Marlborough - So Much More Than Just Savvy

It’s no secret that our beloved Aotearoa New Zealand punches above its weight on the world stage of wine, and a huge part of that is thanks to the Sauvignon Blanc coming out of Marlborough.

We have a thousand praises for the bright, zesty style brimming with green perfumes and tropical lashings of flavour (We could do with a glass right now actually, come to think of it…) but we must remind ourselves not to get tunnel vision when it comes to this remarkable wine region, as easy as it is.

A recent addition to the Dhall & Nash Whānau that is reinforcing this for us and exciting us no end is Zephyr – a family estate producing expressive and organic single-vineyard wines across the board. We can’t wait for you to meet them, but first, let’s set the scene…

Marlborough sits at the top of New Zealand’s South Island and is home to just over 50,000 people. Its biggest city is Blenheim, which around 30,000 of the Marlborough residents call home.

Aside from making phenomenal wine, the Marlborough region is known for its breathtaking scenery and coasts – from secluded bays and islands in the Sounds to the open coast south of Cape Campbell, Marlborough boasts about 1,800km of coastline.

Combine this with being named the official sunniest region in New Zealand and it means a lot of people want to experience a slice of the good life… 

For a region of just over 50,000 (even fewer in 2010 when the data was reported,) those numbers are staggering and clearly indicative of the region’s appeal. 

As touched on above, Marlborough is officially New Zealand’s sunniest region. In 2024, NIWA reported that they clocked up 2,769 hours of sunshine, and overall enjoy an oceanic climate with warm, dry summers and cool winters. Snow rarely settles lower than the mountain-tops, but that doesn’t stop the brisk morning air from holding some bite! 

The strong coastal influence and long sunshine hours mean that while the days during the growing season are warm, they often benefit from a cool sea breeze in the evening. 

Hailed as one of New Zealand’s most sunny and dry regions, Maori referred to the Wairau Valley as ‘Kei puta te Wairau’ – ‘The place with the hole in the cloud’.

While the district itself extends into the Sounds and all their peninsulas, bays and islands, most of the wineries are centred around Blenheim and another town called Seddon. Here, there are free-draining alluvial gravels perfect for viticulture. Many are between the Richmond Mountain Ranges to the north and the Wither Hills to the south, which protect it from extreme weather conditions.

Okay, we know why we’re all here (wine!), so let’s delve in. 

Marlborough is New Zealand’s largest wine region, churning out a staggering 75% of the country’s overall wine production in 2020, 70% of NZ’s vineyard area and 85% of its wine exports. 

Across Marlborough’s 30,444 hectares, over 26,000 of those are planted to Sauvignon Blanc, so there’s no denying the winegrowers know what does well! 

The first official records of viticulture in Marlborough are from 1873, when one David Herd planted a small vineyard of Brown Muscat in Fairhall. Sadly, in 1931 his son pulled up the last of the vines, and no others were recorded in the region for the next forty years. 

In 1972, Marlborough County Council Livestock Instructor, S.G.C. Newdick, in fact wrote “Vineyards: in regard to these, as there is a glut on the market of grapes there does not appear to be any likelihood of vineyards starting up in Marlborough in the foreseeable future.” Oh, how wrong this proved to be!

In 1973, exactly 100 years on from the first plantings and one year after the prediction of minimal vineyard success, Montana started planting vineyards in Marlborough, marking the start of commercial winegrowing.

Marlborough Wine explains, “At the celebration ceremony, Frank Yukich, the man behind the plan to buy land and plant grapes here made the statement that “Wines from here will become world famous.” At the time, no one took him seriously but the prophetic words would go on to be remembered as this variety took Marlborough’s name to the world.”

It was in 1977, not even 50 years ago, that the Marlborough Grape Growers Association was established (which would go on to become Marlborough Winegrowers Association) and by the 1980’s the region’s plantings were increasing – much to the frustration of the government who were offering landowners $5,000 for every acre of vines they tore out, but some determined vintners persevered and started looking to Sauvignon Blanc. 

In 1985, just 12 years after the first plantings were made, Marlborough was launched onto the world stage. A Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc made by David Hohnen & Kevin Judd was – to everyone’s shock – voted the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world by Wine magazine. 

