2021 Cirro Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Valley 750 ml

There are at least three big reasons to buy the 2021 Cirro Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough Valley.

The first is the stunning quality in the glass. This is thrilling, racy stuff, clean and sharp as glass. Explosive kaffir lime and yuzu aromatics give way to a sinuous, kinetic texture on the palate, wired with electric acidity.

The second helps explain the first: Marlborough Valley’s 2021 vintage was a banner year for high-quality Sauvignon Blanc. If you’re a white-wine drinker, you owe it to yourself to sample the riveting freshness and energy that came from this standout harvest.

The third is that New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs are about to become WAY harder to get hold of. Soaring demand, kinks in the global supply chain, and a string of low-yield vintages have conspired to create unprecedented shortages for the category.

Cirro Wines is run by two accomplished Australian winemakers, David Tyney and Richard Green, who spend most of their time consulting around the world on wines made from a range of grapes and regions. They paired up on this passion project to focus on one grape from a singular terroir: Sauvignon Blanc from the Wairau Valley in Marlborough.  

Here, vineyards give birth to some of the most prized Sauvignon Blanc in the world. Meticulously farmed plots eke out small yields, but because of frosts in recent vintages those yields have been getting even smaller.

That fact often works to the benefit of the wines: With less crop to ripen, the vines throw all their energy into the remaining grapes, amping up the concentration and accelerating physiological and phenolic ripeness. That’s how you get the vitality and sleek vibrancy of this 2021 star bottling.