Like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc? Don’t Miss Out on These Other Great Kiwi Wines
RECENTLY I asked the manager of a large wine store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, “Do you have any New Zealand wines that aren’t Sauvignon Blanc?" The answer was no. I wasn’t surprised. After all, this variety accounts for the vast majority (about 89%) of New Zealand’s wine exports, and almost five times more Sauvignon Blanc than Pinot Noir, the country’s second-most-popular grape, is currently planted there.
While New Zealand producers turn out plenty of wines made from other grapes—Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling, to name a few—not many show up in American wine stores. I couldn’t help but wonder: What would I find if I went looking for New Zealand wines other than Sauvignon Blanc? In stores that stocked New Zealand Non-Sauvignon Blancs—NZNSB, as I decided to call them—I found two or three at most. Only two stores, both in New Jersey, stocked more: my local Total Wine & More, in West Orange, and Gary’s Wine & Marketplace, in Wayne.
Thanks to Gary’s corporate wine buyer Gillian Sciaretta, the store features 12 NZNSB wines (along with 43 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs). When Sciaretta assumed buying duties late last year, she tasted an array of New Zealand wines and was impressed with their uniform high quality. Indeed, she thought quite a few “over delivered" for the price and was particularly impressed by New Zealand Pinot Noirs.
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