SAUVIGNON BLANC, INNIT.

placewine

May 3

Friday, 7th May is Sauvignon Blanc Day.

Sauvignon Blanc is still New Zealand’s most planted, consumed and exported wine variety. We love it here and clearly, you still love it there, where you are. We love you for it.

In the UK, the New Zealand (retail) wine category has grown by £125 million, of which New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has contributed 86%, at £108 million in 2020 compared to 2019.* This is in the retail sector and we know, thanks to the last year being a bloody hard one for our On-Premise pals, these sales stats are related to our customers drinking at home.

It’s not just the UK experiencing a “Sauvilanche”. The US — for the same reasons as the UK, has seen an increase in the demand for the green grape in retail too.

“Sauvignon blanc has been absolutely booming over the past couple of years in the US” confirms Jonas De Maere, wine program manager with Ahold Delhaize USA. “It accounts for about 15% of our white wine sales today and is the third best-selling varietal after Chardonnay (35% of sales) and Pinot Grigio (25% share of sales). While Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay are flat, Sauvignon blanc has been growing at about 17 % for the last three years”. Aside from intrinsic issues such as palate appeal, one of the main drivers of Sauvignon’s success in the American market has been efforts by New Zealand to ramp up its presence in the world’s pre-eminent wine market.**

Of course we’re biased but we know it is delicious wine. It’s mouth-puckering, juicy and fresh and is just the ticket to toast a sunny long afternoon as you good folk in the Northern Hemisphere roll into the restorative warmer days of Summer.

We happily share our best Sauvignon Blanc with the world. That little grape is what keeps us all in business. It is the heart of the our wine industry and there’s no exception here at Huia. It’s the wine we make the most volume of and we’re very aware that with each bottle we send your way, we’re sharing just a little bit of Aotearoa with you. So, as we celebrate Sauvignon Blanc Day this Friday, we’d like to say thank you to you lot over there. To the customers who have had Sauvignon Blanc delivered to your door, to our retailers for stocking it and to our hospo whanau for whom we raise a larger glass than normal. Goodness knows you’ve earned it. Here’s to sharing Sauvignon together and to reassure you that we’re working hard to put the cleanest, greenest little berries in that bottle.