In his 2018 book Red & White, Oz Clarke credits this first vintage with nothing less than a varietal revolution:

Even Queen Elizabeth II visited after that, paying a visit to Brancott Vineyard in February of 1989!

The area under vine in Marlborough expanded rapidly – a five-fold increase in just 15 years in fact! In 2003, there were 4,516 hectares of vineyards, and in 2018 there were 23,102 hectares. Today, that’s increased again, with 30,444 hectares reported in 2024.

We know the title of this blog is literally “So Much More Than Just Savvy” but you can’t talk about what else Marlborough does well without talking about its flagship. 

After Cloudy Bay’s resounding success on the world stage with their Sauvignon Blanc 1985 being dubbed the best in the world, vintners took notice. Sauvignon Blanc had already been growing in popularity through the 80’s but this result cinched it! And from there, there’s been nowhere to go but up.

Plantings have increased exponentially and one, Sauvignon Blanc is our pin in the world wine map. Jamie Goode explains in Meninger’s International that  “The success of Sauvignon is due to its unique flavour profile. The typical Marlborough character is one of green notes well integrated with citrus brightness and exotic tropical high notes, all kept laser sharp by high acidity. 

New Zealand wine scientists have discovered that the region makes wines with very high levels of two groups of impact compounds, methoxypyrazines and thiols. Methoxypyrazines are responsible for green flavours: green pepper, tomato leaf, grassiness while thiols are responsible for passionfruit, grapefruit and tropical fruit aromatics. So good Marlborough Sauvignon is about greenness allied to thiol aromatic interest. This is what sets it apart.”

We’ve represented two wineries in Marlborough for some time now, both of which produce cracking Sauvignon Blanc of course, but they produce other wines too. Folium Vineyard is organic and dry-farmed in the Brancott Valley and Whyte Estate, also in the Brancott Valley with Theo Giesen at the helm. 

But today, we’re thrilled to announce we’re adding to our Marlborough offerings with a producer making world-class single-vineyard wines across a broad range of varieties and styles.

Everyone, please meet…

Single vineyard wines that express the ethereal, aromatic and structural flair of the Dillons Point Sub-Region of Marlborough.

The Glover family were early to plant grapes on their farm in Marlborough’s Dillon’s Point sub-region in 1988. Nineteen years later, led by eldest son Ben, the family launched Zephyr, a range of single vineyard wines from the farm. 

The name Zephyr means ‘a gentle breeze’. Inspired by the prevailing wind that moderates their vineyards, it is the perfect fit for the Glover family. Never still, always on the go, always innovating and planning their next move on the farm, in the wines and with the family.

Today, rows of Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc have thrived in the fertile loam soils that provide Zephyr wines with lively aromatics, great depth of flavour and excellent structural longevity.

Zephyr wines are made in Ben’s trademark expressive style, elegant with personality. Ben has spent more than two decades making wine for some of New Zealand’s top brands, earning a reputation as one of the most talented and respected winemakers in the business.

The Opawa River runs along the southern boundary of the family vineyard and is the “lifeblood of the property.” 

It is this river, over the centuries, which has flooded and deposited fertile silt loam onto the vineyard sites. Its waters are home to abundant plant, bird and fish life.

The soils are fertile, the aspect is north facing and the sub-region is described as ‘early country’, sheltered from the harsh southerly weather patterns, sitting in the lee of the Wither Hills to the south east of the Wairau Valley floor.

The vineyard is only three kilometres from the high tide mark and the vineyard is approximately 10 metres above sea level. 

The soil structure is Kaiapoi silt loam. It has a fertile soil profile, which borders the Opawa river. As you move north, away from the river, the soils become more clay loam in structure.

‘Robbers Dog’ wines are a side project by the Glovers, and pays homage to the saying “Off like a robbers dog” a phrase oft’ said by their “old man” when they had to scurry, act fast and leave the scene of something unbecoming.

They’re a dastardly dirty pairing of two natural wines from the wrong side of the tracks. Organic, low fi, natural expressions of the Glovers’ aromatic varieties; Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurztraminer.