If you can’t beat ‘em – stick ‘em in oak.
At least that seems to be the approach for some Australian producers of sauvignon blanc.
Faced with the power-packed fruit bombs from Marlborough, it appears many Australian producers have decided the best way to compete with their trans-Tasman rivals is to play a different game altogether. So it’s back to the future with a revival of oak and lees.
Wine show judges assessed nearly 700 Australian sauvignon blanc exhibits last year spanning 330 individual labels.
Blending old and new
Our list of the top 20 shows four of the top six all had an oak influence – either in the form of partial barrel fermentation or maturation. Some also had some skin and lees contact.
It’s not quite old-school fume. The winemaking notes of the six labels we identified with oak in our Top 20 mostly showed only a portion of the wines were oak-influenced before being blended with more modern methods of sauvignon production – temperature controlled fermentation in steel, aromatic yeasts, etc.
Critics seem to like the hybrid approach with its resulting texture and complexity. “I wish more producers would fiddle around with [sauvignon blanc]” sighed one reviewer of a label vinified with skin contact.
No sauvvy bullet
Even so, tricking up savvy with a log’o’wood is not a sure-fire way to win wine show bling.
Of the six labels to win a trophy last year, half admitted to an oak influence while the others didn’t. Neither did the Adelaide Hills label that topped our 2025 list.
Australian sauvignon blanc has typically been associated with the Adelaide Hills or Western Australia.
The latter was more prevalent this year with eight of the Top 20 compared with just two from the Adelaide Hills. The rest came from a variety of regions spanning Tasmania (just one), Victoria, NSW, Coonawarra and irrigated inland regions.
‘My way’ in WA
Fun fact: all but one of the tricked-up sauvignon blancs in our top 20 list came from WA. That seems about right for a state that’s historically forged its own path with sauvignon blanc.
For many years WA has been the last redoubt of the grape’s blend with semillon. It’s a traditional Bordeaux recipe but is now considered a somewhat idiosyncratic regional preference in Australia and claims only a small segment of the national wine pool.
If the sandgropers ever achieve their long-standing but latent desire to secede, perhaps they will toast their independence with their latest twist on this popular variety.
Our list of Australia’s Top 20 sauvignon blancs of 2025 follows. The top three can be found here
