Seresin Marama Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand 2013 (£20, Armit Wines) When, in the space of just a couple of decades, you’ve established one of the world’s most distinctive and successful wine styles from scratch, what comes next? That’s the question New Zealand’s winemakers have been asking for some time, now. It’s as if they’ve been waiting for enthusiasm for their pristine super-charged take on sauvignon blanc to wane. There’s still no sign of that yet. But, as an insurance policy for a time when the world has had enough of passion fruit and gooseberry bushes, the Kiwis have expanded their palette. Using oak barrels, rather than neutral stainless steel, is one way of doing that, adding, in Seresin’s restrained example, creamier textures and more savoury flavours as well as a satisfying grapefruit tang.

Elephant Hill Syrah, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand 2013 (from £18.90, Field & Fawcett; Hedonism Wines) Tasting through a range of oak-influenced Kiwi sauvignons at a recent event in London, it was clear that not every producer has mastered an art that is associated with the barrel-fermented sauvignon-semillon blends of the Graves district of Bordeaux. Some were a little too heavy on the toast, flattening the variety’s natural exuberance. It takes a skilled winemaker, such as ex-Cloudy Bay man Kevin Judd, to use a little oak for a wine as balanced, nuanced and nervy as his Greywacke Wild Sauvignon 2014 (£22, Majestic). Not that the Kiwis are pinning all their hopes on this one variety. Among the many others that shine in the country is syrah – exemplified nicely by Elephant Hill’s deep but succulent and sinewy, peppery, Rhône-alike.

Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand 2014 (from £18.99, Invinity Wines; Noel Young Wines) For all the improvement in syrah, however, it’s pinot noir that remain New Zealand’s most likely route to red greatness. Indeed, now that the vines have matured, and winemakers’ understanding of the variety has developed, the best are already there. As with any region specialising in this temperamental variety, the style doesn’t come cheap (although Aldi’s Exquisite Collection New Zealand Pinot Noir 2014 offers a simple but supple berry-scented introduction for just £6.99). Top burgundy-level quality can come at top burgundy prices from producers such as Bell Hill, Kusuda, Rippon and Ata Rangi. But the latter’s equivalent of a more accessibly priced burgundy village wine, Crimson, is irresistibly silky and pure in red fruit shaded with pinot’s characteristic forest floor.

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