2025 Villa Maria - Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Private Bin (750ml)

Villa Maria started in 1961, when a 21-year-old George Fistonich gave up a career in carpentry and leased five acres from his father in Māngere, South Auckland. He planted one acre of vines and made the first Villa Maria wine from that plot in 1962. Over the following decades the winery became one of New Zealand’s best-known and most awarded producers. Fistonich was knighted for his service to the country’s wine industry. New Zealand winemaker Indevin has owned Villa Maria since 2021.

The Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc blends fruit from Marlborough’s two main valleys. The cooler, coastal Awatere gives lime, lemongrass and fresh herbs, and the Wairau adds riper tropical fruit. The vineyards range from clifftop and coastal sites to stony riverbeds and deep silt-clay loams. The 2025 season brought large crops and settled weather, so the grapes ripened slowly and evenly. After a gentle pressing, the clear juice was fermented cool with selected yeasts to keep it bright and crisp. The wine was bottled young.

This Sauvignon Blanc is pale straw with green glints. It opens with lime, lemongrass and fresh herbs, followed by passionfruit and ripe tropical fruit. The palate is pure and focused, with lively acidity and a long, refreshing finish. Pour it with oysters, Thai salads or Vietnamese rice paper rolls.