New Zealand wine is often reduced to one single, unmistakable calling card—Sauvignon Blanc. Explosively aromatic, the wine’s passionfruit, guava, and ruby-red grapefruit scents loudly announce themselves, followed by notes of fresh-cut grass and green bell pepper, signatures so pronounced they’re nearly impossible to miss in a blind tasting. It’s easy to understand how these “sauvy b’s,” led in the 2000s by producers like Kim Crawford and Cloudy Bay, became global sensations. They’re fruit-forward without sweetness, refreshingly crisp in their high acid, and effortlessly easy-to-drink.

Last year when I traveled to New Zealand on my honeymoon, however, that style felt a bit like old news. I skipped Marlborough entirely, bypassing Sauvignon Blanc’s home in the South Island, and focused on regions on the North Island that have long existed outside the glare of mass-market fame—Waiheke Island, Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay, and Martinborough. There, I discovered some of New Zealand’s most compelling wines. And no, they weren’t Sauvignon Blanc.

Auckland/Waiheke Island

The Auckland Geographical Indication (GI) in the northwestern part of the island is made up of a cluster of small sub-regions, many settled by Dalmatian immigrants from Croatia, like the Brajkovich family of Kumeu River in the Kumeu/Huapai area northwest of the city. Today, the winery is run by third-generation winemaker Michael Brajkovich, New Zealand’s first Master of Wine, who also spearheaded the country’s transition from cork to Stelvin closures (screw caps).

Kumeu River is known for its Chardonnay, especially from Maté Vineyard, which walks a beautifully balanced tightrope between lush oak spice and wet-stone minerality, honeyed nuts, and crisp lemon citrus. It earns comparisons to white Burgundy, though it leans just slightly riper.

Beyond Kumeu, Waiheke Island is the fastest growing sub-region of Auckland’s. Just a 40-minute ferry ride from the city, it has become an increasingly popular weekend escape, with its own wine route, boutique hotels, and upscale restaurants—kind of like the Hamptons of New Zealand. Despite its growing fame, the island remains charmingly quaint with no stoplights or fast-food chains, and its warmer, drier climate supports excellent Bordeaux-style red blends.

I had assumed the wines here would be mediocre at best, a pleasant day trip for tourists who are bussed from stop to stop. While some options like Wild Estate, where vineyard archery is prioritized over winemaking, fit that stereotype, others far exceeded expectations. The heart of Waiheke winemaking lies in the Onetangi Valley, a warm area with sun exposure and maritime breezes from the Hauraki Gulf. Gently sloping vineyards sit on clay-rich soil mixed with ironstone and gravel suited for Bordeaux varieties, while the long, even growing season allows grapes to ripen without overdoing it.

Stonyridge was the first to put Waiheke on the map with its Larose red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. Its 1993 vintage was ranked first by French sommeliers alongside Petrus, Lafite Rothschild, and Latour in the Grandes Vins Rouge du Monde. In a vertical tasting of the 2015, 2016, and 2020, each wine proved immaculately structured with the potential to age, particularly important if you’re considering cellaring these bottles.

Even more intriguing (though less famous) is Stonyridge’s neighbor, Te Motu. Its restaurant, The Shed, serves delicious seasonal dishes such as lamb ribs, and its wines are equally compelling. In a vertical of Te Motu’s flagship Onetangi Valley Cabernet-Merlot blend, the 2000 vintage particularly sang, reminding me of old Bordeaux—earthy, leathery, hints of cigar box, with a touch of lingering plum fruit.

Mudbrick Vineyards offers another kind of sophistication, with a rich Onetangi Valley red blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Syrah, or its red-fruited, earthy Montepulciano. And Man O’ War Vineyards stands out for its Syrahs, especially its Dreadnaught, a dark-fruited, peppery, smoky wine that retains freshness despite its slightly jammy character.

Gisborne

Gisborne sits at the eastern edge of New Zealand’s North Island and, thanks to its proximity to the International Date Line, is often touted as the first city in the world to see the sunrise each morning. Its maritime climate, fertile alluvial soils, and abundant sunshine make it naturally suited for agriculture. Yet Gisborne has long carried a reputation problem.

When Captain James Cook anchored here in 1769, he dubbed it Poverty Bay, believing the area lacked the resources he sought. By the 1960s, the region had become synonymous with bulk wine production, planted to varieties like Müller-Thurgau, Palomino, and Chasselas, and commonly cropped at yields approaching ten tons per acre.

When Marlborough overtook Gisborne as New Zealand’s largest wine producer in the 1990s, large companies like Montana and Constellation withdrew and vineyard acreage began to shrink, forcing the remaining winemakers to turn to more serious craft if they wanted to survive. These winemakers had relied on Chardonnay, leading them to proclaim Gisborne as being the “Chardonnay Capital of New Zealand.” But as Marlborough surpassed them in volume of that variety, many began exploring alternatives and planted Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, Chenin Blanc, and Albariño. While Chardonnay remains the most widely planted grape, these alternatives often prove to be the most interesting.

One of Gisborne’s quality pioneers was Bill Irwin, who in 1968 began elevating Chardonnay at Matawhero Wines by planting the region’s first Mendoza clones. He also introduced Gisborne’s first Gewürztraminer vines, which proved especially successful. After the estate fell into disrepair, it was purchased and revitalized in 2008 by Richard and Kirsten Steale, with Kim Crawford as a consulting winemaker.

The revived Matawhero range stays true to its heritage, particularly with a Gewürztraminer marked by expressive rose florals and ripe lychee fruit. The Steales also launched the Church House label, experimenting with Arneis, Albariño, Chenin Blanc, and Grüner Veltliner. Chenin Blanc and Albariño have emerged as standouts, with the latter offering bright, zesty grapefruit flavors that compare with its Spanish counterparts.

