When Young Gun of Wine first did a Deep Dive into alternative expressions of sauvignon blanc back in 2021, we wrote, “There are few varieties that are as adored and reviled as sauvignon blanc. With the local market awash with passionfruit-scented wines from across the Tasman, wine professionals learnt to despise the stuff, while consumers fell head over heels for its fragrant charms.” A lot has changed since then, with consumers slowly falling out of love with Marlborough sauvignon blanc and wine professionals starting to champion a variety of expressions of Australian sauvignon blanc. Meanwhile, many producers have ceased working with the variety, while a new generation of winemakers have started working with parcels of sauvignon blanc fruit. What remains true is that Australian sauvignon blanc is not easy to categorise, with the sheer diversity of ‘alternative’ styles of wine made from this variety – incorporating varying degrees of barrel work, lees work, and skin contact – dazzling in its scope and quite thrilling for its quality. With the landscape having changed radically in the past four years, we felt that another Deep Dive into the subject was required.
We gathered eight of the finest palates – winemakers, sommeliers, wholesalers/importers, retailers – to give us their take on what makes today’s Australian sauvignon blanc tick. We gathered every example of ‘alternative’ sauvignon blanc we could find and set our expert panel the tasks of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the wines that made the panellists’ top six from the tasting.
Our panel: Yuki Hirose, MS, head sommelier, Lucas Restaurants; Gary Mills, winemaker, Jamsheed; Clementine Bird, senior sommelier, Reine & La Rue; James Cooper, wine buyer, Mount Erica Hotel; Bonnie Spain, senior sommelier, Marmelo; Elisa Perissotto, area business manager, Red & White; John Harris, winemaker, Blue Pyrenees and Mitchell Harris; Olive Keswick Gallagher, sommelier, Coda.
The top wines
2024 Gapsted ‘Valley Selection’ Sauvignon Blanc, King Valley $36 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Perisotto, Spain, Bird and Gallagher. This lightly skin-macerated sauvignon blanc wowed the panel with its energy, precision and layered complexity. Perisotto noted a “lively burst of grapefruit fizz and delicate spice” that opened into rose petals, oat biscuits and fresh-cut grass, praising its balance between freshness and phenolic texture. Spain found it “bright, sharp and precise,” with granny smith apple, yellow grapefruit, blood orange and guava on show, along with a touch of funk lending grip and generosity. Bird picked up a fleshy core of stone fruit and ripe lemon, with cocoa and biscuit depth, brioche on the back palate and a finish that “demands food: ribbons of prosciutto with melon and pepper.” For Gallagher, it was all about “salted grapefruit, white peach, apricot, candied citrus and orange blossom water,” with intensity and line carried by a “razor-sharp directness” that made this a standout.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Cooper and Harris. This bold, oak-influenced expression pushed sauvignon blanc into luxurious territory, with Cooper describing it as “intense … almost veering into pure exoticism, in the best possible way,” led by ripe nectarine, peach, blood orange and grapefruit. On the palate, a splash of mango and juicy stone fruit met savoury length and grip. Harris called it “quite rich and oily,” layered with lemon and lime peel, snow pea, dusty oak and leesy sulphides. “A little alcohol warmth on the tail provides persistence,” he said, with stone fruit richness held in check by spine-structuring acidity and an elegant leafy lift.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Gary Mills and Clementine Bird. A leesy, textural expression of sauvignon blanc that takes the road less travelled, with Mills noting a flinty, pebbly complexity and questioning whether it was age or oxidative handling at play – either way, he found it worked beautifully. “White melon and red apple fruit, acid is well checked … a good, complex wine,” he said. Bird called it “an expressive wine, drinking like a tropical holiday,” with coconut juice, lime husk, salted nectarine and mango all wrapped in a pulpy, slightly spritzy frame. “It almost drinks like a cocktail,” she said, “with sea salt spraying in the background.”
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Hirose and Gallagher. Hirose was drawn in by its savoury nose of smoked sesame and charred kale, calling it “unique but beautiful,” with wasabi leaf, nettle and grapefruit pith lifted by generous alcohol and perfectly suited to dishes like scallop crudo or smoked kingfish gravlax. Gallagher praised its harmony between varietal character and winemaking influence, highlighting “crisp, bright mineral chalkiness” and aromas of white peach, lime juice and pear skin. On the palate: “lemon drop, honeydew, quince, jasmine flower and a vanilla cream wafer finish,” she said, calling it “complex, engaging … but I wouldn’t blink finishing off the bottle on a warm day with fresh seafood.”
2024 Circulus Fumé Blanc, Geelong $38 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Harris and Spain. Harris described this as a wine with “very good vibrancy and complexity,” showing snow pea, minerality and seamless palate structure underpinned by toasty oak. “Great freshness, power and persistence,” he said. Spain found it richer on the nose, with vanilla, cardamom, passionfruit blossom and apricot kernel, but praised how the palate flipped into “exceptional vibrancy,” with finger lime, papaya and a creamy lemon curd note. “Clever interplay of freshness and ripeness,” she said. “Long, playful, and standout in its brightness.”
