From the atlas
Hunter's Wines
Family-owned Marlborough pioneer whose 1986 Sunday Times win and 1989 Decanter award helped establish Sauvignon Blanc as the defining white wine of New Zealand.
At A Glance
| |
| Region | Marlborough, New Zealand |
| Main grapes | Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling |
| Signature wine | Hunter's Sauvignon Blanc |
| Defining feature | Only Marlborough vineyard from the 1970s still owned by its founding family |
| Honours | OBE; CNZM 2009; NZ Wine Hall of Fame 2013 |
The Producer
In 1986, a bottle of Hunter's Fumé Blanc won The Sunday Times Vintage Festival in the United Kingdom, placing a winery that had existed for barely seven years onto an international shortlist. When Ernie and Jane Hunter planted their first vines in 1979, Marlborough's claim to serious winemaking was still being formed. Within two vintages, every wine they produced took a prize at the National Wine Show. The Fumé Blanc win was the confirmation that the region's style could travel.
Hunter's now farms over 80 hectares across Marlborough and remains independently owned. Of all the vineyards established in the region during the 1970s, it is the only one still held by its original family.
Place
Marlborough sits at the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, where long summer days and cool nights preserve the acidity and aromatic intensity that make Sauvignon Blanc from this region distinct. The Wairau and Awatere valleys drive the region's character: high light exposure, dry growing conditions, and a diurnal temperature range wide enough to slow ripening and keep the grapes' natural brightness intact. Hunter's draws fruit from vineyards across Marlborough, with the Waihopai Valley among its sources.
Story
Ernie Hunter died in 1987, one year after the Sunday Times win that had announced the winery to the world. Jane Hunter took over with the estate's reputation newly made and its foundations still being laid. Her response was to go further. Under her leadership, the 1989 Sauvignon Blanc won Decanter's Best Sauvignon Blanc in the World, an international validation of the style Marlborough was building. Jane received an OBE for her service to the wine industry and, in the 2009 New Year Honours, a CNZM for services to viticulture. In 2013, she became the first woman inducted into the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame.
Wine critic Bob Campbell MW has described Hunter's as the company that started the whole international story of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
Vineyards And Cellar
The estate has grown from a few hectares at founding to over 80 across Marlborough. Hunter's operates as a sustainable vineyard, applying best practice environmental management across its holdings. The range covers Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Riesling, each sourced from Marlborough fruit. The packet does not confirm specific fermentation vessel choices, oak regime, or lees ageing duration for individual wines, so those details are not stated here.
Wines
The range centres on three white wines. Sauvignon Blanc is the estate's signature bottle and the one most closely tied to its history. It draws on Marlborough's cool-climate aromatics, with the 2025 vintage showing a bouquet of ripe citrus and tropical fruits alongside floral and soft lees notes. Chardonnay and Riesling extend the range into richer and more mineral directions respectively, with Riesling in particular reflecting the bright natural acidity Marlborough's climate preserves in slower-ripening varieties.
In The Glass
Across the three whites, Hunter's works with Marlborough's characteristic brightness. The Sauvignon Blanc carries ripe citrus alongside tropical fruit and a floral lift, with soft lees contact adding texture as the wine opens. The Riesling brings taut acidity and citrus-driven aromatics; Marlborough's diurnal swings keep the variety's crispness intact. Chardonnay takes on more weight, with the region's generous sunshine filling out the mid-palate in a style that is broader than the Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with the Sauvignon Blanc. It is the bottle the estate built its name on: Marlborough fruit, ripe citrus and tropical aromatics, a floral note on the nose, and lees contact that softens the finish without dulling the acidity. The 2025 vintage shows how the wine evolves in texture across the palate rather than cutting straight through. Riesling and Chardonnay add range and reward exploration, but the Sauvignon Blanc is where the estate's four decades of Marlborough work are most directly tasted.
Anecdote
In 1989, Jane Hunter entered the estate's Sauvignon Blanc in Decanter's international competition. Ernie had died two years earlier, leaving Jane to carry a winery whose early National Show sweep and 1986 Sunday Times win had generated real expectation. The 1989 bottle won Decanter's Best Sauvignon Blanc in the World. On the afternoon the result came through, Hunter's moved from a winery with a good track record in international competition to one that had taken the top Sauvignon Blanc prize from one of the industry's most scrutinised annual events.
Final Word
Hunter's planted Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc when the region's international reputation was still unformed, won major awards in London and Paris within its first decade, and remains the only 1970s Marlborough vineyard still in its founding family's hands.
Sources
- https://hunters.co.nz/pages/our-story
- https://hunters.co.nz/pages/our-family
- https://marlboroughnz.com/live-listings/hunters-wines/
- https://nzwinedirectory.co.nz/featured-wine-review-hunters-wines-marlborough/
- https://hunters.co.nz/products/hunters-sauvignon-blanc-2025