NZ Sauvignon Blanc – more variety, less sugar, please

Sauvignon Blanc 2016 was the initial impetus for a trip to New Zealand earlier this year. For the before and after extensions to the trip, see my two-part report on Central Otago Pinot Noir, Fizzing it up in Gisborne and How to make (NZ) Chardonnay. My photo shows part of the extensive and still youthful Yealands vineyards in the Awatere Valley. 

Patrick Materman, chief winemaker at Brancott Estate and chairman of Sauvignon Blanc 2016, emphasised that the event was ‘a celebration not a conference’ and that the intention was to showcase the variety not just New Zealand. The various...