2022 Carto Fumé Blanc, Adelaide Hills $36 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Bird and Gallagher. Bird found it intense and unapologetic: “It opens with baked green capsicum and vegetal funk, but shifts to unripe mango and soft white peach.” The wine clings to the palate, she noted, with skin-contact texture, slight graininess and a persistent finish of dried mandarin peel, almond and orange blossom water. Gallagher found a wild complexity: “Orange balm, jasmine and yuzu tea, rockmelon, grassy asparagus, and an alpine, amaro-like quality.” Finishing with red apple, orchard pear and a dusting of macadamia, she saw it as a wine that pushed sauvignon blanc into fascinating new terrain.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Mills and Bird. “Very pretty wine,” said Mills, noting its appealing bouquet of white flowers and soft stonefruit, with “less overt Sauvignon flavours – is that why I like it?” He praised the mineral backbone and softly wrapped texture, calling it the best wine he’d tasted on the day. Bird also highlighted the wine’s brightness and precision, with granny smith apple, feijoa skin and yellow grapefruit on the nose, and a plush palate of blood orange and guava. A whisper of funk brought intrigue and grip. “Extremely food friendly,” she noted, pairing it with fresh salads or flaky white fish like snapper.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Harris and Mills. Harris found it impeccably balanced, with “great breadth of ripeness from tomato leaf to passionfruit,” and a beautiful play of flinty oak, elegance, and fruit drive. “Excellent fruit and winemaking on show here,” he said. Mills initially expected sweetness to overwhelm – “sugary, honeyed nose” – but was surprised and impressed. “I wrote this off at first,” he admitted, “but the palate morphed into a delicious, drinkable wine.” Clever extraction and balance won him over. “God! Did I just like a skin-contact sauvy b?” he mused. “It’s built large but built well.”
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Perisotto. “It kicks off with orange zest and red bell pepper – bright, a little punchy, and definitely inviting,” she said, noting vegetal complexity softened by orange blossom and spice. What really elevated it for her was the palate: textured, layered, with just enough skin contact to bring depth without sacrificing vibrancy. “It brings to mind those unique indigenous Portuguese whites,” she said, calling it “slightly wild, intricate, and built for grilled, smoky fish.” Balanced and lingering, it was a wine she found hard to walk away from.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Hirose. “Very flinty with lots of white floral lift—an inviting nose,” he said, noting a faint touch of volatile acidity that gave the wine extra pop. The palate followed with “fresh herbs and watercress,” finishing with a distinct salinity and acid that made it “salivating” and moreish. A subtle waxy texture added to the balance. He recommended pairing it with “burrata and heirloom tomato with basil,” for a dish that would match its soft, refreshing profile.
2023 Ros Ritchie Fumé Blanc, King Valley, $28 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Perisotto and Bird. “This is a Sauvignon Blanc that whispers,” said Perisotto, describing aromatics of white mushroom and chalk, softened by nougat and lifted with tangerine. “Elegant and restrained, it unfolds gradually,” she said, praising its integration of savoury, mineral, and varietal characters. Bird was struck by its chardonnay-like nose – “clotted cream and peaches” – with chalky acidity and a finish that melted into lime mousse and key lime pie. “The bitter note here feels deliberate,” she said. “It’s a gastronomic wine that needs fat and salt – prosciutto and green olives stuffed with goat cheese.”
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Harris and Spain. “Quite tropical,” said Harris, noting pineapple and passionfruit aromas laced with “excellent struck match sulphides and toasty oak.” He found the wine mouthfilling and generous, with complex maturation notes and “seamless, long” integration. Spain described it as a “noticeably riper style,” pointing to custard apple, nashi pear and sweet tropical fruit on the nose. The palate followed through with “passionfruit and fresh apricot,” finishing with a “subtle creaminess” that reminded her of “Christmas pavlova.” She recommended it for fans of rich, punchy white wines.
2023 Rowlee Fumé Blanc, Orange, $35 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Spain. She was drawn to its bright, citrus-driven aromatics – “mandarin peel, fresh yuzu and pink grapefruit zest” – elevated by sweet pineapple. “Promises made on the nose were followed through on the palate and then some,” she said, highlighting notes of ginger, lemon balm, and kaffir lime. The wine’s spice, structure and length impressed, offering complexity and vibrancy while allowing the ripe tropical notes to shine. “The texture kept me wanting to revisit the wine again and again,” she added.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Cooper. “Now here we are,” he said, excited by the wine’s sous-voile character. “Sourdough and smoked curry leaf, preserved lemons and shortbread drizzled with mountain honey,” with a distinctive sotolon note adding appeal. He described the palate as “thick and textural,” spilling tangy citrus and stone fruit across the tongue. “Wonderfully laced with salty, umami goodness – all over the joint,” he concluded. A powerful, idiosyncratic style for lovers of complexity.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Perisotto. “Vibrant and summery,” she said, with “lemon balm, orange blossom, pineapple skin, and jasmine,” all framed by a soft nutty edge and “a hint of tar.” The wine opened with a tropical allure but finished fresh and spicy, with balancedacidity giving it a defined structure. “It’s Sauvignon Blanc at its most tropical, yet smartly lifted,” she said, calling it “an expressive, sun-drenched style that keeps you coming back for more.”
