Marlborough Wine

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2023 

James Suckling writes:  Lots of passion fruit, guava and grapefruit on the nose. Bright, tropical and balanced, with medium body and a juicy, fruity finish. Sustainable. Drink now. Screw cap.  - James Suckling 90

Tamlyn Currin writes:  For a wine that is presumably made in vast quantities and in the most technical way possibly, this is surprisingly good. Full of bodacious tropical fruit. Mangoes and oranges with a little bit of grapefruit and sweet fennel. The balance of fruit and acidity is great, and it certainly tastes and feels more full-bodied than 12.5%. It's generous, friendly and appealing. I really can't fault it!   - Jancis Robinson 16

MaryAnn Worobiec writes:  A vibrant version, showing a mix of pineapple, mango and passion fruit flavors that is direct and mouthwatering, with touches of ginger and green tea on the finish. Drink now.  - Wine Spectator

Erin Larkin writes:  The 2023 Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc is a behemoth in the export market, and it delivers a pretty archetypal “Marlborough Sauvy” experience—crunchy, herbal, green, tropical and juicy. All good things in this context. 12.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.  - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Roger Jones, Freddy Bulmer, Cat Lomax writes:  Delicate mineral notes with a mixture of passionfruit and meadow grass aromas. Citrus fruit, butterscotch, stone fruit, white peaches and nectarine.  - Decanter

Winemaker Description 

Expert Review - Vintage 2024

James Suckling 90 Points | A crunchy and easy sauvignon blanc that delivers green-melon and apple aromas and flavors. It’s medium-bodied, lightly sweet and crisp at the end. Nicely done.

Winemaker Description 

Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc is fresh and juicy with ripe, tropical flavors of passion fruit, melon, and stone fruit. Each sip of wine reveals classic Marlborough Bauvignon Blanc aromas of lifted citrus, tropical fruit, and crushed herbs, along with vibrant acidity and plenty of weight and length on the palate.

Pair with fresh oysters, asparagus, lobster, or a light salad.

Please allow 3-5 business days for this wine to ship.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2024 Wine Spectator MaryAnn Worobiec 93 Points | Offers a stunning, intense and energetic mix of ripe peach, Meyer lemon, Key lime and fresh Honeycrisp apple notes, with accents of litsea oil, toasted green tea and Himalayan sea salt on the finish. A touch of lemon balm lingers.

Winemaker Description 

In appearance, it’s a pale yellow, straw color. On the nose there are ripe Sauvignon Blanc aromatics with notes of white stone fruit, passion fruit pulp and kaffir lime. The palate is lively with deep concentration and a salinic acidity.

This wine will pair well with aperitifs, seafood and poultry. 

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2024

The Wine Spectator 93 Points | This whites vibrant, aromatic mix of lemon blossoms, ripe peach, kumquat and lime sherbet shows focus and intensity on a sleek and smooth body. Touches of candied ginger and green tea linger on the fresh finish. Drink now. 10,000 cases imported.

The Wine Advocate 93 Points | The 2024 Sauvignon Blanc was hand delivered to me in Fremantle by winemaker Richelle Tyney from Greywacke, all the way from Marlborough, New Zealand—roughly 5,200 kilometers between us. The wine leads with passion fruit and white pineapple, green apple, beeswax and brine. The wine is salty, fine and sedate—the characters are all in balance with each other. I love this wine from this small producer. It is intense and concentrated, shaped by savory phenolics and loaded with crunchy New Zealand acidity. This speaks of the place in a clear, unfettered voice, and it's brilliant for that. 13.5% alcohol.

Vinous 91 Points | The 2024 Sauvignon Blanc is open and richly fruited with mid-palate richness. It offers tropical flavors and elderflower notes with flecks of green pepper and jalapeño. Despite the ripeness of fruit, there's still plenty of acidity and an assured grip on the finish.

Winemaker Description 

Deliciously aromatic with scents of honeydew melon and orange blossom, delicately infused with herb garden botanicals. A bright, seasonal expression, with juicy lemon and steely cassis flavours and a generously textured palate garnished with a flourish of pastis and wildflowers. A wine with impressive structure and depth, this is Marlborough sauvignon blanc with the volume turned down a notch.

Harvested largely by machine during cool (often cold) night-time conditions, the fruit was picked earlier than normal at high sugar levels over a 3-week period, commencing 16 March. Transported directly to our winery in the Omaka Valley, fruit was lightly pressed to yield a modest volume of high-quality juice. The juice was cold-settled and racked prior to fermentation, which was primarily carried out in stainless steel tanks with cultured yeast. All individual vineyard batches were left on lees until late June, when the blend was assembled.

Winemaker Description 

The 2025 Frenzy Sauvignon Blanc has vibrant aromas of pink grapefruit, papaya, kiwi, and passionfruit complemented by subtle hints of lemongrass. The palate offers a soft, creamy entry with layers of tropical and citrus fruits, leading to a mouthwatering, crisp finish.

The 2025 vintage in Marlborough was a high-yield year with favorable weather, producing wines that are "textbook" New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc—aromatic and punchy.

Frenzy is produced from a carefully made blend of the best fruit from selected vineyards, which are all ideally suited to the Sauvignon Blanc varietal. Winemaking is completed at cool temperatures to ensure purity of fruit and the essence of the region’s terroir are expressed in the most genuine style.

