2025 Astrolabe Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough

The 2025 Sauvignon Blanc is leafy and herbal, with green apple and pineapple in abundance. While this is not hugely complex, it is, as usual, enormously pleasurable, and all wines from this producer come recommended. Drink to 2028.

91 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, April 2026

Juicy and fruit-driven, this tropical sauvignon blanc has notes of pineapple and fresh herbs. Medium-bodied with zesty acidity and lots of lemon character. Succulent. Sustainable. Drink now.

91 points Kevoin Dacy for James Suckling, October 2025

Floral, perfumed and expressive with classic passionfruit, blackcurrant leaf and gooseberry flavours. Everything sits forward and with a lighter, more precocious style for immediate enjoyment. Drink now.

90 points Stephen Wong for The Real Review, October 2025

Astrolabe’s 2025 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is a 52/20/17 blend of grapes grown in the subregions of Awatere Valley, Kēkerengū Coast and Lower Wairau Valley. The grapes were machine harvested during the night, de-stemmed and lightly pressed with minimal skin contact. The clear, cold-settled juice was fermented in stainless steel at low temperatures using a select neutral yeast strain.

About this producer

Astrolabe is a Marlborough-based family business of the Waghorn family. When career winemaker Simon Waghorn wanted to start his own label in 1996, he chose the name Astrolabe as he liked the connotations of exploration and discovery: a mariner’s astrolabe was used by early navigators to determine latitude by measuring the altitude of a celestial object.

The grapes are sourced from ten local families who live on their land and farm sustainably. The sites are spread across the Marlborough sub-regions, presenting an opportunity to work with produce from a diversity of soil profiles and mesoclimates.

Astrolabe’s operations are certified by Sustainable Winegrowing NZ, and their Astrolabe Farm and Wrekin vineyards are certified organic. They have also been certified carbon neutral through Toitū, and were one of the foundation members of Appellation Marlborough Wine, a group of growers seeking to safeguard the quality of the region’s wines.