The best 2023 and 2024 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs from Tesco, Booths and Waitrose

Winemakers are always reluctant to predict the quality of any harvest while the grapes are still on the vine, but they are very certain about the previous vintage, the 2024 wines that are just making their way across the sea and into our stores.

Everyone I spoke to at a recent tasting said that 2024 is a fantastic vintage!

A dry winter and a few pockets of frost meant that the resulting bunches of grapes were smaller than usual but packed with concentrated flavours.

The summer was also dry, with just enough rain to fill out the fruit, and warm sunshine brought the harvest forward while cool nights kept freshness in the grapes.

The result is that 2024 is a top-quality vintage although the quantity is smaller than some years.

I tasted through a huge range of new release wines, with a focus on the new 2024 Sauvignon Blancs but also taking in some of the previous vintage Sauvignons that have spent time in barrel or tank.

It may take some weeks before these wines feed through the supply chain, but you should keep your eyes open for them. Meanwhile, shops still have stocks of the 2023 vintage which is just hitting its stride, and many wines are tasting brilliantly well.

2023 was the year when the South Island and Marlborough in particular did better than the North, so here are some wines to look for.

My notes are for the vintages shown at the new release tasting, but if you find the previous vintage on the shelf, it will have the same profile of flavours, with a touch more depth and complexity from that extra time in bottle.

Wairau Cove Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Tesco down from £8.50 to £7 until 24 February: The 2024 vintage is already on Tesco’s shelves and the wine is bright, with lively citrus, melon and pineapple fruit. Dash along and get some before the offer ends.

Yealands Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Marlborough, Waitrose down from £11.99 to £8.99 until 11 March: Much as I love the regular Yealands Sauvignon (usually around £8), there is no point in heading to anywhere except Waitrose to get this reserve wine at a bargain price, so clear the shelves and stock the fridge for springtime.

The Yealands estate is eco and animal friendly with chickens and guinea fowl wandering around, beehives located at several spots and several wildlife lakes. This wine has lively citrus aromas, pink grapefruit and pineapple on the palate, laced with crushed blackcurrant leaves and lime.

Te Pā Signature Series Sauvignon Blanc 2024 Marlborough, Tesco £11: As I worked down the line of dozens of Sauvignons, I could see the labels, but I didn’t really study them. I just wrote my notes on each wine and moved on, so I was surprised to see just how well this supermarket Sauvignon did in a fairly prestigious line-up. Often discounted by a pound or two, it offers bright, juicy gooseberry fruit with a streak lime and nectarine.

Vidal Sauvignon Blanc, 2024, Marlborough, Roberts and Speight £11.99: I have aways liked the wines from Vidal which is based in the Hawkes Bay region of North Island. Most grapes are sourced locally but Sauvignon Blanc grapes for this wine are grown in the cooler Marlborough region on South Island and it is filled with vibrant citrus and passionfruit flavours with enough weight and texture to take on a plate of shellfish.

Babich Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Marlborough, Waitrose down from£14.99 to £11.99 until 11 March: Waitrose still has the 2023 vintage on the shelves, but this is a good thing.

Babich make wines that need time to fill out their flavours so if you buy enough now, the 2023 will drink well all summer. It has lifted citrus and white peach flavours and a green-grassy note on the finish

Tohu Awatere Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Marlborough, Asda £12: The Awatere Valley is a more remote and distinctly breezier part of the Marlborough region producing wines with lively crunchy flavours. This Asda exclusive wine is a great example for its lean fresh, gooseberry style, with a minerally texture.

Jackson Estate ‘Stich’ Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Marlborough, Booths, down from £14.75 to £12 until 11 March: Jackson Estate has always produced linear, fresh-tasting wines, with passionfruit and grapefruit at the core and a crunchy, sea-pebble almost salty finish. These are wines that side-step the usual fruit-bomb of Kiwi Sauvignon and prefer to settle down next to a plate of grilled fish.

Esk Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Marlborough, York Wines £13.85: Esk, like Vidal, is based in Hawkes Bay on North Island but they have access to Marlborough grapes to make their Sauvignon, and this one is great. It really does have another dimension of flavour with green asparagus and lychee adding layers to the passionfruit and citrus fruit.

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Marlborough, Latitude Wines £22.50: From Kevin Judd, the winemaker who made Cloudy Bay famous, this is a complex, elegant, citrus-driven wine, with apple blossom, mango fruit, pears and fennel. Don’t rush to open this one. Kevin makes wines that take time to emerge, but when they do, they are fabulous. This is definitely a foodie wine.

Step up to Greywacke Wild Sauvignon 2022 (Latitude £32.50), fermented with wild yeast in well-used French oak barriques. This is Sauvignon like you have never tasted it before. Complex notes of herb-dusted mango, pineapple and peach, shot through with lime freshness. Delicious.

Saint Clair ‘Wairau Reserve’ Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Marlborough, Hic! £22.75: Consistently good, St. Clair produces wines that manage to pack more layers of flavour into the glass than many others. It was the 2023 on show at the tasting, mainly because the Ibbotson family never try to be first across the water with the new vintage. This is a wine that has been allowed to develop at its own pace, and it is terrific. Bursting with passionfruit and blackcurrant leaf notes, it has a delicious texture, rounded out with yellow fruits and a long finish. Team with baked turbot.