Winemaker Description 

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is almost always what people have in mind when this classic grape gets lauded or derided. For the LWLs of the world (Ladies Who Lunch), this is the beverage of choice. Those who love it, LOVE it and the haters hate it for the same reasons. Anthony ‘Ant’ Moore’s Sauvignon Blanc is like an olive branch to both sides. Originally an Aussie, he moved to Marlborough on the South Island in the early 2000s and was hooked. He uses a French approach (old oak barrels and extended lees aging) to balance that searing acidity typical of NZ Sauvignon Blanc and curb some of the typical ‘greenness’. The result is a veritable fruit basket of tropical proportions. Kiwi, pineapple, spearmint, and crunchy apple. Pair with any sunny moment or crunchy salad.

Expert Reviews

Wine Spectator 92 Points | Vibrant, juicy and wonderfully intense, showing off fleshy notes of passion fruit, mango and citrus, with mouthwatering acidity and a touch of saline and lemongrass on the finish. Drink now.

Winemaker Description

A classically Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, balanced, crisp and lively. Distinct and punchy with layered aromas of guava, gooseberry and citrus peel, underpinned with delicate floral and herbaceous notes. A crisp and lively palate of tropical fruits, zesty lime citrus and minerality with an elegant and energetic finish.

Expert Review - Vintage 2024

The Wine. Enthusiast 86 Points by Christina Pickard | There's a big dollop of blackcurrant atop peach and passionfruit on this youthful Marlborough Savvy B. Straightforward yet refreshing, with fruity appeal. 

Expert Review - Vintage 2024

The Wine Spectator 93 Points | Lush and intense, with mouthwatering notes of Key lime, tangerine and lemon cream. Hints of matcha, freshly grated ginger and white pepper add complexity and aromatics through the intense finish, where the flavors gain torque, power and freshness. 

Each year, Wine Spectator editors survey the wines reviewed over the previous 12 months and select our Top 100 based on quality, value, availability and excitement.

This annual list honors successful wineries, regions and vintages around the world.

20 of 2025 - Top 100 Wines. The Wine Spectator

The Wine Advocate 93 Points | The 2024 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc leads with a gentle mix of cassis and vanilla pod, juniper, green apple and fresh linen, jasmine tea and petrichor. In the mouth, the acidity is bright, making for a crunchy, intensely flavorsome wine that has admirable restraint and finesse.

Winemaker Description 

History: George Elworthy trained as a winemaker at Lincoln University, and worked several vintages in Marlborough and overseas. When Jules Taylor started her own wine label in 2008, trained winemaker and hubby George Elworthy became general manager (or “general dogsbody”). Not wanting to let wife Jules have all the fun, George launched his own label in 2011. With his tongue firmly in his cheek, he called it “The Better Half” Style: Delicious, fruit-driven wines that are meant to be enjoyed right now. Not left to gather dust in your wine rack.

Winemaking: Wines are fermented using minimal intervention and modern winemaking techniques.

Vineyards: Grapes are sourced from a selection of grower and estate vineyards in sunny Marlborough, all of which are 100% certified by the Sustainable Winegrowers NZ Scheme.

2024 Vintage:

The 2024 Marlborough season was warm, dry and windy. Vine growth began late, and it quickly became obvious that the harvest would be much smaller than previous years.

With fewer berries on the vine, the warm temperatures through summer caused one
of the shortest ripening periods on record. Cool evenings helped retain acidity during ripening and balanced the concentrated, ripe fruit flavors.

Grapes were harvested from various Marlborough sites throughout March 2024, with a high proportion coming from the slower ripening, more aromatic Awatere subregion. The wine was fermented in stainless steel at cool temperatures and bottled under screwcap for maximum freshness.

Food Match:

Enjoy al fresco with fresh shellfish with a squeeze of lime, or any kind of salad. For
something more substantial, pair it with Thai- or Vietnamese-flavored dishes.

Winemaker’s Notes:

Color: Pale yellow.

Nose: Punchy citrus aromas of lime and grapefruit leap from the glass, along with notes of guava and fresh cut grass.

Palate: Dry, juicy and intensely flavored on the palate, with bright citrus notes and a pop of guava. The finish is long, carried by vibrant, refreshing acidity and a dash of salinity.

Expert Review - Vintage 2024 

The Wine Enthusiast 90 Points - Best Buy |  Appealing aromas of lime, white peach and kiwi fruit lead to a palate that’s shows lovely, delicate fruit woven neatly with bright acidity and padded by a softly pithy texture. It steersclear of the green, underripe pungency common to this style and is the better (half) for it.

Expert Reviews - Vintage 2023

The Wine Spectator 91 Points | "Juicy and intense, with concentration to the passionfruit, pineapple, Key lime and kumquat flavors at the core. Details of toasted green tea, lemon thyme and makrut lime leaf add aromatic intensity, with a touch of crunchy sea salt on the finish. Drink now. 8,259 cases made, 207 cases imported." 

Winemaker's Notes:

Te Koko 2023 is initially reticent on the nose, but with time in the glass opens to reveal notes of just-ripe mango, lemon verbena and juicy sun-warmed lemon. The palate is concentrated and mouthwateringly complex. The sun-warmed impression continues, with notes of meadow hay, preserved citrus, and white nectarine, with layers of salted almond and a gentle smoky minerality leading through to a long and focused finish.