Marlborough Wine
This brand is the identity for our wine industry – the Marlborough wine industry.
It is something that growers and makers can own and use to help promote their offering. A way to have a larger voice and footprint as a collective group of brands that share this one commonality – the true Marlborough wine brand.
A brand’s mission, vision and values work together to build a solid foundation. They’re deeply intertwined and serve as a compass. Below, we walk you through these elements that have helped shape the brand guidelines and assets we make available to you. Scroll down to the form below or click here to request access to our brand toolkit.
These guidelines have been created by Wine Marlborough Ltd for the Marlborough Wine industry. Wine Marlborough Ltd is a company 100% owned by the Marlborough Winegrowers Association, representing the Marlborough wine region. This toolkit has been developed to ensure the Marlborough Wine brand assets are used with consistency and confidence. By accessing these assets we are trusting you to use them appropriately, following our brand guidelines, to present a strong and aligned message. Wine Marlborough reserves the right to withdraw use permission at any time. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns relating to the use of the Marlborough Wine brand.
SHARED MISSION
With energy we cultivate, connect and aspire to elevate the quality and reputation of Marlborough’s premium wine industry, its people and its place.
SHARED VISION
Forever earn our place in the hearts of our people, through our shared commitment to excellence, our care for our place and its people, our drive to be experiential and do better, and our respect for the stories that make us who we are.
Our Shared Values
Our values are our behavioural guidance in pursuing our mission and vision.
These are the principles and beliefs that provide a cohesive vision and define who we are – our purpose and direction – they set the tone for all brand interactions.
Embrace INNOVATION
We know innovation is found in the spaces between the people that came before us and the people yet to come, uncertainty and clarity, relaxation and sophistication, premium and value, surprise and reliability… and we thrive here, in our embrace of who we really are. Nothing stands still, we are transient in our discovery and centred in our place. We aren’t afraid to lead the way.
Share in CONNECTIVITY
The nuances and relationships between our people and place bring our brand to life. We acknowledge all perspectives, but have clarity on our shared values that define who we are and what we stand for. We act with courage, welcome new ideas, challenge the status quo and hero our diversity, in our people, in our wine and in our place. We lift one another up by building connected communities that offer genuine support and not shying away from difficult conversations that help us thrive.
Share EXCELLENCE
We believe in living up to the true value in our name. We have a history and reputation for quality underpinning who we are and what we do. Every action strives to live up to, if not raise, those standards. Quality is connected to everything we touch. We share this quality with the world.
Enveloped in ENERGY
We show up with a drive and a sense of energy pushing us forward. We are excited for the future. It is energy that drives us. With one sip, people can tell a variety of wine is from Marlborough because there is something special and unique about the place we call home. We are present, active, full of life and invested in our communities, for innovation, for quality and for our place – Marlborough.
OUR PERSONALITY
Marlborough wine is dynamic, approachable and alive — sophisticated without being serious, confident without showing off. There is a casual elegance to this place and the people in it that is impossible to manufacture and easy to fall in love with.
We know who we are and why we are here. We want to share our love of wine, food and place with everyone — next door and across the world. We are not bound by tradition, yet it grounds us. Progressive pioneers, driven by curiosity and guided by care.
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is where the story starts — the wine the world knows, the wine we can always lean on. From here, the story opens up. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and a growing cast of varieties that keep this story evolving and being shared for generations to come.
People want to meet us over and again. And Marlborough never disappoints.
How we talk - Our tone of voice
With this brand there is a feeling of balance – a harmony between contradictions and multiple truths. Of scale and artisanal production, where clarity and complexity collide. Where sophistication meets a relaxed essence, local meets global, where energy and life meet fresh clarity, where fun meets tranquillity and sustainability meets growth. We have diverse audiences that will see messages sway to meet the information needs of consumers and businesses. While these complexities in brand are in play, our tone of voice remains constant.
