Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand
Our tasters have something of a love-hate relationship with Kiwi Sauvignon. Clearly, it’s a big seller – and walks off the list without any help from the sommelier, making it prime margin-boosting territory. But our judges are rarely excited, and often underwhelmed by what they see here.
On the plus side, this year there was decent consistency and, in general, fewer of the uber-tropical notes that our teams really struggle with – some even detected increased grassiness and wild-yeast influence. On the downside, there was still a lot of fairly unexciting wine here – not all of it at helpfully low prices.
Interestingly, some of the trends we picked up a few years back – for lees-work or barrel-fermentation – didn’t seem to be here in any numbers in 2020. Is it a trend that’s dying, or do submitters not think it’s a style that the on-trade want to see?
There was some quality though. And Yealands, with a Gold and three Silvers, and Saint Clair – with a Gold in each of the past four SWAs – deserve special credit for their efforts.
From The Tasting Teams
‘Very well-made wines. Typical, but luckily without too much passion fruit, because sometimes that elderflowery, syrupy quality is too much.’ Chiara Sieni, MM Grocery
‘Disappointing. A lot of factory-made wine here with a lack of character.’ Guillaume Mahaut, ETM Group
‘The issue here is not price, it’s typicity. New Zealand Sauvignon needs more finesse. Certain producers are just trying to please guests, not make a true wine.’ Lionel Periner, team leader
‘Some were a bit pricey. Over £15 is too much for me. Around £10 is acceptable, and under is great.’Rémi Cousin, Le Gavroche
‘A disappointing flight – entry-level bulk quality for around £10. The wine is getting more and more popular, but the quality is not rising, it’s declining.’ Markus Dilger, Dilger Sommelier Selection
‘I want to see more personality.’ Riccardo Guzzardo, Hakkasan Mayfair
‘These wines were made to please people. You know what they do and they do it well, but they are not very exciting.’ Rémi Cousin, Le Gavroche
‘There was good elegance here, and some noticeable use of wild yeast, which gave it more depth. New Zealand Sauvignon still has its place.’ Michael Fiducia, Royal Automobile Club
‘We started to notice more herbal, grassy profiles. It was interesting to see how the styles are starting to fracture.’ Filippo Pastorini, consultant