Quite simply, Margaret River is great Sauvignon Blanc country. I was reminded of this yet again at Christmas dinner last year when I drank one of the most memorable wines I have tasted in years. It was a 1994 Cullen Sauvignon Blanc.

With four years in bottle this wine had developed lovely grassy, herbaceous, gooseberry characters, superb mouth-feel and was stunning with the turkey and ham. Indeed, as is the case with its dancing partner Semillon, good Margaret River Sauvignon Blancs reach far greater complexity with a few years in the cellar.

This is primarily due to experimentation with fermentation techniques and maturation in oak - a practice that has been expounded and perfected in the New World wine regions, particularly Australia. However this is not to say that we should ignore the unwooded youngsters. They are delightful, fruit driven, zesty wines that can be the most refreshing of all the whites.

In France the grape finds its apogee in the Loire wines like Sancerre, Pouilly Fume and white Bordeaux.

Sauvignon Blanc is often partnered with Semillon, a combination that adds nerve and zest to the the resulting wine. An outstanding example of this in Margaret River is the Cape Mentelle Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, which is consistently one of the region's greatest whites.

It is not surprising perhaps that all the fanfare about the brilliant New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs all started when the world recognised the Cloudy Bay version - which is the sister winery of Cape Mentelle. Much of the early ground work for the variety was carried out right here in Margaret River.

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