Today is Friday 1 May, also known as May Day, and as International Sauvignon Blanc Day, which means it's a chance to try great alternative styles as well as well known and loved fruity fragrant little numbers. 

This new brand from Astrolabe Wines in Marlborough is a compelling new wave style of Sauvignon Blanc, made entirely from an elevated vineyard site in the Southern Valleys sub-region. 

Here's my review of this outstanding new addition to Astrolabe's Sauvignon Blanc stable; a wine that reminds me of a fresh, vibrant and complex Sancerre.

2024 Astrolabe Southern Valleys Sauvignon Blanc RRP $40

Hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed, fermented on its yeast lees in stainless steel, the wine was aged in old French puncheons for about eight months, which brings noticeable depth and roundness of flavour and texture. 

It was aged for a final two months in a new 3000 litre Austrian oak fuder (barrel), which adds a subtle wood tone, depth and mouthfeel, says winemaker Simon Waghorn - "I think the oak is quite subtle, but the time in wood on lees (yeast) has allowed the wine to round out and added to the mouthfeel."

It certainly has. 

Compelling, complex and crisp, this is Sauvignon Blanc with all the hallmarks of textural depth written over every savoury taste.

It was made from first-cropping vines and grapes were picked at 23 brix.

Bravo to the Astrolabe wine team. 

This is a top shelf Sauvignon with a refreshingly different flavour spectrum. 

Origin - Marlborough

Marlborough is the biggest wine region in New Zealand with two thirds of the country's total producing vineyard area, which translates to 30,469 hectares of the national total 42,520.

Pinot Noir is the second most planted grape variety in Marlborough but lags a long way behind the vast 25,157 hectares (in 2025) of the region's vineyards that are devoted to Sauvignon Blanc. 

Syrah makes up a minuscule proportion of the vineyard area in Marlborough.