2022 Flowstone ‘Queen of the Earth’ Sauvignon Blanc, Margaret River, $63 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Hirose. “Very perfumed and charactered nose,” he said, noting its green-yet-ripe profile. The palate was “almost oily in texture,” delivering ripe tropical fruit along with candle wax and toasted marshmallow. Full-bodied but balanced, the wine reminded him of “a high-end Sancerre from a warm vintage – like François Cotat.” A bold, luxurious expression of the variety.
2023 La Violetta ‘Suave’ Fumé Blanc, Great Southern, $37 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Cooper and Hirose. Cooper praised its elegance and complexity, with “grapefruit and yellow nectarines, ripe peach and some creamy reduction.” He found the texture appealing, with chalky grip on the finish. Hirose found the nose “very floral and slightly soapy,” which might polarise some drinkers, but noted its “great intensity of perfume.” The oily, textural palate could stand up to chicken or pork, with a “subtle bitterness” that would pair well with kale or spinach. “Might be challenging to drink a whole bottle solo, but with food – yes.”
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Perisotto. “Vibrant and summery,” she said, highlighting aromas of lemon balm, orange blossom, pineapple skin, and jasmine, all framed by subtle nuttiness and a hint of tar. The tropical aromatics give way to a fresh, spicy palate, where acidity provides structure and balance. “Sauvignon Blanc at its most tropical, yet smartly lifted,” she said. “An expressive, sun-drenched style that keeps you coming back for more.”
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Mills. He described it as “very harmonious” on the nose – fresh and inviting, with waxy lees and taut mineral lines. Pretty florals and bright fruit offered approachability and charm, while oak was “evident but well composed.” With great drinkability, it struck Mills as “bright, inviting and eminently approachable.”
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Spain and Gallagher. Spain called it “a nice balance between creamy and fresh,” with oak-driven notes of brioche, walnut shell and sweet almond lifted by orange and lemon peel. A plush style, she noted, that “doesn’t hide its sauvignon blanc-ness, but embraces it differently.” Gallagher found it bursting with “honeydew sorbet,” lime juice, salted grapefruit, lemon rind and candied frozen grapes. Despite its “barrage of charged electric fruits,” she praised its balance and freshness. “Not the most complex wine of the lineup,” she said, “but without a doubt the loudest and most fun – the tie-dye shirt at the BBQ.”
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Cooper. “A nice whiff of sourdough and preserved lemon,” he noted, with touches of fenugreek and smoked cream pointing to some flor influence. The palate delivered “serious intensity of pithy citrus” with briny, mineral texture that “pops on the tongue.” “Incredibly appealing,” he concluded, praising its savoury edge and characterful expression.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Harris. “Very attractive,” he said, describing flinty, dusty, toasty oak aromas mingling with cool pyrazine notes. The palate was “fresh and vibrant,” offering green-edged, minerally fruit with impeccably balanced oak. “Fresh, bright, youthful,” he added, calling it “just the right level of interest and complexity.”
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Mills. He found the nose “plump and round,” embracing the full-throttle style of sauvignon blanc with tropical tones of guava and tamarind. “Joyous in its drinkability,” he said, noting it had “much commercial appeal” and delivered on its bold promises.
2024 Sir Paz Fumé Sauvignon Blanc, Yarra Valley $37 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Hirose. He noted “candied citrus, lemon sorbet and a hint of celery sticks” on the nose, with a lean body and crisp acidity. Flavours of lemongrass and cucumber juice added freshness, supported by “a cold tea leaf character.” He described it as a wine with wide appeal: “a good introduction for people who don’t drink wine often.”
2023 David Morgan Quiet Wine Sauvignon Blanc, Pyrenees $33 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Cooper. He described it as “something with a bit of intrigue,” praising its intense grapefruit and cut lemon rind aromas. The palate revealed savoury, nutty complexity with powerful structure and a salty, textural frame. “A bit butch actually,” he quipped, noting how it unfurled in the mouth with an “ever-evolving retro-nasal complexity.” The lingering finish was, for him, “a statement of quality … very impressive indeed.”
