‘Should we be concentrating on sauvignon blanc or putting our eggs in different baskets?’ Stumbling off the plane at 6.30 am in Auckland after the longest flight of my life (30 hours, since you ask), I wasn’t ready for the question exercising the mind of Terry Dunleavy, then heading up the New Zealand Wine Institute. Muttering some platitude on the lines of ‘if I ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, all I could think of was bed. That was in 1991 when sauvignon blanc was nearing its zenith as New Zealand’s unique selling point. In a world populated by chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, it seemed obvious to concentrate on what it did best. In time, even sceptics juice were converted to Kiwi sauvignon’ intensely assertive tropical fruit qualities. Try the pungently aromatic and zingy, tropical 2007 Lawson Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc, £9.99, or buy 2 = £6.99, Majestic, for example.

Sauvignon blanc remains New Zealand’s flagship wine and, with two in every five bottles produced, its most widely planted grape variety, but the wine landscape is undergoing subtle changes. New Zealand pinot noir has picked up such momentum that it’s become the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. Quite a feat for one of the most fickle grapes in the wine universe, especially since it’s now being talked about and consumed as a genuine alternative to red burgundy. Try the raspberryish 2006 Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir Pinot Noir, £19.99, Waitrose. Pinot noir has pushed chardonnay into third place but the fact that there are a host of delicious New Zealand chardonnays is somewhat obscured by the fact that every New World country worth its salt is coming up with better and better chardonnays. For the full flavour of fine Kiwi chardy, try the finely poised, toasty 2005 Vavasour Chardonnay, £11.49, Corney & Barrow (020 7265 2400).

If I had rubbed noses on that trip with any finely decorated Maori nose, as is the current fashion, I might have been more finely tuned to the potential of New Zealand’s cool maritime climate for aromatic white grape varieties, in particular riesling, pinot gris, gewürztraminer and viognier. In a sense, New Zealand is the mirror image of Alsace in its ability to produce intense aromatic styles, and yet it’s different. Alsace rieslings are full and dry. New Zealand’s geographical length means it can produce both full, dry rieslings and more delicate, Mosel-like kabinett and spätlese sweet whites.

This versatility is reflected in a range of classic dry whites on the one hand with refreshing lime-zesty characters such as the 2006 Hunter’s Marlborough Riesling, £13.50, Jeroboams shops, a similarly aromatic 2006 Paddy Borthwick Riesling, £124.80 / case, John Armit (020 7908 0600) and the more evolved, toasty, almost keroseney likes of the 2004 Forrest Estate Dry Riesling, £9.99, Adnams ((01502 727222). On the other hand are the lighter, fragrantly floral and sweetly fruited styles like the lusciously juicy green apple 2007 Felton Road Block 1 Riesling, £16.95 - £24.50, Lea and Sandeman (020 7244 0522); Berry Bros. (0870 900 4300) from Otago, and the sumptuously citrusy 2006 Neudorf Moutere Riesling from Nelson, around £16.49, contact importers Richards Walford for retail details on 00 44 (0)1780 461013.

The grape that’s really caught fire if that’s possible in such a cool, maritime climate is pinot gris. From next to nothing a decade ago, its popularity is such that it has overtaken riesling to become the country’s third most popular white after sauvignon and chardonnay. Even though it’s the same grape as pinot grigio, New Zealand is right to call it pinot gris because, as a high quality variety in Alsace, and incidentally Oregon, the name hasn’t been devalued like pinot grigio. It can be something of a white paint grape though, neutral, that is, unless cropped at low levels, and some tend to the overpowering or oversweet. Among the handful I find nicely poised, the richly textured 2006 Seresin Pinot Gris, £98.10 / 6, John Armit, fits the bill nicely, while the best 2007s are on the water, so I'll come back to them once they're in store. [ and the 2006 Nautilus Estate, Marlborough Pinot Gris, around £12.99, Harrods, Christopher Piper Wines (01404 814139), The Wineshed (01623 858054).] In the land of the long white cloud, the long white tail continues to grow.

Something For the Weekend 16 February 2007

Under a Fiver

2007 Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc, £4.99, Sainsbury’s.

With the zip and zing of the new vintage, this everyday sauvignon blanc from Chile’s best everyday brand Cono Sur shows the typical gooseberry fruit of the sauvignon blanc grape with its citrusy freshness rounded out by a touch of sweetness to help the medicine slip down.

Under a Tenner

2005 Bourgogne Chardonnay, Domaine Jomain, £7.99, Majestic.

According to the savvy Majestic buyers, this attractive dry chardonnay comes from close to the Puligny Montrachet vineyards of the domaine in question, and it shows, in a stylish, classic white burgundy with the typical oatmealy flavours and nutty complexity derived from the stirring of the grape lees.

Splash Out

2004 Crozes Hermitage, Vieilles Vignes, Tardieu-Laurent, £15.95, Corney & Barrow (020 7265 2400 ; www.corneyandbarrow.com)

Fromthe celebrated Rhône Valley wine merchants, Tardieu-Laurent, this is an exceptional Crozes Hermitage made purely from the syrah grape with a polished, modern veneer of smoky oak, and fine underling dark cherry fruitiness that retains its freshness, texture and balance.