International Sauvignon Blanc Day on 3 May is an opportunity to recognise the contribution of the Marlborough viticulture industry, and to reflect on another year of excellence for this iconic varietal wine.

Wine Marlborough General Manager Marcus Pickens describes why Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has earned its place on the world stage.

“Marlborough-produced Sauvignon Blanc made a massive impact from the very first taste all those decades ago. It sort of shocked and surprised everyone with its intensity of aromas and flavours,” Marcus says.

Wine industry professionals, vineyards owners, managers and workers are invited to the inaugural WinePro, the most extensive showcase of equipment and suppliers for the wine industry, taking place 25th - 27th June at Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000, Blenheim.

Set against the stunning backdrop of New Zealand's largest wine-producing region, this event promises to be a must attend for everyone connected with the world of wine. Preparations are well under way as Marlborough prepares to roll out the red carpet to welcome national and international visitors to the region in the industry's biggest trade event.

As we usher in the Year of the Dragon, symbolizing power, strength, and good fortune, we reflect on the spirit that ignited our journey from our Swiss wine estate to establish Hans Herzog Estate in Marlborough three decades ago.

In 1994, fuelled by a pioneering vision and a thirst for adventure, my husband Hans and I embarked on a daring expedition across oceans and continents. With the dream of crafting the finest wines in a land renowned for its beauty but relatively uncharted in the world of winemaking – Marlborough – we took the leap of faith that would forever change our lives.

“The Marlborough wine industry has been extremely kind to me,” says James Healy, 32 years after he pulled up in an iridescent green Holden Premier packed with his family and belongings.

James had cut his oenological teeth with Corbans in Auckland and Gisborne, but found his people and place at Cloudy Bay when he started there in 1991. Experimentation was embraced, the work was “vital and free”, and his colleagues – including viticulturist Ivan Sutherland and winemaker Kevin Judd – were kindred spirits in crafting wines. “It was just a perfect bunch of people together,” says James, who was awarded a Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Award in November last year, for his extraordinary contribution to the region’s wine industry. “If you had an idea, you just tried it out on a few barrels. You just did it. Which fits completely with how I feel. As soon as you start getting to, ‘we’ve always done it like that’, I feel like shooting myself.”

When Tessa Anderson raised the idea of a Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Award, she never dreamed she would one day receive one.

“I would like to reiterate that it was for services, not for consumption,” she says with a characteristically warm laugh, having been recognised for 27 years telling extraordinary stories of the Marlborough wine industry – including as wine reporter at The Marlborough Express, a longstanding editor of Winepress magazine and Winegrower magazine, and the author of two books – Jane Hunter, Growing a Legacy, and 50 Years, 50 Stories, which was released this year to commemorate a half century of wine in the region.

The tale of Hunter's Marlborough began back in 1979 with the daring vision of Ernie Hunter, an Irishman hailing from Belfast. In a bold move, he decided to plant approximately twenty-five hectares of grapevines on Rapaura Road. Within that expanse, he allocated three hectares to cultivate Sauvignon Blanc, a relatively unknown grape variety with untapped potential at the time. The pivotal year came in 1982 when Hunter's produced its maiden vintage, which prominently featured Sauvignon Blanc. What's noteworthy is that all these wines received accolades at the National Wine Show—a remarkable feat for a previously obscure winery. 

Pioneers of Méthode Traditionelle in New Zealand for 40 years, Adele and Daniel Le Brun launched No.1 Family Estate, their family-owned winery, in July 1997.

Steeped in history and tradition, Daniel crafts his wines using the same process perfected over 12 generations, by his champagne-making family in France.

The No.1 Family Estate winery and vineyard is set in Marlborough’s beautiful Wairau Valley and is the only winery in New Zealand committed exclusively to producing premium Méthode Traditionelle.

First Sip An AVIS Ford Falcon appeared at Cape Mentelle’s cellar door in 1983 and changed the world of wine forever. None of the five New Zealand winemakers on board knew it at the time, of course. Neither did the man they had come to see, winemaker David Hohnen. He took the five on a brisk tour capped off with barrel samples of his famous Margaret River Cabernets. The visitors were suitably impressed. Then, perhaps as a nod to his guests’ taste for white grapes, he let them try something he was pretty pleased with: a 1982 Semillon- Sauvignon Blanc blend.

In 1978 Phil and Chris Rose bravely began hand-planting vines in Rapaura whilst raising their family of five young children. After contract growing grapes for some years, they made a bold decision to produce their own wine, and in 1991 and the award-winning Wairau River label was born. That first vineyard, Home Block, has over time been joined by another 13 vineyards, which together make up the Rose Family Estate.