2023 Jericho Fumé Blanc, Adelaide Hills $27 RRP
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Gallagher. She called it “a sauvignon for your buttery chardonnay friends,” thanks to a nose of French vanilla slice and orchard fruit – red apple, pear, kiwi skin, and honeydew – supported by grapefruit and baking spices. On the palate, she noted subtle notes of nutmeg and green cardamom that complemented the light fruity-pastry character. A well-rounded and inviting expression.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Bird. She was drawn to its rich orange florals and subtle marmalade and lime aromas, with a deep base note reminiscent of Tasmanian leatherwood honey. “Meadow flowers, the scent of warm, fresh cut wood,” she said, describing the wine as evolving wonderfully on the palate. Despite its ripeness, a bright acid line kept things lifted. “I want it with goat’s cheese and figs,” she concluded.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Mills. He described a fragrant bouquet of white peach and melon, with “punchy and appealing” aromatics. The oak handling was praised as “well-integrated and fluid,” while the wine’s tight acid lines added drive without harshness. “Well made, clean and refreshing with complexity,” Mills noted.
Selected in the top wines of the blind tasting by Hirose and Gallagher. Hirose described it as cloudy in appearance with a cider-like nose of apple skin, umami savouriness, and wild edges of dried bonito, mushroom, white pepper, and crystallised ginger. “Very distinctive, but nonetheless delicious,” he said. Gallagher added descriptors like fresh nettles, guava, stewed feijoa, salted grapefruit, candied mango, pineapple rind, and beer hops. She called it “a polarising wine” with rich, nutty depth and tannin structure, best enjoyed with anchovies, cheese, and bold conversation. “An orange-forward, bitter wine,” she noted, that might just convert your IPA-loving friends to alternative wine.
2022 Streicker ‘Bridgeland Block’ Fumé Blanc, Margaret River $35 RRP
Perisotto selected this as one of her top wines from the blind tasting, calling it “a wine that is both focused and unexpectedly alternative.” She noted an “intriguing nose – jasmine, lemon peel, tar, and grapefruit leap from the glass, lifted by a salty sea spray edge and a green snap of asparagus.” On the palate, she found chamomile and pollen introducing a savoury, herbal dimension, with texture and structure shaped by skin contact. “Balanced, with a finish that carries long.”
2024 Ottelia Sauvignon Blanc, Mount Gambier $28 RRP
Harris described this as “compelling and interesting,” highlighting “vibrant leafy tomato bush notes” and “toasty, baked elements” reminiscent of tomato tart. He praised the balance between juicy stone fruit and savoury characters, noting, “some green notes pinch the finish, but oak sweetens and extends the tail.” With its slightly oily texture and depth, he concluded, “Quite big … and well-made.”
2024 Clyde Park Sauvignon Blanc, Geelong $40 RRP
Cooper was drawn to the “serious freshness of fruit” and the “vibe of refreshment” in this wine. He described “fresh citrus pith and a slightly saline quality that translates beautifully on the palate,” creating a tactile chalky sensation. “I’m enjoying the way it lingers on the tongue,” he said, “you can get into it and just roll all that chalky, sea spray kind of thing about the mouth.”
For Bird, this was a “winter sauvignon blanc,” with a nose showing a unique “spiced note, like oregano stems,” bringing savouriness and warmth. “The nose also has a creamy quality, which mellows the spice,” she added, and the fruit blends “unripe stone fruit and autumnal persimmon.” A nutty, chestnut-like note on the finish contributed to the wine’s comforting complexity.
Spain was captivated by the wine’s interplay of spice and fruit. “There was a lot of noticeable spice,” she said, with layers of “coriander seed, white pepper and curry leaf, with a hint of tamarind.” She found the core “crunchy pink lady apple, green pear and lemon verbena, with an almost mango-like finish.” The wine’s vibrancy and textural spice, she said, “interact in a way that’s super-interesting.”
The backstory
Sauvignon blanc has certainly cemented its place in this country, with the variety responsible for just over 12 per cent of the total white wine grape harvest in Australia’s 2024 vintage. It’s well behind chardonnay, which sits at around 46 per cent, but for the moment has a strong lead on pinot gris/grigio, and easily outstrips semillon and riesling.
But it’s when you factor in imported wine that Australia’s love affair with sauvignon blanc really snaps into focus. New Zealand accounts for around 56 percent of wine imported into the country, from a peak of closer to 59 per cent in 2016–17. It’s no secret that sauvignon blanc, and Marlborough sauvignon blanc specifically, make up the lion’s share of wine shipped across the Tasman, even as Australia’s love affair with the style wanes slightly.
Overall, factoring in imported wine, too, sauvignon blanc has twice the value of retail sales of chardonnay in this country (we export a lot of our chardonnay!), making it the most popular white wine, and equal with shiraz. That’s even more extraordinary when you consider that there aren’t many expensive bottles of sauvignon on the shelves, making for an awful lot of volume.
The Marlborough wine region in New Zealand – ground zero for the ‘sauvalanche’.
