Whither New Zealand Sauvignon?

After 30 years of captivating consumers with distinctive flavours ranging from gooseberry to nettles via passionfruit, cat’s pee, asparagus, citrus and capsicum, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc seems to be going through an identity crisis. The question of barrel fermentation and/or ageing adds another dimension to the debate, not just in New Zealand.

My tasting of a selection of the 2008 vintage earlier this year highlighted two things: the range of styles and the dangers of overcropping. As Montana’s chief winemaker Jeff Clarke explains in this video, they and other producers have taken sterner viticultural measures to avoid overcropping...