The World's Best Sauvignon Blancs

Google the phrase "best Sauvignon Blanc" and the results will invariably also include the word "Marlborough". This is not one of those lists.

In fact, for a region that has so determinedly nailed its colors to the Sauvignon mast, I imagine that Marlborough producers will be a little put out not to find a single entry on this list. To be honest, I was rather surprised myself; rarely do regions and grapes become so synonymous so quickly.

However, this is a list of the best, after all, not simply the most popular, although it is genuinely surprising to find that only two Marlborough wines make the top 25 highest-scoring Sauvignons on Wine-Searcher (Dog Point Section 94 and Greywacke Wild, since you ask, at #23 and #24, respectively).

Sauvignon from Marlborough just doesn't get the scores from the wine critics; at least not in the way that France and Austria (yes, Austria) do. That's hardly surprising, given a huge amount of Marlborough's output is that sweaty, almost underripe, passionfruit-and-lime-flavored wine you find in the supermarket, usually wearing a label that ends in "Bay". All those years of making cashflow-friendly, supermarket-focused wines and shipping tankers of juice around the world for bottling might be coming home to roost.

Or is it the trusty Old World vs New World favoritism argument? I'd be tempted to suggest that some critics were biased in favor of France – in exactly the same way they seem to be when it comes to Pinot Noir, for example – and would prefer tradition and often boring wines against youth and exuberance. However, the presence of three wines from Austria would mitigate against that view; notwithstanding Austria's centuries-long wine tradition, Sauvignon Blanc is a recent addition to its armory and is no more native there than in New Zealand.

Anyway, we are using the aggregated weighted critic scores that Wine-Searcher allots to each wine as our guide. We measure this score to four decimal places (even though we only display the rounded, two-digit total), so even wines with the same rounded score are in strict order.

Looking at the scores gives the start of a strange set of circumstances. A little like Zinfandel, it seems the critics can be a little sniffy about Sauvignon. They don't believe it can make truly great wines regularly enough to compete with Riesling or Chardonnay. However, the gulf between the scores and Sauvignon's popularity is huge; consumers love Sauvignon (especially the ones from critically underappreciated Marlborough), and can't seem to get enough of it. It must be quite upsetting to the guardians of taste that their opinions should be so little-regarded by the masses.

However, no one could argue with the quality of the wines listed above (especially if they were paying an average of $255 a bottle for it) and no one is arguing. The Loire is often overlooked among French wine regions as people slaver over Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne, so it's nice to see it get a look in here. It's a reminder that the Sauvignon strongholds of Pouilly and Sancerre still have plenty to offer.

But it must smart for Sauvignon producers to be so cruelly neglected by the critics. Winemakers can be a little ambivalent about the grape – certainly in Marlborough a lot are – as on the one hand it sells well (albeit at a more affordable price point than, say, Chardonnay), which is the core aim of winemaking anyway; who cares how good it is if no one wants it?

And on the other hand, all that effort and popularity count for nothing when it comes to kudos, to points and to the profound satisfaction of having "experts" appreciate your efforts. I've often heard Sauvignon dismissed (and I've been guilty of it myself) as being "pretty good, for Sauvignon".

Maybe that ambivalence is what's holding the variety back, or maybe we just need different critics. Either way, this list should certainly represent the throwing down of the gauntlet for Marlborough.