Ground zero for the ‘sauvalanche’
Sauvignon blanc made up an astonishing 78 per cent of New Zealand’s total wine grape harvest in 2024, while the Marlborough region contributed nearly 82 per cent of the country’s total wine grape harvest. To put that in perspective, the second–most important grape variety for New Zealand, pinot noir, made up just under seven per cent of the harvest total, and the second-largest region by volume, Hawke’s Bay, contributed just over six per cent in the same year. Sauvignon blanc and Marlborough’s twin dominance of the Kiwi wine industry is made even more remarkable by the fact that the first sauvignon vines in the region were planted in 1973, and were, at the time, destined to be blended with the significantly more popular müller-thurgau variety (now globally obscure).
This total dominance over New Zealand’s wine industry is the result of a global love affair that commenced in the early to mid-2000s with a style of wine that Marlborough winemakers produced from their sauvignon vines. That style was (and remains) one on the front foot for flavour, with zippy acidity and often a smidge of residual sugar to soften the mid-palate without being apparently sweet. It came as a bit of a revelation to a wine drinking public less keen on subtle detail but somewhat keener on flavour.
It was democratising in a way – unlike the nuanced, subtle wines beloved by aficionados, Kiwi sauvignon blanc was a breath of fresh air, tasting identifiably of something for even the most novice of tasters. And it delivered that flavour in spades. It was also remarkably consistent, with variations in quality and between producers subsumed beneath an identifiable overarching style. At the same time, that style also managed to alienate wine professionals, who were, and still are, somewhat keen on all that nuanced detail and less so on overt brashness.
Above: sauvignon blanc grapes at harvest. Opposite: Tom Shobbrook, whose skin contact 2010 ‘Giallo’ was a groundbreaking Australian expression of sauvignon blanc.
Too much flavour?
The flavour descriptors for Marlborough sauvignon blanc are a pungent set of words: passionfruit, cut grass, capsicum, tomato vine, gooseberry, tinned asparagus, blackcurrant – fruit and leaf – and the ever-so-endearing ‘cat piss’. (Fun fact: cats’ urine and blackcurrant share a key aroma molecule, 4-Mercapto-4-methyl-2-pentanone, which smells like cassis at lower concentrations and more like a litter tray at higher ones.) At the leaner end, more grassy or herbal aromatics dominate, while at the riper end, tropical aromas really explode, with guava, pawpaw, and the like quite common.
What was already a huge export industry for New Zealand around the start of the 21st century exploded as a grape glut became apparent in 2009, with endless containers of the fragrant stuff being hauled across the seas and sold at a price that was never viable for local makers to compete with. Additionally, Australia could never quite emulate the Kiwi style – which was the style for so long – although some makers certainly established benchmark wines that have consistently sold at a premium when compared to the cut-priced Kiwi bottlings.
Adelaide Hills winery Shaw & Smith’s Sauvignon Blanc best exemplifies this: a wine in a fragrant fruit-forward mode, made in very much the same way as those across the ditch, with juice fermented in stainless steel, at low temperatures, with little exposure to oxygen. That kind of success was rare, though. So, producers tacked, turning to adding savoury layers to their sauvignons, typically by fermenting all or part in oak to make a style known as ‘fumé blanc’.
Makers are employing varying degrees of skin contact, fermenting and maturing in oak both fully and in part, resting on lees, using wild yeasts, picking fruit deep into ripeness to capture intensity, as well as at the cooler end, capturing mineral expressions of site.
Fumé all day
The term fumé blanc was coined by the late, great California vigneron Robert Mondavi in 1968. His aim was to differentiate his dry style of sauvignon from the sweet wine production that sauvignon had typically been used for in America. The term was a nod to Pouilly-Fumé, an appellation in France’s Loire Valley renowned (alongside its sister appellation, Sancerre) for its sauvignon blanc-based wines. It was rebranding on a large scale: Mondavi reportedly did not attempt to trademark the name in order to encourage industry-wide use of the term.
Mondavi aged his wines in oak, adding another point of difference, although this maturation process was apparently never meant to be the defining character of a fumé blanc. Whatever his intent, the reality is that the term is now intrinsically connected with barrel ageing, and the term on a wine label will invariably point to a detectable degree of oak, whether new or old, and in varying proportions.
In Australia, the arch-example of that style was pioneered by Peter Althaus in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley. Althaus, a former IBM executive based in Zurich, searched the world for a site to make wine that would rival the great wines of Europe, with the Swiss businessman buying the already mature Stoney Vineyard in Campania in 1978. This vineyard became the foundation of his label, Domaine A.
The commanding Althaus proceeded to robustly swim against the current, championing Bordeaux varieties where they had been steadily abandoned (though he made notable pinot noir, too), crafting classically-styled wine from red grapes in a ‘more is more’ era – and, in 1996, debuting a powerful fumé blanc called ‘Lady A’, a vinous love letter to his wife. ‘Lady A’ sees only new French oak, with 12 months in cask, then at least two years in bottle before release. It was a landmark statement at the time, and it remains a cult wine today, selling out almost instantly when new vintages are released.
