Sitting pretty in the north east of New Zealand’s South Island, Awatere Valley is an undulating landscape characterised by rolling hills, the meandering Awatere river and – crucially – dry soil.

The lack of moisture in the ground produces vines with far reaching roots and highly concentrated, flavourful grapes thanks to the plant’s perpetual search for water. These grapes are then harvested and turned into complex, well-balanced wines like the iconic Yealands Sauvignon Blanc.

Arguably the world’s most drunk white wine, Sauvignon Blanc has become synonymous with the Marlborough region, where the grapes thrive in this unique terroir with its warm, long, languid days and cool, refreshing evenings. On the Yealands vineyard, bees buzz and butterflies flourish, moving with the saline sea breeze.

Celebrating the symbiotic relationship between winemaking and the natural environment, the Yealands estate is working towards a carbon positive approach, harnessing both solar and wind power, planting wildflowers to increase biodiversity among the vines and allowing sheep grazing between the vines at certain times of the year to reduce machine intervention in mowing.

This is all represented in the vineyard’s wines, with exceptional expression of the terroir on the palate.

Fancy trying it yourself? Yealands are giving two lucky readers the chance to win six bottles of their wine just in time for International Sauvignon Blanc day on May 2. Celebrating never tasted so good.