We are authentically sincere. While we are proud of our industry, we are matter of fact and tell our story without embellishment. We own the truth and are authentic in our messaging.
We are proud of our place, people and our wine. We know our worth and want others to feel proud of what we have achieved too, because they have been part of our success and been on the journey with us. We are proud without being arrogant. There is a warm, down-to-earth vibe to us. We are sincere but not reserved in our communication.
We are warm and not too serious. There is life in our brand. An energy. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, but are genuine in our communication. We don’t play down the expertise and skill of our craftspeople, but describe it in a way accessible to everyone.
We are considered. We get to the point and allow brand photography to do the talking. Copy should complement and enhance this rather than doubling up on the effect of visuals. This approach should be applied in all visual storytelling.
Our communication is informed and mindful of the recipient’s information needs. Believability builds trust and trust builds ambassadorship and loyalty. Technical detail isn’t needed to share our brand essence, but we use it to meet the needs of some audiences.
We are mindful and respectful. We are connected with one another and respect our individual journeys. We don’t shy away from difficult conversations - we are considerate and accepting of the multiple truths in our industry.
Our Stories
Guided by our values and personality – the essence of who we are as Marlborough Wine – we as an industry share our message through our collective voices, through our many brands and their touch points, to build a cohesive narrative across all audiences of the Marlborough Wine brand.
Marlborough wine is the perfect fusion of people, place, passion and perseverance.
We were the first to put New Zealand wine on the world map and we continue to define it. Fearless and forward-looking, we push boundaries and keep perfecting what we do, producing wines that are impossible to imitate, hard not to love and alive with a sense of place.
Lit by Kei Puta Te Wairau (the hole in the cloud), protected by the mountains, cooled by the ocean and crisp nights, our place is like no other. The light here is different. So is the air. You feel it before you understand it.
From this place, our Sauvignon Blanc was defined. Pure, fresh and impossible to replicate, its intensity and clarity have rightly earned it a place on the world stage. The respect and care of our people have kept it there.
There's a purity in our Pinot Gris, a brightness in our Chardonnay and an elegance revealed in our Pinot Noir that is quietly exciting the world. And beyond these, new varieties and styles are emerging - all distinctly ours, all worth protecting. With 97% of our producing vineyard area certified by Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, our care for this land is not just a promise - it is a practice.
Our wines are charged with a purity and freshness that is impossible to replicate. Shaped by specific sites, specific soils, specific people. They are unmistakably Marlborough.
MESSAGING PILLARS
Below are the pillars which flow from our brand story - they are what ground us, provide meaning to our beliefs, our ways of life, our purpose.
01 Home
Marlborough is home. Not just a place on a map, but a place we are deeply connected to — its land, its people, and the generations who shaped it before us.
There is history in the places where our vines stand. From glacial imprints to the pioneering spirit of those who came first, the past is present in everything we do. We honour the guardians of this land and the legacy they left behind.
That legacy lives in what we share with the world. A wine of extraordinary purity and freshness, grown in a place where a sense of belonging is felt in every step and every sip.
This is where we're grounded. This is Marlborough.
02 Place
For generations, this land has given us everything - protective ranges, pure waters and brilliant light. Papatūānuku provides, and we give back. It is a relationship built on respect, and a responsibility we take seriously.
Our natural environment is a significant force in our wine. Protected by mountains, cooled by the ocean and lit by intense sunlight, these are the conditions that produce wines of extraordinary purity and intensity - and have earned Marlborough global recognition.
In every bottle, you are transported to the place. We are committed to protecting it. With 97% of our producing vineyard area certified by Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, our care for this land is not just a promise - it is a practice.
03 People
Marlborough draws people in. From all corners of the world, those with culture, passion and knowledge find their way here - and leave something of themselves behind.
There is immense respect for the craft of Marlborough wine. It is passed on not just through generations, but across regions and borders, as people come to learn, to contribute and to grow alongside us.