Above: Peter Althaus pioneered barrel-fermented sauvignon blanc in Australia. Opposite: Californian vigneron Robert Mondavi, who coined the term ‘fumé blanc’.
Australian alternatives
Australian winemakers have certainly toyed with oak for their sauvignon blancs, but few have dived in so deeply as Althaus. For many who have followed in Althaus’s footsteps, the aim of fermenting sauvignon blanc in barrels and/or ageing the fermented wine in oak is to tone down the aromatic extremes of the variety, rather than adding overt oak character. These winemakers also commonly rest the wine on its lees (dead yeast cells from fermentation) in order to add texture and nutty flavour complexity to the wine – a technique cribbed from Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. But while Australian winemakers tinkered with barrels and lees work to express a different side of sauvignon blanc, another angle was taking shape in South Australia.
Barossa winemaker Tom Shobbrook released his first ‘Giallo’ (Italian for ‘yellow’) in 2010. That wine was a landmark in a different way: a sauvignon blanc–based take on orange wine, where Shobbrook was trying to mine the variety for a more interesting expression through skin contact. Shobbrook has since kept the skins but dumped the variety, now making his ‘Giallo’ from a changing roster of riesling, semillon, chardonnay and muscat – but the statement was a bold one, opening up the possibilities for Australian sauvignon blanc even further.
Today, the ripples of Althaus and Shobbrook’s pioneering wines are definitively still being felt, with Australian sauvignon blanc finally emerging from the imposing shadow of its New Zealand counterpart just as demand for the Kiwi style has finally started to wane. And it’s doing so with a decidedly fresh face – or, rather, faces. Makers are employing varying degrees of skin contact, fermenting and maturing in oak both fully and in part, resting on lees, using wild yeasts, picking fruit deep into ripeness to capture intensity, as well as at the cooler end, capturing mineral expressions of site while avoiding both tropical excess and grassy greenness. Times have indeed changed, and Australian sauvignon blanc has never been so exciting – or so delicious.
Outtakes from the tasting
We gathered every Australian alternative sauvignon blanc – that is, with some element of barrel use, lees work or skin contact – we could find and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind.
Our panel: Yuki Hirose MS, head sommelier, Lucas Restaurants; Gary Mills, winemaker, Jamsheed; Clementine Bird, wine writer, Wine With Clementine; James Cooper, wine buyer, Mount Erica Hotel; Bonnie Spain, senior sommelier, Marmelo; Elisa Perissotto, area business manager, Red & White; John Harris, winemaker, Blue Pyrenees and Mitchell Harris; Olive Keswick Gallagher, sommelier, Coda.
Our panel of experts gathered at Society, Melbourne. Photo: Nick Manuell.
Mills kicked off the discussion by noting that, even as a winemaker who works with the variety, the panel tasting represents “the most sauvignon blanc I’ve ever tasted at one time in my life”. He reflected on his own approach to the variety in the winery: “Everything refers back to Marlborough, but you always approach sauvignon blanc and go, well, how can you make this more palatable to the public, especially those who don’t drink sauvignon blanc? You have to sell the stuff because you’ve grown it, and you have nothing else to do with it. Do you try to make it as Marlborough as you can, to appeal to those people? Or do you try to make make it as non–sauvignon blanc as you can?”
The commercial realities of the variety and Marlborough’s historical dominance of the market make sauvignon blanc uniquely challenging for Mills as a producer. “You’re dealing with so many factors,” he said. “It’s not just the grape you’re dealing with when you make sauvignon blanc – you’re dealing with the public perception, the mislabelling of it, the general worldwide lack of sales of it as well. So it’s a complex grape, far more so than just for the grape itself.”
All wines tasted ‘blind’, with palates cleansed thanks to Antipodes.
Hirose emphasised the role that Marlborough wines historically played in bringing new drinkers to wine. “Why was sauvignon blanc so popular at the time, apart from marketing, fifteen to twenty years ago? It’s that Marlborough sauvignon blanc was very, very easy to understand for people who haven’t had heaps of wine before – it’s got passionfruit, it’s got really beautiful aromas, it’s got crisp acid.” Hirose recalled that, at the peak of the ‘sauvalanche’, more subtle or mineral-driven wines such as Chablis were a hard sell to the general public, whereas now “it’s kind of becoming vice versa.” “I think the consumer has sort of evolved and has more understanding of wine – they’re saying that wine’s not only about aromatics and the nose, some people are starting recognise minimality and more complexity in general, rather than picking one single element, which was the aromatics. There’s been a market change or shift as the consumer has become more educated.”
