page_title: Alcohol in New Zealand
section_title: Sauvignon blanc breakthrough
hierarchical_section_title: Alcohol in New Zealand / Wine production / Sauvignon blanc breakthrough
caption_attribution_description: A bottle of Jackson Estate Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.
context_page_description: Alcohol has been consumed in New Zealand since the arrival of Europeans. The most popular alcoholic beverage is beer. The legal age to purchase alcohol is 18.
context_section_description: In the 1980s, wineries in New Zealand, especially in the Marlborough region, began producing outstanding, some critics said unforgettable, Sauvignon blanc. "New Zealand Sauvignon blanc is like a child who inherits the best of both parents—exotic aromas found in certain Sauvignon blancs from the New World and the pungency and limy acidity of an Old World Sauvignon blanc like Sancerre from the Loire Valley" (Oldman, p. 152). One critic said that drinking one's first New Zealand Sauvignon blanc was like having sex for the first time (Taber, p. 244). "No other region in the world can match Marlborough, the northeastern corner of New Zealand's South Island, which seems to be the best place in the world to grow Sauvignon blanc grapes" (Taber, p. 244).
caption: A bottle of Jackson Estate sauvignon blanc from New Zealand
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