Whites

2006 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc ($15)

This second-label white from well-known Marlborough producer Vavasour is firmly tart and full of succulent, lively passion fruit character, with surprising complexity given its reasonable price.

2006 Drylands Sauvignon Blanc ($15)

The near- perfect weather of the 2006 growing season helped Drylands winemaker Darryl Woolley create a classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, full of grapefruit-zest flavors and seashell minerality.

2006 The Crossings Unoaked Chardonnay ($16)

Unusually affordable for a single-vineyard wine, this brisk, apple-scented Chardonnay comes from a cool, low-yielding plot of vines nestled against the white-clay cliffs surrounding Marlborough’s Awatere Valley.

2006 Kim Crawford Marlborough Unoaked Chardonnay ($17)

Though this crisp white wasn’t aged in the barrel, it did go through malolactic fermentation, giving its full-bodied, Bosc pear flavors an appealing honeysuckle note.

2006 Sauvignon Republic Cellars Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($18)

California winemaker John Buechsenstein co-founded Sauvignon Republic in 2003, intending to produce Sauvignon Blanc from the world’s foremost regions. His Marlborough bottling is spot-on: bright and citrusy, with a keen herbal edge.

2005 Huia Vineyards Gewürztraminer ($20)

Winemakers Claire and Mike Allan, who founded Marlborough-based Huia in 1996, produce a wide range of impressive wines, including this ginger-and-apricot-flavored dry white.

2006 Kathy Lynskey Wines Marlborough Single Vineyard Gewürztraminer ($25)

This wildly aromatic (lychees and rose petals), full-bodied, spicy wine isn’t for the faint-hearted. In fact, it shows just how exotic Gewürztraminer can be, especially in a near-perfect vintage like 2006.

2006 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc ($28)

Notes of ripe gooseberry and key lime mark the scent and flavor of this terrific white; a peppery bite on the finish makes it especially refreshing. Alternatively, try the creamy, complex 2004 Cloudy Bay Te Koko ($34), which is fermented and aged in (mostly) neutral French oak barrels.

2006 Peregrine Pinot Gris ($28)

This luscious white so resembles a Pinot Gris from Alsace, France, that it’s a surprise to find it comes from New Zealand’s Central Otago region; the giveaway is the vivid, citrusy acidity that races in at the end.

Reds

2006 Saint Clair Vicar’s Choice Pinot Noir ($16)

The Ibbotson family once raised sheep, cattle and pigs on their Marlborough estate, but in 1978 decided that grapes were likely to be more profitable. Today they produce more than 20 different wines, among them this peppery Pinot Noir.

2004 Villa Maria Cellar Selection Syrah ($20)

With its edge of smoked-meat flavor, this savory Syrah from the heralded Gimblett Gravels subregion of Hawke’s Bay recalls a good northern Rhône red as much as it does anything from the New World.

2005 Te Awa Syrah ($28)

The full Maori name of this winery’s location, Te Awa o Te Atua, means "River of God"—a reference to the streams that run under this Hawke’s Bay-based property and helped create its alluvial, stony soils. This finely tannic, smoky Syrah shows New Zealand’s potential for this variety.

2005 Amisfield Central Otago Pinot Noir ($35)

Amisfield, on the South Island, is a former high-country sheep station, now planted to grapevines. From a small harvest, thanks to a cold flowering season in 2005, its Pinot Noir has the aroma of dark, wild berry jam.

2004 Rippon Pinot Noir ($39)

One of Central Otago’s most beautiful vineyards, one of its oldest and, since 2002, one of the few to be farmed biodynamically, Rippon is renowned for its elegant Pinot Noir—an ethereal mix of wild cherry fruit, earth and hints of licorice.

2004 Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir ($45)

This earthy, black cherry-rich Pinot ends on elegantly subtle tannins. Winemaker Clive Paton worked as a grave digger and milkman before hitting on the right career choice; he bought the Ata Rangi property in 1980, making him one of the pioneers of the Martinborough region.