![]() Marlborough winemakers want to change that. “I think most people ask for it because it’s a no-brainer when people think about a dry white wine.”ĭespite-or perhaps because of-Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc’s mass appeal, wine professionals can sometimes be snobbish about the style, declaring it overly simple or homogenous. “I think most people, and let’s be honest, a lot of women, very much enjoy a cold, crisp Sauvignon Blanc,” says Zwann Grays, a longtime wine buyer, educator and consultant based in New York. It’s a head-turning style for many first-time wine drinkers, and a comforting one to long-time fans who appreciate its consistency and affordability. It’s known for viticulture and winemaking techniques that result in vibrant, bombastically aromatic Sauvignon Blanc with zingy acidity and distinctive flavors like grapefruit, lime, passionfruit, grass and green pepper. When it comes to product recognition, Marlborough excels. ![]() Pouring Blank Canvas wine into decanter / Image Courtesy of Blank Canvas “This situation has conjured up a dangerous tipping point where the dilution of the brand value of Marlborough is occurring because of the dilution of the product itself.” “Marlborough’s rapid success and market growth has occurred this past half century without any real controls in place, and certainly not the regulations the appellations and wines of Europe must comply with to protect the provenance, quality and value of their products,” says Matt Thomson, founder and winemaker of Blank Canvas Wines and one the map’s co-creators. The companies buy wines in bulk-sometimes from fruit grown outside of Marlborough and often farmed above the region’s cropping and disease thresholds-and bottle them overseas. To fill the gap, an increased number of rogue operators, keen to profit from the Marlborough name, have swooped in. ![]() They’ve hit small to medium-sized producers especially hard, as many have found themselves with a demand-over-supply issue. Low Yields, Phenomenal Quality: 11 Mouthwatering New Zealand Sauvignon Blancsīut weather events in recent vintages have resulted in reduced yields.
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