NZW Inc. Yealands.Estate from www.nzwine.com
Marlborough region, which occupies a large part of South Island's northeast coast inland from Cloudy Bay, has 'almost 30,000 hectares of vines (2/3 of the national total),' and a staggering 80% of this is dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc. Thankfully, the second most important grape is Pinot Noir at 2733 ha, half of all plantings of this variety in NZ. There are three subregions: Southern Valleys (composed of the Omaka, Fairhall, Brancott, Ben Morvan and Waihopai Valleys), Wairau Valley and Awatere Valley. Here's a dozen tasty Marlborough Pinots.