Tohu Wines and Kono Wines, proud Maori-owned wine brands, are thrilled to announce their recent accolades from Wine Enthusiast. With thousands of wines reviewed each year, earning 90+ points and ‘Best Buy’ from Wine Enthusiast, places Tohu and Kono among the top performing Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough, delivering outstanding quality at an accessible price point.
The results will be released in the upcoming Wine Enthusiast magazine, May issue, on sale April 29, 2025.
Chief Winemaker Bruce Taylor is thrilled with the results. He shares his thoughts on the appeal of Marlborough and the Awatere Valley:
“These regions are not only breathtakingly beautiful but also provide the perfect conditions for producing exceptional Sauvignon Blanc. The 2024 vintage was exceptional in Marlborough. The 2024 growing season blessed us with a very dry summer, which resulted in no disease pressure.
Early spring frosts and a cool flowering period in December led to lower crop yields and ensured a consistent ripening period free from adverse weather events. The entire harvest was completed in just 14 days, making it one of the fastest harvests in recent times.”
Sourced mainly from the Whenua Awa vineyard, owned by Tohu, located in Marlborough’s spectacular Awatere Valley, the Tohu Awatere Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2024 exemplifies the distinct Awatere style. This wine boasts intense flavours, with tropical notes, grassy and herbaceous undertones, and the classic minerality and concentration that hallmark the region’s Sauvignon Blanc, making it truly unique.
The Wairau region is home to the grapes that produce the Kono Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2024. The wine is a classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc with vibrant, fresh flavours and aromatics bursting from the glass. Fresh-cut grass, passionfruit pulp, pink grapefruit and zingy citrus acidity wrapped up in a full-flavoured palate with powerful fruit intensity and a long dry finish.
Tohu Wines and Kono Wines are owned by Wakatu Incorporation, a collective of approximately 250 families descending from customary M?ori landowners in the top of the South Island, New Zealand. Wakatu and its associated businesses follow a 500-year inter-generational plan to protect, preserve, and enhance the land, culture, and people for future generations.
Chief Executive Joe Hanita acknowledges the effort behind their wines: “We’re proud of the Tohu and Kono wine team for their dedication and hard work. Their commitment to producing high-quality award-winning wines, grown from lands significant to the families of Wakatu directly contributes to our collective success.”
ABOUT TOHU WINES – Since 1998 Tohu, the world’s first Maori-owned wine company, has been making its mark on the world with wines produced from New Zealand’s premier grape-growing regions. The wines are predominantly single vineyard or sub-regional. Our winemaking philosophy is to produce wines with minimal intervention that best reflect the land. Our respect for the land, embodied by our Sustainable Certified vineyards, has rewarded us with an exceptional range of New Zealand wines. Each wine is a gift from the land for you to enjoy.
Learn more about Tohu Wines at: https://www.tohuwines.co.nz/
ABOUT KONO WINES – Kono Wines is owned by a Maori-owned family business. The wine business is guided by a 500-year plan focused on preserving and enhancing the taonga (treasured possessions) of land, people, and culture for future generations. Kono Wines is an expression of carefully selected vineyards in the Marlborough and Nelson regions. Everything Kono Wines do today, they do for a better future in mind. They are collectively responsible for protecting and enhancing the precious natural resources that are the life force.