New Zealand holds a special place in my heart, thanks to two particular producers – Greywacke and Blank Canvas. I was lucky to work with these two in my time at Liberty Wines – they are producing some of the very best wines from this country, competing with some of the world’s finest.

Kevin Judd - owner and winemaker of Greywacke, with Kohen Judd - overlooking the Awatere Valley. (Kevin made the first Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc - the wine which put Marlborough on the global map).

On a trip to New Zealand in 2019 I started down south – flying into Queenstown. From here I visited some of the producers Liberty worked with in this area – Akarua and Burn Cottage – makers of some of Central Otago’s very best Pinot Noirs.

Travelling up to Marlborough I made a brief stop in Canterbury. The wines from here don’t get much air-time in the UK but worth investigating if you come across them. I stopped at Black Estate for lunch – good food and good wines.

I arrived in Marlborough in time for the Wine Festival – a huge annual event at which Blank Canvas and Greywacke (and many wonderful others) were taking part. I spent a few days with each producer, seeing their vineyards and production and learning a huge amount about this region which is often stereo-typed.

Sophie Parker-Thomson MW in one of the Blank Canvas Pinot Noir vineyards.

People think of Marlborough as a homogenous zone churning out textbook Sauvignon Blanc which became so popular in the 1990s. But it is so much more than that. Yes there are big producers and of course there are some bulk made wines (few wine regions can say they don’t have these), but there are a myriad of boutique producers like Greywacke and Blanc Canvas creating truly unique and individual wines. I think the evolution of the wine industry in Marlborough and New Zealand have a few things in common with the emerging wine industry in England, and we could learn at lot from the Kiwis. We are both ‘new’ world – from countries where there is no lengthy historic culture of wine making. Both industries have launched onto the international stage with a hero style – the Sauvignon Blancs of New Zealand such as Cloudy Bay – and the traditional method sparkling wines of England. And both of these heroes are not entry level – certainly not to start with – both have been premium offerings.

Sophie and Matt Thomson - tasting the Blank Canvas barrels.

The English wine trade could look to New Zealand and Marlborough for some important learnings. There have been fears of over-supply of Marlborough Sauvignon, and international markets driving the price and quality down – the same is a definite threat to English Sparkling Wine – traditional method or otherwise. Appellation Marlborough has done a great job of maintaining quality and authenticity when there was a danger of ubiquitous NZSB taking over. They have clear messaging around sustainability and quality. English producers could learn from their example.

I was delighted to see that recently Kevin and Kimberley Judd were recently recipients of the Wine Marlborough Lifetime Achievement Award. In classic Kevin style he accepted the award but said, “Premature. We haven’t finished yet.” Doubtless - but they have achieved a huge amount already and it is certainly to be celebrated.

Sauvignon Learnings

Over the Andes