For Bird, the challenge isn’t necessarily in making styles of sauvignon blanc that respond to the market, but broadening the audience for a variety of different styles of sauvignon blanc. “We don’t look at chardonnay and say we need it to be only one or two things for the market,” she said. “I think actually the best way to recontextualise sauvignon blanc is by giving winemakers the freedom to actually be able to make a variety of different styles and do things like work with flor, with lees, with oak, with malolactic conversion, and all these other great tools you have. We know as wine people that sauvignon blanc can be incredibly diverse in style – so it’s about actually bringing that to customers, and educating them, and working with labelling in such a way that is helpful to people.”
“We don’t look at chardonnay and say we need it to be only one or two things for the market.”
While she enjoyed the diversity of styles on display, Perissotto argued that “Balance is key. I don’t want winemaking to be something that’s sort of acting as a camouflage to everything else. I still want to perceive the fruit. Of course, when you have oxidative styles, it can be quite different, but overall, you should be able to perceive and get the characteristic of the grapes rather than just the winemaking into it. Otherwise, we might as well just take a random or a neutral grape and just play with it in the the winery.”
Harris echoed this sentiment. “It lends itself to all sorts of winemaking tools,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s gotta have the fruit inherit fruit quality there. It’s got to reflect where it was growing as a starting point – then we can add all sorts of different levels and degrees of complexity and winemaker input.”
Above: Olive Keswick Gallager and John Harris. Opposite: Gary Mills, Elisa Perissotto, and James Cooper.
Of the potential winemaking techniques used to add interest to the variety, the panel was most divided on the subject of skin contact. “Just no skins,” Mills pleaded. “That’s all I can say. Please no bloody skins!”
Other panellists found that skin contact could add a lot of interest to the wines that employed this technique, but acknowledged that they were not likely to appeal to a wide audience. “One thing that a lot of skin contact does present itself as is that almost-burnt citrus character,” Gallagher said. “If you don’t mind that, and if you find that a little bit interesting, there’s a really unique kind of pithy broad bitterness that I do think the variety lends itself to.” She added, “They are very strong on the nose, so I can see how that could just be a ‘Nope, I’m out!’ for a lot of people. But if you get over that hurdle, and you can find that interesting, there’s a really unique herbal approach to some of these wines that you don’t see in a lot of other skin-contact varietal wines.”
“There were some wines where that phenolic bitterness actually kind of kept a lot of the richer fleshy notes in check. And they kind of brought everything together and they extended this length and gave a curry leaf or a tamarind kind of vibe.”
Hirose concurred, noting that one of his top-six wines was one that clearly used extended skin contact. “I clearly made a note when tasting that you can’t compare this to a conventionally made sauvignon blanc because it has its own beauty, its own style.”
For Spain, a small amount of skin contact, judiciously applied, could bring balance. “There were some wines where that phenolic bitterness actually kind of kept a lot of the richer fleshy notes in check,” she said. “And they kind of brought everything together and they extended this length and gave a curry leaf or a tamarind kind of vibe that just extended the palate and created complexity.” As with other panellists, though, it was all about balance: “The phenolics have to be in check,” she concluded.
Above: Yuki Hirose, MS. Opposite: Clementine Bird and Bonnie Spain.
Cooper highlighted an intriguing and relatively rare winemaking tool: flor yeast, best known for its role in the making of dry fortified wines from Spain’s Marco de Jerez (aka Sherry) region. This yeast grows as a veil over the fermented wine as it ages, and can profoundly influence the character of the finished wine. “There’s several in there that I found flor characteristics in –including my top wine of the day, because I really enjoyed it,” he said. “But it’s obviously non-fruit. It’s very, very niche. It’s like the opposite of what someone who’s drinking Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc is going to be after. I think it gives an really interesting, complexing, aromatic element – as long as it’s not overshadowing the fruit, and then it’s also doing this really great textural thing as well.”
Overall, the panel found that sauvignon blanc was at something of an inflection point for Australian consumers, with the squeaky-clean, fruity Marlborough style and its Australian imitatorshaving lost a lot of their mass-market appeal, while more textural ‘alternative’ styles on display on the day had yet to fully make their presence known to sommeliers, trade professionals, and the wine cognoscenti.
Above: Palates cleansed thanks to Antipodes. Opposite: the panel in action.
For Mills, the diminishing hold of the Marlborough style on sauvignon blanc opens up the question of what exactly ‘mainstream’ sauvignon blanc might actually be. “I don’t see barrel work and lees as ‘alternative’ styles of sauvignon blanc – I see it as the only real way you can do it,” he said. “It’s age-old, isn’t it? It’s centuries old.”
The panel
Yuki Hirose, MS fell for wine while working in bars in his native Tokyo. Moving to Sydney over 15 years ago, he honed his sommelier skills over a decade at Rockpool, while also working his way through the ranks of the Court of Master Sommeliers with the aim of achieving the highest distinction. Hirose moved to Melbourne during the pandemic to launch a world class wine program with Loïc Avril for a string of ambitious venues for Lucas Restaurants. Today, as Wine Operations Manager, he oversees the lists and sommelier teams at Society, Kisume and Grill Americano. In August 2023, after five previous attempts, Hirose became a Master Sommelier, one of less than 300 worldwide.
