Sauvignon Blanc is to Marlborough what deck chairs are to the beach - it just works. But there's an art form in making a Sauv that rises above the pack - something that sings with passionfruit flavour instead of tinned asparagus. The Pass Sauvignon Blanc nails the brief with a flourish of peach, passionfruit and guava, then a refreshing palate that'll transport you to said deck chair.

It's probably not sexy, but The Pass is named after a road - a major highway that links up the key Awatere & Wairau Valleys in NZ's Marlborough wine region. But it wasn't always a freeway; it was once a sketchy bridle track crossing brown mountains, lush green forests, and snaking rows of vineyards. Even now, it's a cracking drive for 'just another highway'. Stu Marfell makes The Pass wines, and he knows his stuff, having grown up not far from The Pass vineyard. But the secret sauce here is about blending of grapes from two Marlborough sub-regions - on the one hand, you get all the ripe fruit flavour from the Wairau Valley, referred to by the indigenous Maori tribe as 'Kei puta te Wairau' or 'the place with the hole in the cloud,' in a nod to the Wairau sunshine (in what can be a soggy part of NZ). Stir in grapes from the dry and windy Awatere Valley for cooler, more mineral vibes and voila! Classic Marlborough wines!