Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which probably originates from the Bordeaux region of France. It is now planted in much of the world's winelands, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine.

Depending on climate, its flavours can range from aggressively grassy to sweetly tropical, although perhaps the most memorable descriptor is "cat's pee on a gooseberry bush" [1], which is also the smell of fresh guava fruit. In France, Sauvignon blanc is grown in Bordeaux, (as white Bordeaux and Sauternes) and the Loire Valley (as Pouilly Fume, Sancerre, and Sauvignon de Touraine). Sauvignon was not considered a great wine until Sancerre and Pouilly Fume were 'discovered' in Paris in the 1960s.

In the 1990s, wines from New Zealand made the grape quite popular, with less expensive and varietally correct wines, produced by wineries such as Montana, Babich, Hunters and Cloudy Bay Vineyards. Many critics consider the latter to produce the very best Sauvignon Blanc in the entire world. Plantings in California, Australia, Chile, and South Africa are also extensive, and Sauvignon Blanc is steadily increasing in popularity as white wine drinkers seek alternatives to Chardonnay. However, "no other region in the world can match Marlborough, the northeastern corner of New Zealand's South Island, which seems to be the best place in the world to grow Sauvignon blanc grapes" (Taber).
Sauvignon blanc vineyards in Marlborough, New Zealand, demonstrating restrictive pruning practices.