Originally from Western Australia, Gary Mills completed a Bachelor of Literature before moving to Japan to study and work as an English teacher. Upon returning to Australia he had an epiphany during a brief stint as a Japanese-speaking tour guide in Queensland and began work in the vineyards of Margaret River. A five-week vintage posting at Ridge Vineyards California turned into a two-year full time position under the tutelage of winemaker Paul Draper. The Jamsheed label began in 2003, when Gary returned to Australia, with a focus on single vineyard Syrahs and aromatic whites from unique sites in Victoria. In 2019, Gary along with hospitality lifer and his partner in life and crime, Elika Rowell, opened the doors of Jamsheed Urban Winery to the people of Preston and beyond, precisely where the wine is made. Mills was a Young Gun of Wine Awards finalist in 2008 and 2009.
Clementine Bird is a Melbourne-based wine professional, writer, and educator with a background in wine buying, sommelier roles, and content creation. A WSET Diploma candidate and Certified Sommelier, she currently works as a senior sommelier at Reine & La Rue and runs Wine with Clementine, a digital platform focused on accessible wine storytelling. With experience spanning Domaine Chandon to editorial roles, Bird combines deep industry knowledge with a flair for communication. Her writing explores everything from producer profiles to trade insights, and she remains actively involved in the wine community through projects like Women and Revolution and Rootlings.
James Cooper got his start at a neighbourhood Vintage Cellars, before making his bones at Cru Bar & Cellar in Brisbane, where he was on the buying team for four years. He moved to Melbourne, working stints at City Wines Shop before becoming Assistant Head Sommelier at Society under the mentorship of Yuki Hirose, MS. After some travel, he took on the opportunity from Mount Erica Hotel to become that venue’s wine buyer, and develop the wine program there into what he thinks might just redefine what a pub wine list can be.
Bonnie Spain is a Melbourne-based sommelier with a particular expertise in Victorian and Iberian wine. After 10+ years working as a waiter in regionally based, hatted restaurants, as well as various cellar doors in the Geelong region, she decided to hone her knowledge of wine and soon found herself working for The Spanish Acquisition, working with Spanish and Iberian producers for over three years. Yearning to return to the restaurant floor, she is now the Senior Sommelier at the newly established Marmelo Restaurant in the CBD.
Elisa Perissotto is a Venetian native who first travelled to Australia in 2014, settling in Melbourne in 2016 after a stint in Sydney. Having worked in hospitality since she was young, Perissotto had a keen interest in wine, taking on a role at Grossi Florentino where she remained for a couple of years while studying WSET and gaining CMS certification. A role under Loïc Avril at Dinner by Heston followed, followed by a stint as a sommelier at Gimlet at Cavendish House. She now works as an area business manager for wine distributor Red & White, and holds a Court of Master Sommeliers Advanced Certification.
John Harris is the co-owner and winemaker for Mitchell Harris, and winemaker for Blue Pyrenees. Prior to launching the Mitchell Harris label in 2013, Harris spent over 15 years working in wine retail as well as boutique and multinational winemaking businesses both here and abroad, including eight years as the sparkling winemaker at Domaine Chandon. Harris has been an active wine show judge for nearly 20 years, judging at numerous regional and capital city wine shows. He also consults to small to medium wineries and local hospitality venues.
Olive Keswick Gallagher is currently the sommelier at Coda, having previously worked at Sunda and City Wine Shop. She has a decade working around wine, beer, and spirits in some degree, and is currently finishing up her WSET diploma.
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To say that Italian varieties have arrived is an understatement. Until around 2000, the Australian uptake of Italy’s grapes had been relatively slow, with some notable makers of sangiovese and nebbiolo the main players, though arguably a stylistic expression of pinot grigio had made the most Italian-accented impression. But the floodgates of new Italian grape varieties started to open after the turn of the century. The 2023 YGOWA Top 50 features Vino Intrepido, Mercer Wines, New Era, Sven Joschke Wine, Minimum, Yayoi and Intrepidus, who are are all flying the il Tricolore.
The 2021 Top 50 features Made by Monks, Quiet Mutiny and Express Winemakers, who are all expressing semillon, riesling and sauvignon blanc in new and exciting ways. Tasting notes appear at the end of the article.
“All old vines were young vines once,” says Stephen. “We’re curators of ancestor vines that are revered now. But once upon a time they were planted by people who – like Prue is now – were just exploring different grape varieties in this new country to see what would work. Back then, it was shiraz; now we’re planting nebbiolo, tempranillo, a whole multitude of new varieties that could well become old vines for future generations of Henschkes.”
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