In 1979 Ivan and Margaret Sutherland planted their first vines at the foothills of the Southern Valleys on Dog Point Road.

After work and in the weekends, Ivan and Margaret along with cousin Robin and Bernice Sutherland excitedly began developing their land on Dog Point Road which they had purchased from Bill Walsh, planting over three successive years Muller Thurgau, Riesling, and Chardonnay.

Lawson’s Dry Hills was one of the few wineries in Marlborough when it opened in time for the rain-besieged 1995 vintage. Its owners Barbara and Ross Lawson, who planted Gewürztraminer on Alabama Road in 1981, had put in decades of hard work to get to this point. But that wet vintage took the cake, Barbara says. “We’d planned to do 100 tonnes. Suddenly we had winemakers from all over New Zealand here.”

Te Whare Rā is the oldest little winery & vineyard in Marlborough - first established in 1979. Both the winery and vineyard are certified organic. Since 2003 it has been owned and operated by two winemakers - Anna & Jason Flowerday. She's an Aussie from South Australia and he's a kiwi from Marlborough. Both have wine in their veins literally & metaphorically, and after years of working for other people they made the leap to doing their own thing. The Flowerdays have spent the last 20 years bringing their old vines back to life by farming organically with a regenerative mindset.

Rapaura Springs is proud to be a Marlborough based, New Zealand family-owned and operated business with intergenerational strength. The team is a down-to-earth bunch who have been hands-on in building vineyards and significant winery infrastructure from the ground up. The story begins with two families brought together by premium Marlborough produce. Together they have forged a strong friendship and business partnership.

Named after the majestic Catalina flying boats and the iconic Marlborough Sounds at our doorstep, Catalina Sounds produces wines that are true to the region and our vineyard sites while building an extra textural dimension –wines that are uniquely Catalina Sounds.

More than a decade after a grape growers’ cooperative began in Marlborough, it continues to help lift returns, says one of its founders. Ross Flowerday says the 2008 global financial crisis flattened grape prices in the region, but also kickstarted the grower-owned Marlborough Grape Growers Cooperative (MGGC). “We are there for the good of the industry. Without the co-op, the industry wouldn’t be what it is today.”

Patrick Materman began wine work in 1990, riddling Montana’s first release of Deutz Méthode Champenoise, a blend of Chardonnay and several ‘Pommard’ and Swiss Pinot Noir clones. Little did Patrick realise that within a few years he’d be overseeing the production of quite possibly more Pinot Noir than any other winemaker in the world.

August 2023 marks 50 years since the first vines were planted to launch the Marlborough wine industry. BRENDON BURNS looks back at some of the major challenges and monumental achievements over the past half century. These stories were first published in our Winepress Magazine in 2023.

Dave Pearce loved chess as a kid, which perhaps explains his habit of looking ahead before making a move.

It’s the kind of considered foresight that saw him and a handful of others launch the groundbreaking Screwcap Initiative in 2001, and made Grove Mill the world’s first carbon neutral winery in 2006, having already pioneered the use of a eucalypt woodlot for winery wastewater.

Years later Dave adopted the term “the bleeding edge” to describe the times people considered him “crazy” for bypassing the status quo. “I spent I don’t know how many years being ‘an idiot’ because I thought carbon zero was a good idea,” he says. “It’s great to be at the bleeding edge, but generally you bleed.”

A wine made only once every few years was this year crowned the Barrel Finance & Logistics Champion Sweet Wine at the Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Wairau River Reserve Botrytised Riesling 2022 picked up the trophy, after a warm, humid growing season resulted in optimal fruit to make the wine.

Winemaker Mary Schneier says to win the trophy with a wine they only have limited opportunities to produce was exciting for the team.

She shared a little about the wine, including what you might like to pair it with this summer…

One of Marlborough’s pioneering winemaking companies has picked up the trophy for the region’s flagship wine at the 2023 Marlborough Wine Show, sponsored by QuayConnect.

Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc 2023 was presented the WineWorks Champion Current Vintage Sauvignon Blanc trophy at the celebration evening, which was also a celebration of 50 years of modern winemaking in Marlborough.

Chief winemaker Nick Entwistle says the wine is made using grapes from their ‘Home Block’, the first vineyard block established by the Rose Family in 1978.

To receive the award in this milestone year was special for the team. He shared with us a little about what sets the wine apart…