New Zealand and Sauvignon Blanc
Prior to the 1830’s there was not a grape to be seen in New Zealand and it took another 130 years for the humble grape to become one of New Zealand’s national treasures.
Up until the 1960’s New Zealand’s wine was not mass produced and was mainly used for religious purposes or family consumption. All of this changed in the 60’s, due to a number of reasons, but the main driving force was that New Zealanders became world travellers and experienced the European culture of wine and food.
photo credit Amanda Williams – A Dangerous Business
The early days of New Zealand’s wine industry
During the 60’s and 70’s – time of world upheaval and cultural revolution, Danes and other north Europeans started to immigrate to New Zealand bringing their love of wine. They soon began establishing vineyards and wineries, supplying wine to the local market.
On top of this, New Zealanders began travelling around the world, then returning home – some bringing their new love of wine and others old-world winemaking skills learnt from Europe.
This mix of a new fledging wine industry in New Zealand, mixed with old-world skills from Europe, was given even more energy when alcohol became accepted as the norm in restaurants, feeding the growing food and wine culture.
New Zealand was quite fortunate really, because managing large quantities of wine was actually not too different to managing the same quantities of milk. So with New Zealand’s established history in the dairy industry, it was not too much of a leap to make the change to winemaking, and so the wine industry was born.
photo credit Amanda Williams – A Dangerous Business
New Zealand on the world stage with their Sauvignon Blanc
As the world moved from the 70’s to the 80’s, Marlborough on the north coast of New Zealand’s South Island slowly turned from growing barley and Lucerne to growing Sauvignon Blanc grapes, which were well suited to the cool climate with lots of sun for ripening.
Through a number of trials and tribulations, trying to find the best way to grow the vines in Marlborough, eventually crops were harvested and wine began to be commercially produced. These wines were high in acidity, rich in fruit and had flavours of bell peppers, gooseberries and passionfruit.
photo credit Amanda Williams – A Dangerous Business
It wasn’t until 1986, that the world actually realised how good the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc really was and this was only due to the tenacity of Ernie Hunter, an Irish small holder in Rapaura. With the luck of the Irish, Ernie took his Fume Blanc to the Sunday Times Vintage Festival in London in 1986 and won a gold medal!
Ernie Hunter won the same award for his Fume Blanc three years in a row and as they say – the rest is history.
Whilst New Zealand still continues to produce many boutique wines, Sauvignon Blanc is one of their major players. The rich, zingy and fresh flavours of New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc is recognised as one of the best in the world and continues to win awards both at home and overseas.
This post was brought to you by Advintage.
I haven’t tried a New Zealand sauvignon blanc but will be on the lookout for it now!
I’ll second that. We live in Western Australia where we have some amazing world class wines, but I always revert to the New Zealand sav blancs for my preferred tipple. Especially Stoneleigh, which I have in the fridge right now! Enjoyed this piece – the history and facts were so interesting. (I’m writing off site today at margaret river dot com, er by the way)
What a fact-packed history. I do love NZ Sauvignon blanch and it was fun to learn about it!
I always enjoy hearing the history of how wine regions developed. After reading this, I will make sure my next sauvignon blanc purchase is from New Zealand.
NZ’s Sav Blanc has long been a staple around our household. It’s fun to hear about the start of their exporting. I’m hoping a trip to New Zealand is in my not too distant future, so I can check out the land myself.
Such lovely landscape, perfect for growing grapes, I really enjoyed this post!
I drink a lot of SAauvignon Blanc from NZ. Kim Crawford always works and wish I had more money for wine because Cloudy Bay makes some great ones.
When I was there in the late ’70’s I never saw a grape!
Interesting! I was in New Zealand in 1986 and the wine industry wasn’t the hot item it is today. I really want to return. I’m a Sauvignon Blanc drinker and my sister has learned that it it’s from the Marlborough Valley of New Zealand I’ll like it and she’s right. Those are some gorgeous pictures too!
Thanks for the overview! I hadn’t previously considered NZ as a leader in the world of wine, though will have to head over to try their Sauvignon Blanc first hand. We have just recently landed in Australia and will be here for a while now, so it should be easy enough to organize a flight for a girls wine trip! Thanks!
Who knew it would be the Danes and Europeabs who spearheaded to NZ wind movement. Also, I must say that for relatively young wine culture, they have done quite well for themselves.
I’ve been a fan of NZ sauvignon blanc ever since I had my first taste of it after a long day of hiking the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds. It’s definitely up there with some of the best in the world, and it’s fascinating to hear how it became that way (especially since I’ve always missed out on the wine tour side of things when I’ve been in Marlborough). Thanks for sharing!