Appellation Marlborough Wine (AMW) has announced its highly anticipated Annual Collection for 2025 – A benchmark selection of certified Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. First launched in 2022, the initiative celebrates a benchmark selection of certified Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that showcases the diversity, quality, and authenticity that define the region.
Ninety-three AMW Certified wines were tasted blind over an intensive eight-hour session by a distinguished independent panel. This year, New Zealand judges Stephen Wong MW and Cameron Douglas MS were joined by Australia’s Toni Paterson MW.
Michael Wentworth, CEO of AMW, says, “The panel’s collective expertise mirrors the rigour of our certification process; through robust discussion and careful deliberation they have identified the twelve wines that best represent our benchmark, across our diverse sub-regions and styles”
Stephen Wong MW explains the panel observed that the 2025 vintage “sees the return of a more classical Marlborough flavour profile – a combination of herbaceous and fruity, firmly rooted in gooseberry, capsicum, blackberry leaf and passionfruit.”
“We saw wines that captured both lightness and vibrancy, as well as those expressing saline and gravelly minerality. The vintage reinforces Marlborough’s ability to deliver wines of purity, balance and enduring character.”
The selection also includes four wines from previous vintages: “including two from the intensely concentrated 2024 vintage and two long-aged styles from 2023. This crucial part of the Marlborough story highlights the depth and diversity of Sauvignon Blanc when made with age-ability in mind.”
Michael Wentworth, adds that the Collection continues to highlight that AMW members meet the highest standards of origin, quality, integrity, and sustainability through the certification process – “Marlborough’s standing rests on an intensity and quality unique to this place. The AMW mark assures consumers that what they open is the true, provenance-driven expression of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and the twelve wines in the Annual Collection demonstrate that without compromise.”
THE 2025 AMW COLLECTION
• Blank Canvas Holdaway Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2025
• Clos Henri Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2025
• Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2025
• Cloudy Bay Te Koko Sauvignon Blanc 2023
• Greywacke Wild Sauvignon 2023
• Holdaway Estate Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2025
• ROHE Blind River Sauvignon Blanc by Rapaura Springs 2025
• ROHE Rapaura Sauvignon Blanc by Rapaura Springs 2025
• Tapi Sauvignon Blanc 2025
• te Pa Sauvignon Blanc Oke 2024
• The Paper Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc 2024
• Whitehaven Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2025
ABOUT APPELLATION MARLBOROUGH WINE (AMW)
Appellation Marlborough Wine™ (AMW) was established in 2018 to protect the integrity and reputation of Marlborough wines. The AMW mark is awarded to wines that meet defined production standards, are verified for 100% Marlborough origin and certified sustainable vineyards, bottled exclusively in New Zealand, and pass a tasting assessment by an independent panel of industry experts.
With more than fifty-five member producers, AMW represents a shared commitment to quality, provenance, and sustainability — reinforcing Marlborough’s reputation for world-class Sauvignon Blanc.