UK wine critic's opinion decried

Several Marlborough winegrowers have hit back at a British wine critic who referred to Marlborough's 2008 sauvignon blancs as evil and watery.

In a column in the influential British newspaper The Times, Jane MacQuitty said she was horrified to discover a slew of "supposedly top-notch" sauvignons from Marlborough she was judging at the recent Decanter World Wine Awards "were evil, watery, grassy wines".

"The top drops among them did have the herbaceous, flowering currant and tropical fruit characters that have made this classic New World appellation a global crowd-pleaser ever since Cloudy Bay's moody, misty label and zingy sauvignon blanc within pushed this wine style into the finest and rarest cult class in the mid-1980s.

"But there were none at this Decanter competition to which I personally wanted to award even a bronze medal, and none that I would have paid 7 (NZ$17.70) to taste again," Ms MacQuitty wrote.

Despite her opinion, several Marlborough sauvignon blancs received silver and bronze medals at the event.

She went on to say that a leading Australian wine expert had told her that detrimentally high yields being squeezed out of sauvignon blanc grapes in Marlborough were taking their toll.

"The bumper, record-breaking 2008 New Zealand sauvignon blanc harvest has helped quantity, not quality," she said, before advising her readers that they would be better buying French wines.

Saint Clair Family Estate director Neal Ibbotson described Ms MacQuitty's column as a "very poor piece of journalism".

Marlborough sauvignon blanc was enjoyed globally because of its special flavours, he said.

Vintages varied from year to year, but the district had always produced great sauvignon blanc, and 2008 was no different.

New Zealand Winegrowers chairman and Fairhall Downs owner Stuart Smith said everyone was entitled to their opinion, and it was unfortunate Ms MacQuitty had had a bad experience.

"I don't hold any fears for the quality of Marlborough sauvignon blanc."

There were many wine writers, and saying something controversial was a way of making themselves "stick out from the crowd", he said.

Marlborough viticulturist Jane Hunter said there had been criticism of Marlborough sauvignon blanc, before and it would happen again. It often happened after a good vintage like 2007, she said.

"There's always a bit of tall-poppy syndrome. Like everything, if you do something well, you get your critics," she said.

- The Marlborough Express