The Wairarapa is traditionally pinot noir country but don’t overlook the region’s fantastic pinot gris wines. Wine NZ (Craggy Range)

Cultures with wine traditions almost exclusively enjoy wine with food in the context of meals. They developed their tastes and sense of aesthetics for wine alongside the flavours of food and as a result, tend to appreciate elements like tannins, acidity and savouriness for their ability to interact with elements of a dish.

Although intensely fruity and punchy wines are more likely to impress immediately in the glass during a tasting, their subtler and often more structured counterparts can perform better with food.

In New Zealand—as with many other wine regions outside Europe—wines at lower price points can favour immediate, soft fruit over savoury or structural elements. It is assumed that making these more affordable wines less challenging and more straightforward gives them wider appeal and broader enjoyment opportunities beyond the dinner table. It can even be counter-intuitive for a winemaker to think about subtlety, savouriness and texture for their entry-level wines. As a result, these wines may not be that well-suited to food.

In this Top Value feature week guide, we will introduce you to some food-friendly bottles which have versatility at meal-times and offer another way to think about your wine purchases. First up, when thinking about top value, riesling and sauvignon blanc can often deliver the best value in the NZD $25 and under category. The toasty, off-dry complexity of Clearview Coastal Riesling 2023 is a good place to start.

We are almost spoilt for choice in sauvignon blanc but for maximum versatility with food, search for wines which express more than direct varietal fruit character. Either hints of lees-ageing or even some subtle oak ageing can greatly increase this variety’s adaptability for food. Below are four interesting wines from Marlborough spanning the range of styles which will be adaptable with different foods: Awatere River Sauvignon Blanc 2024, Delta Wine Company Barrel-Fermented Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Rapaura Springs ROHE Rapaura Sauvignon Blanc 2024, and Framingham Sauvignon Blanc 2024.

From Nelson, Old House Vineyards Fantail Sauvignon Blanc 2023 is a wine with a touch of age and quite lovely textural complexity. From a nearby vineyard is Blackenbrook Sauvignon Blanc 2024, which captures the brightness of the Nelson sunshine perfectly in its expressive yet mellow style.

The Wairarapa is traditionally pinot noir country but don’t overlook the region’s fantastic pinot gris wines. Martinborough Vineyard Te Tera Pinot Gris 2024 and Hamden Estate Dry River Terraces Pinot Gris 2024 are both wines which over-deliver for the price and have the textural depth and layers to work across a wide range of food.

Two Rivers Isle of Beauty Rosé 2024 is a very versatile wine which punches well above its weight. Winemaker David Clouston has refined the blend over the years and it always hits exactly right. The complexity of this dry rosé harnesses several grape varieties to deliver savouriness and salinity while also possessing good fruit.

Pinot noir is always a difficult one to fit into budgets as it is a low-yielding variety but there are some values to be had in Marlborough and increasingly also in Central Otago.

Akarua Pinot Rouge 2024 from Bannockburn is a ‘nouveau’-style wine which can be versatile with lighter fare which is not traditionally enjoyed with red wines. Wairau River Reserve Pinot Noir 2023 is a bigger, oakier style for those wanting stronger flavoured dishes and on the other end of the spectrum is the Spy Valley Satellite Pinot Noir 2022 for something more crunchy and fruit-driven.

Lastly, syrah should not be overlooked: stalwarts from Hawke’s Bay like Pask Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2023 and Church Road Syrah 2021 have the drink-now immediate complexity to change from dish to dish. In particular, when considering wines for food, look for those which have notes of salinity, good acidity and ripe tannins to give you the most adaptability.