At Millton Vineyards, Annie and James Millton charted another path. In the early 1980s, they became the first producers in the Southern Hemisphere to adopt biodynamic viticulture, decisively rejecting Gisborne’s bulk-wine identity. Today, Millton is best known for its Chenin Blanc from the Te Arai Vineyard, partially fermented in demi-muids to create a rounded, off-dry style reminiscent of Vouvray. They also make Clos de Ste. Anne La Bas Chenin, a dry version offering a nutty, savory profile layered with apple and quince fruit and a subtle touch of woolly lanolin.

Hawke’s Bay

Hawke’s Bay, about three hours south of Gisborne, is perhaps the North Island’s most celebrated region. It’s best known for its Syrah, particularly from Gimblett Gravels, a terroir born from an earthquake that altered the course of the Ngaruroro River, leaving an alluvial fan of gravel, silt, and loam. With growing-season temperatures averaging 66–75 °F, Syrah from this area is often compared to cooler-climate Northern Rhône examples, though its blackberry fruit tends warmer and brighter.

Trinity Hill, established in Gimblett Gravels in 1993 and helmed by winemaker Warren Gibson since 1997, produces particularly elegant Syrah with their flagship, Homage. Using varying amounts of whole-bunch fermentation (typically 20–30 %), Gibson crafts wines with lifted black raspberry fruit, nuanced scents of bacon and pepper, and robust tannins—a Syrah built to age. The estate also produces a series of single-vineyard wines. My favorite is Thomson’s Block from the elevated, north-facing Roys Hill site with sandstone over limestone soils. Hand-picked and foot-trodden, this wine is more restrained in berry fruit, leading instead with cedar, licorice, and five-spice notes.

What surprised me most however were the unusual whites I encountered during a nine-course tasting menu curated by the husband-and-wife team of Chris Stockdale and Jeanette Woerner at Wallingford Homestead. Expecting the region’s staples—Chardonnay, Syrah, and Cabernet blends—I was instead presented with Viognier, Grüner Veltliner, and Fiano. My wood-fired eggplant was paired with Bilancia’s Uvaggio, a field blend of Viognier, Marsanne, and Roussanne from the north-facing La Collina Vineyard, a wine that balances lush honeysuckle richness with fresh acidity and apricot stone fruit.

With her wine “Florence,” Jenny Dobson made the first commercial Fiano in Hawke’s Bay for her eponymous brand. The Fiano is grown on volcanic and gravelly soils that preserve both acidity and balance, and has aromas of citrus blossom and red apple, complemented by crisp wet-stone minerality. Yet the showstopper of the evening was Lime Rock’s Grüner Veltliner, grown on limestone slopes near Waipawa at an elevation that moderates ripening and maintains natural acidity—Pinot Noir is another specialty of the estate. Vibrant and energetic, the wine offers white asparagus aromas and chalky minerality.

Hawke’s Bay’s diversity stems from its varied climate, which can differ by up to 12 degrees from the coastal Te Awanga region to Gimblett Gravels inland. Cooling sea breezes challenge varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon on the coast, yet they thrive further inland. Soil composition varies widely as well. Hawke’s Bay has roughly 25 distinct soil types, from gravel beds, sand, clay, and greywacke—a hard, gray sandstone—supporting everything from Pinot Noir to Cabernet Sauvignon. While plantings of Fiano and Grüner Veltliner remain rare, I’m hoping these successes will pave the way for more exceptional, distinctive white wines from the region.

Martinborough

Martinborough, Masterton, and Gladstone are the three sub-regions of Wairarapa, the North Island’s southernmost wine-growing area, but Martinborough is its heart. The region is notoriously windy, buffeted by the nearby Cook Strait, which influences the Pinot Noir grown here—small berries with thick skins produce deeply colored wines with robust tannins. Martinborough’s proximity to the coast, combined with the Aorangi Mountains to the east and west, creates a natural wind funnel that shapes the climate. It is the coolest and driest area on the North Island with significant diurnal temperature shifts, a factor that helps craft elegant, nuanced, and age-worthy Pinot Noirs.

In 1980, Clive Paton, a dairy farmer, read an article by soil scientist Derek Milne identifying Martinborough as suitable for wine. Paton sold his cows and founded Ata Rangi, purchasing a gravelly site to plant Pinot Noir. Today, under the guidance of Paton’s acclaimed winemaker Helen Masters, Ata Rangi is the flagship winery of the region. Masters’ Pinot Noir is intensely red-fruited and delicate with complex layers of violet flowers and vanilla spice. The winery also produces a delicious and textured Pinot Gris, aged on its lees for a creamy mouthfeel while retaining bright pear and jasmine flavors.

Escarpment Vineyard, founded in 1998 by Larry McKenna and acquired by Australian Torbreck Wines in 2018, is located in the Te Muna Road area, a cooler, higher site than vineyards closer to town. The winery bottles Pinot Noir from four single-vineyard sites in its Insight Series. Kupe, from the winery’s estate vineyard, is the most structured and powerful with deep plum and black cherry fruit. Kiwa, from Cleland Vineyard, is more savory and herb-driven; Pahi, from Pahi Vineyard, is refined with floral violet and rose; and Te Rehua, from Barton Vineyard, is ripest in its plum and blackberry flavors.

While I mostly avoided Sauvignon Blanc on my North Island travels, I would be remiss not to mention that one-third of Martinborough’s plantings are dedicated to the grape. Here, the style is restrained rather than exuberant, showing gooseberry, grapefruit, and cool, stony minerality. Palliser Estate keeps its Sauvignon Blanc lively with some lees aging giving texture to the mid-palate, proof that sometimes even old news grapes can feel fresh again.