2024 vintage
94/100 | James Suckling
Rich and complex on the nose, this offers ripe gooseberries, dried lemons and hints of citrus leaves and nuts. Medium- to full-bodied, smooth, textured and lingering, with a zesty, phenolic tension. The minerally, wet-stone character adds depth and structure.

93/100 | Stephen Wong                                                                                                                            A hit of complex sulfides and smoky oak cloaks the mainline flavours of waxy lemon peel and grapefruit. Concentrated and punchy on the palate, it has a line of acidity which eventually yields to firm phenolics. Fruit persists through the structure well, holding its own on the finish. A funkier style and an alternative expression of sauvignon blanc, this has a strong winemaking signature which will likely remain even as it ages

2023 vintage

Finest 50 for 2025 | Matthew Jukes 
This was the finest and most complex Sauvignon Blanc of all 48 on show.  While it is shaped like a super-elite Pouilly-Fumé, telltale Marlborough details focus the mind on the sublime purity of fruit and the skill required to add infinitesimal fractals of detail without applying brakes to the experience.  With a majestic ‘high-gold score’ in my notes, this wine instantaneously catapulted itself to the top echelons of my Sauvignon Blanc experiences over the last twelve months.

NZ Wine of the Year | Susie & Peter                                                                                                   Ben Glover is an intriguing character, not to mention an impressive winemaker. You get the sense of a restless soul keen to disrupt (a word he uses often) the status quo and bring a bunch of new winemaking talent along with him. In 2018, he and fellow winemaker Rhyan Wardman established The Coterie, a contract winemaking facility with a difference based on the former site of the Seresin Estate in Marlborough’s Wairau Terrace. Deliberately focussed on premium, organic, small-batch wines, it’s all about collaborative innovation, a melting pot for new ideas and experimentation with the aim of, ‘ripping the beige quilt off Marlborough,’ as he delightfully puts it. Zephyr is Glover’s family-owned wine brand, and the wines are made at The Coterie. We first tasted the MKIII 2023 at the end of 2024 and it stopped us in our tracks. Fast forward to 2026 and it’s just as arresting. This is a wine that absolutely does disrupt the normal expectations you might have of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Like so many of the most intriguing examples of new wave Savvy, the fermentation is spontaneous and takes place in oak, albeit old and neutral. The result is a wine with swagger and style – beautifully nutty and mineral-laden on the nose with just a hint of celery below the surface. Steely, succulent and saline, a wine to linger over

GOLD | New Zealand National Wine Awards
Flint, smoky, lime oil, complex sulphide. Limes & gooseberry, jalapeno, silky texture, great balance, energy and drive.

95/100 | Cameron Douglas MS
An enticing bouquet of freshness, complexity and harmony of fruit and winemaking style. A silky smooth texture on the palate with flavours of fresh citrus and fine baked goods, grapefruit and apple, white peach and quince. Saline and salivating acid line, floral and mineral with core fruit flavours of citrus and white fleshed orchard fruits. A lengthy finish and with a luscious texture and harmonious quality.

94/100 | Candice Chow 
Bright, even, pale straw yellow. This has a captivating, savoury line of aromas, stone fruit, grapefruit, tamarillo, flint and fennel seeds. Medium-bodied, aromas of nectarine, grapefruit and its peels, ripe tamarillo, flinty minerals and fennel seeds. The fruit is savoury and shows concentration; a rounded texture contributes to weight and mouthfeel. Lively acidity persists a lengthy, mealy finish. Match with bacon-wrapped scallops and goat’s cheese tart. Fruit from Kerseley Estate.

GOLD | Marlborough Show                                                                                                              Reductive flinty style. Popcorn with good fruit weight to complement the oak

2022 vintage

95/100 | Anne Krehbiel MW
Slight reduction casts a smoky, sexy spell on the nose but with more air, a sense of sundried hay and ripe yellow plum shines through, all wrapped into funky smokiness. The palate is fluid, with the acidity supported by a creamy, textural undercarriage, lovely zestiness and great depth. Very fresh, beautifully ripe and totally rounded, yet bright and absolutely zesty. This is complex now but will get even better with age. Not just ripe but golden grapes were hand-picked, then whole-bunch-pressed straight into used French barriques for spontaneous ferment. A wine that gets under your skin.

2021 vintage

93/100 | Huon Hooke
Light bright yellow colour with a rich, ripe-smelling bouquet of dried fig and stone-fruit characters, chalky mineral notes in the background, while the palate is full and broad, rich and weighty, seemingly higher in alcohol. It’s a stronger, weightier wine than the 2019. Concentrated and lingering: a serious mouthful and a grown-up style of Sauvignon Blanc. It could take a good chill.

93/100 | James Suckling
A bit of reduction on the nose but with air you are greeted with lovely aromas of peaches, grapefruit, lily and wet stone. Medium-bodied with citrus acidity. Complex. Flint and wet stone on the palate bring depth, while herbs and ground nutmeg add a savoury character. Nicely composed.

95/100 | Wine Estate
This distinctive, complex, wood-aged wine is full-bodied and finely textured. Sweet-fruited and savoury, it has deep, ripe, tropical fruit flavours, finely integrated oak and a dry, lasting finish.

2020 vintage

95/100 | Cameron Douglas, MS
Complex and layered bouquet with aromas of lees spices and fresh fruits from the tropics and orchard. Soft fresh herb aromas of sage and thyme then grapefruit, melon mineral. A suggestion of white flowers adding complexity and charm. Crisp, tense and youthful on the palate with flavours of citrus then apple, mineral then herb, tropical then spice. Lengthy salivating finish – what’s not to like!

2019 vintage

Yvonne Lorkin | Ranked in Dish Magazine’s Top Line Up of Sauvignon Blancs – 2020 
If you’re expecting a simple splash of bog-standard, sweet passionfruit, peach and par-for-the-course capsicum, then you’ve cruised into the wrong cul-de-sac, my friend. This wine is yellow diamond-bright and scented with oodles of lemongrass intensity, layers of lemon and lime, buckets of basil and mountains of minerally, quartz characters, all of which osmose onto the palate and linger long on the finish. This is sauvignon and then some.

2018 vintage

93/100 | James Suckling – 2019
This has a strikingly concise and complex feel with a wealth of rich limes, peaches and melon, layered with succulent, zesty allure on the palate. Smooth, long and seamless.

2017 vintage

94/100 – 5 stars, Sam Kim
Beautifully refined and elegant, this is a stylish rendition of the variety showing white flesh stone fruit, rock melon and lemon/lime peel characters with subtle oatmeal complexity. The palate is concentrated and wonderfully weighted, displaying excellent focus and linear mouthfeel, brilliantly structured by vibrant acidity.

94/100 | James Suckling – 2019
This has an attractive, complex, barrel-fermented style with fruit that’s driven to a more pithy point on the grapefruit and lemon spectrum. The palate has attractive peach and lemon-curd flavours and grilled nuts to close. Nicely assembled, complex style here.

2015 vintage

Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier – 2015
An engaging and captivating bouquet with aromas and textures of lees and ripe fruit – heirloom lemon and rose apple, some grapefruit and mango-like tropical fruits; herbaceous as well with a soft green herb layer. On the palate – fruity, crisp, dry and loaded with texture – almost mealy with some sulphide action, ripe acidity and citrus led fruit flavours; herbaceous as well. A lovely example of modern SB from Marlborough.

2013 vintage

4.5 stars | Bob Campbell