Appellation Marlborough Wine welcomes more varietals
The organisation founded to strengthen and protect the world-famous Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc has expanded its certification to all Marlborough-grown varietals.
Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW) says it is extending and strengthening its guardianship of New Zealand’s largest wine growing region by updating its criteria for inclusion.
The internationally recognised and trademarked organisation has expanded certification to all Marlborough-grown varietals and says that in addition, every Sauvignon Blanc submitted is being blind tasted by an independent panel to authenticate the wine as a true representation of the region.
“Appellation Marlborough is a pioneering and evolving organisation,” says Ivan Sutherland, AMW chair and co-founder of Dog Point Vineyards. “These recent refinements strengthen our quality standards and add further credibility to the original values of our appellation.”
Appellation Marlborough Wine was introduced in 2018 to protect ‘Brand Marlborough’ by establishing standards and criteria that provide reassurance to the consumer and enhance the credibility of member’s wines, which undergo a strict certification process. AMW is trademarked in all key global wine markets.
To date, AMW has focused its attention on the region’s most iconic varietal, Sauvignon Blanc, seeing it as the most at risk. AMW’s 50 plus members voted that the organisation was now in a position to include all varietals under their accreditation umbrella. They also agreed that the tasting of all submitted Sauvignon Blancs was an important refinement of their certification process.
“Every wine comes through the tasting panel reinforced as a great example of Marlborough,” says AMW committee member and Lawson’s Dry Hills’ group marketing manager, Belinda Jackson. “This additional process strengthens our proposition that AMW wines are authentically Marlborough.”
Jackson says that while there has always been a tasting component to the AMW certification process, determined by (source vineyard) yield, extending it to all Sauvignon Blancs will increase credibility of the brand.
AMW coordinator Amanda McRae says several members have already commenced the process of certifying their 2021 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. “It has always been the plan to incorporate the broader Marlborough wine offering, but we wanted to start AMW with our region’s flagship varietal and get all the right protocols in place. Just a few years in and it’s clear that AMW provides value to our Sauvignon Blanc. Members were quick to agree that it was time to extend the certification programme to other varietals.”