low prices he believes New Zealand winemakers still attach to their wines. Referencing the famed single-vineyard Pouilly-Fumé from the Loire Valley, he says: “Will the Dagueneau please stand up as an example of a unique fine wine priced accordingly? The only thing stopping us in New Zealand is ambition… and that is sad.” In case you were wondering, prices for Dagueneau wines range from £80 to more than £300 per 75cl bottle, depending on the vintage.

Lindsay Parkinson, CEO of Rose Family Estate, which owns and operates 15 vineyards spanning around 500ha in the Wairau Valley, adds his 10 cents. “There will always be a place for entry-level wines that are readily available and reasonably priced – these are a great gateway to experience Marlborough,” he says. “But those who are looking for more insight and consistency will start to seek out trusted brands who highlight their unique sub-region the best.”

Ultimately, he adds: “Increasing the understanding of the styles of wines from different sub-regions enriches the story of Marlborough and shifts the conversations away from large-volume generic Sauvignon Blanc blends towards wine of provenance and connection.”

Will we eventually get to a place where the word ‘Marlborough’ disappears from wine labels altogether? It’s highly unlikely, but the font might become that little bit smaller on the bottles of those producers looking to emphasise site expression over volume. After all, as Steve Smith told 67 Pall Mall earlier this year: “If there is a demise in New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, then we’ve done a bloody terrible job. Because the one part of the wine world where there is excitement and interest right now is refreshing white wine… And the leading style in the world for refreshing whites is New Zealand Sauvignon.

“So if we’re stupid enough to let that go…”

Marlborough sub-regions to look out for on a wine label

Wairau Valley Old, gravelly riverbed soils, diverse aspects and differing amounts of rainfall create numerous meso-climates within this sub-region, which accounts for about 49% of Marlborough’s total plantings across all grape varieties, according to Wine Marlborough. The Wairau Valley is further subdivided into the Upper Wairau (various river deposit soils), Central Wairau (old, stony, shallow and fast-draining riverbed soils) and Lower Wairau (silt and loam soils with higher water retention). However, “all wines have the hallmark Wairau fruit intensity and fuller body”, according to New Zealand Winegrowers. Micro-regions in the Wairau Valley include Rarangi, Dillons Point, Rapaura, Renwick, Fairhall and Northbank.

Southern Valleys Soils in the Southern Valleys, which represent about 22% of Marlborough’s total plantings across all varieties, tend to be heavier and contain more clay than Wairau. The climate becomes cooler and drier the further south you venture into the valleys, and this cooler climate leads to a longer growing season, meaning harvest can be up to two weeks later than on the Wairau plains. The rolling Southern Valleys are known for producing Sauvignon Blancs with particularly good aromatics, often showing more complex notes such as earthy spice. Micro-regions within the Southern Valleys include Waihopai, Omaka, Brancott, Ben Morven and Taylor.

Awatere Valley Stretching inland from the sea, the Awatere Valley climbs towards the Kaikoura mountain ranges. Cooler, drier, windier and often with a degree of elevation, sites with typically lower yields produce dramatic, distinctive Sauvignon Blancs. The Awatere Valley accounts for about 28% of Marlborough’s total plantings across all varieties, and produces Sauvignon Blancs with higher acidity, more capsicum and cut grass aromatics, combined with herbaceous intensity. Awatere micro-regions include Coastal Awatere, Inland Awatere and Blind River.