New Zealand may well be about as far away as you can get to from here and still be on this planet, but we do know a bit about it. It's full of sheep, it makes a fabulous backdrop for 'The Lord of the Rings' and it's almost certainly the best place on earth to grow the Sauvignon Blanc grape.

Wine production has quite a long history in New Zealand, its earliest recorded plantings were in 1819. Like many wine-producing areas in the New World its initial production was driven by the local demand for fortified wines. As it happens, the long, slow summer isn't the best climate for developing the very ripe sugar-laden grapes that are needed for the production of sweet wines, but is better adapted to the more austere European style of wines, where what sweetness there is, is balanced with acidity. The indigenous demand for sweet wines meant that the producers were having to struggle to accommodate a market that wasn't best suited to their crops.

By the time the growers had overcome the deadly phylloxera, leaving only a few very determined producers, the industry was faced with prohibition. By 1923 New Zealand wineries accounted for a mere 179 acres of cultivation. By the outbreak of World War II things were beginning to turn around, heavy duties were placed on imported wines and the war itself made sure very little got through, forcing New Zealanders to rely on their own production. By 1974 the acreage planted had reached nearly 9,000.

The grapes that are grown have moved away from the American vines to the European habit of using European vines grafted onto American roots. This also brings us to one of the great wine truths - a young vine will produce fruit that tastes true its variety, but as it ages that changes. Older vines have roots that run deep into the subsoil, where they take their nourishment from the underlying minerals. That means that an old vine will taste increasingly strongly of its terroir, of the land that supports it, giving it a unique and individual taste.

This appears to be the case with Sauvignon Blanc grape, the grape that traditionally brought you Sancerre and Pouilly Fume. As the years have passed it has made increasingly complex and sophisticated wines, exhibiting plenty of gooseberry fruit, some pleasingly sharp acidity and a long finish rounded with honeyed overtones. The Marlborough region of the South Island has made this variety its own.

Wine of the Week

Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2002

In taste it's exactly like the stereotype I've just described, fresh, fruity and with a long finish. What you'll notice first about the bottle is the screw cap, a very good closure for a wine that's intended to be drunk young. Many Antipodean producers are using it now, but it's still meeting some consumer resistance. On the plus side you'll never get another corked bottle and the wine tastes exactly like the maker wants it to.

Available Jus De Vine, Portmarnock; Champers & Fine Wines, Limerick; O'Donovans, Cork; McCabes, Blackrock & Foxrock; Martha's Vineyard; Londis, Malahide; Nites Inn, Ashbourne.

RRP. €12.99