Sounds like sour grapes to me

[Craig(NZ)]

Excuse the pun and who drinks Oyster Bay SB anyway

"The Australian wine industry has hit out at New Zealand's sauvignon blanc, with one Aussie wine-maker labelling popular Kiwi sav "the McDonald's of wines".

Wine Australia last month called for Aussie wine drinkers to "ditch that Sav Blanc from across the Tasman in favour of a top local drop" for Australia Day, while a Sydney Morning Herald article over the weekend featured several winemakers rallying against New Zealand's hugely popular product.

James Agnew, who has a family-run vineyard in NSW's Hunter Valley and is the former chair of the NSW Wine Strategy, told the paper New Zealand's savs are "the McDonald's of wines".

"You can go all over the world but a Big Mac is still a Big Mac," he said.

Sampling a glass of Australia's top selling white wine, an Oyster Bay sauvignon blanc, Hunter Valley wine-maker Bruce Tyrrell told SMH's Rick Feneley it tasted of "passionfruit ... body odour ... cat's pee ... lantana"."

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10863332

[malliemcg]

Such calls to arms bothers me. There is so much wine in the world, and it jolly well calls to be enjoyed, no matter it's origin. I have a hard enough time convincing people that if they like what ever it is that they're drinking that it's a blessedly good wine and deserves to be purchased.

As much as I hate to admit it, out of Sauvignon Blanc based wines that are not French (minerally Sancerre is nice), I've found a few off the beaten track NZ SB's that are actually drinkable, nay enjoyable, (of course, nothing that hits the top seller charts).

[dingozegan]

I'm not a fan of Kiwi Sauv Blanc, but I think most international Sauv Blanc lovers consider NZ has the edge over Australia when it comes to Sauv Blanc. If the article's drinking statistic is true, clearly the average drinker thinks so too, which suggests the Aussie industry needs to either improve the Sauv Blanc/crisp white wine quality (or offer an attractive alternative), or improve the marketing (more likely), or both. Protectionism is (ultimately) not in the best interests of the Aussie wine industry IMO.

[daz]

Don't give a rats, only drink other people's SB to be polite

[Craig(NZ)]

Don't give a rats, only drink other people's SB to be polite

Apart from one bottle of Cloudy Bay which I buy as tradition every year, I am the same. I dont mind a good Sauvignon every now and then with some good seafood, but sharing other peoples is enough for me and if there is a choice I skip it

[dan_smee]

I'm not a fan of Kiwi Sauv Blanc, but I think most international Sauv Blanc lovers consider NZ has the edge over Australia when it comes to Sauv Blanc. If the article's drinking statistic is true, clearly the average drinker thinks so too, which suggests the Aussie industry needs to either improve the Sauv Blanc/crisp white wine quality (or offer an attractive alternative), or improve the marketing (more likely), or both. Protectionism is (ultimately) not in the best interests of the Aussie wine industry IMO.

Protectionism is not in the best interests of Australian wine makers, no. The Aussie wine industry should say "we now have a market of new wine drinkers into this style of thing - lets show them what wine really is". I do not like any Sauv Blanc's, but my wife does. Whenever she buys one, I will open a Hunter Sem or a riesling. Problem is, "Savvy's" are so accesible and are usually about as subtle as a brick to the face, requiring no wine appreciation knowledge to enjoy. I think this is their appeal. (My wife also loves Riesling and a number of other whites - she does have great taste, but this is her one flaw )

There is definitely a divide in quality/price trade-offs though, because you can spend 10 bucks and get an NZ sauv blanc that tastes like.... an NZ sauc blanc. 10 bucks on an Aussie riesling or sem will get you a generic, unbalanced, unloving and unrewarding drop 7 times out of 10. The reverse is also true, however - spend 25 on an NZ sauv blanc and you get, again, an NZ sauv blanc. Spend 25 on a riesling, you can buy a Petaluma Hanlin Hill, a Clonakilla etc etc. Spend 25 on a semillon, you can get a Thomas Braemore, a Tyrrell's HVD/Belford/Stevens. I think my point is the accesibility and quality rises substantially with price in Aus with white varietals. I have had my share of NZ sauv blancs (no more!) and find the difference is greater balance, intensity of fruit flavours, ageability blah blah - it is that you can taste less cat pee.

[Craig(NZ)]

Yip, whether we like it as a drink a lot, on occasion, or not, there is no denying that Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is an iconic New World wine styles. But its good that some individuals seem to know better.

It's as bad as saying that Justin Bieber is a crap singer even though 100s of millions of people love him.

Oh s*#t I just destroyed my own argument

[n4sir]

Sour grapes yes, but it's the pure hypocrisy of the Australian Wine Industry's criticism that bothers me.

Does the name Yellowtail or any of the other critter labels ring a bell? We've been just as guilty exporting "McDonalds of Wines" overseas in 24,000 litre goon bags to be dumped in grocery stores under bullshit virtual labels - all due to a grape glut of our own making, and for a while it was all trumpeted as an incredible marketing success.

My 2c,
Ian

[Panda 9D]

It's not my favourite wine in the world but I've had at least one or two brilliant NZ SBs in my life. There are loads of boring and even bad ones.. but as in most places of the world, most of the wines produced aren't something I consider worth drinking. How is that different from anywhere? Most Burgundies suck, most Bordeaux sucks, most Champagne sucks. Most movies suck, most books suck, most TV sucks...