The people of Marlborough are guardians of their craft - preserving it by sharing it. The legacy of pioneers, innovators and caretakers lives on in a palpable energy, honouring those who came before and inspiring those still to come.
04 Distinctive
Sauvignon Blanc put Marlborough on the world stage. And we continue to prove our place there, vintage after vintage.
It is our anchor. Pure, fresh and impossible to replicate, its intensity and clarity have rightly earned it a place on the world stage - and the respect and care of our people have kept it there. It is the wine that brought the world to Marlborough. The one you reach for to impress, to celebrate, to share.
Alongside it, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Riesling have long been part of the region. Grown in smaller parcels, in sites chosen for their expression, they carry the same purity and intensity - with stories still unfolding.
Distinctly ours. Unmistakably Marlborough.
05 Driven
There is a collective energy here - curious, collaborative and unbound by size or tradition. It drives us to explore, to evolve and to push what Marlborough wine can be. Not for the sake of change, but because there is always more to discover.
In Marlborough, ingenuity builds on what came before. From evolving viticulture to new varieties and styles, our makers are constantly finding new ways to express this place. Every vintage an opportunity. Every idea worth pursuing.
Even in the familiar, there is always something new.
06 Spirited
Marlborough is alive. There is a warmth here - in the people, the community and the connections that grow between them. It is genuine, magnetic and impossible to manufacture.
Wine is at the heart of it, but the spirit of this place runs deeper. It flows through the industries, businesses and communities that have grown alongside it - each one strengthened by the other, each one part of what makes Marlborough thrive.
This is a region that looks after its own. And welcomes everyone
07 Diverse
Marlborough contains multitudes. It is a place of contrasts - relaxed yet sophisticated, familiar yet surprising, rooted in tradition yet restless with possibility.
Many people come for Sauvignon Blanc. They discover more. Variety, stories and wines for every occasion - each one an expression of a region that refuses to be defined by a single note.
We embrace different perspectives and different people. It is that diversity - of thought, of craft, of culture - that continues to shape what Marlborough wine is and what it can become.
08 Surprising
Marlborough surprises you. It energises you and awakens a sense of possibility that lingers long after the glass is empty.
Beyond the expected lies an extraordinary landscape - sun-drenched vineyards set between mountain ranges and the sea, where cool nights and long bright days shape wines of intensity and precision. There is a purity here, in the air, the light, the water, that carries through into every experience.
Marlborough is a place of discovery. From cellar doors tucked among vines to world-class cuisine shaped by the land and ocean, each moment reveals something new. The rhythm is unhurried yet alive - cruising the Marlborough Sounds, cycling between wineries, tasting, talking, connecting.
What begins with wine unfolds into something more. Nature, people and place converge to create a region that is both grounded and unexpected - familiar yet full of surprise, inviting you to explore just a little further.
OUR SUBREGIONS
Marlborough's wine story is told across three distinct landscapes — each one shaped by different soils, different climates and different people.
The Wairau Valley is where most of the magic happens. Wide, sun-drenched and generous, the braided Wairau River winds from the mountains to Cloudy Bay, feeding vineyards that produce the vibrant, expressive wines that first put Marlborough on the map. This is classic Marlborough - fresh, bright and unmistakable.
The Southern Valleys rise up from the Wairau Plains into a rolling landscape of clay hillsides and finger-like valleys. The Waihopai River winds through the largest of them. Cooler and more sheltered, with older soils and quiet distinction, this is where it all began - the birthplace of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. The wines here have more weight and texture, and the history runs deep.
Further south and east, Awatere & South Marlborough is wilder and more elemental. The Awatere River carves through a dramatic landscape flanked by mountains and open to the Pacific. Windswept and precise, the wines here are leaner, more mineral, and unlike anything else in the region.
Three landscapes. One remarkable place. All unmistakably Marlborough.
Wairau Valley
Wairau - many waters. It is a name that tells the story of this place. The braided Wairau River winds from the mountains in the west to Cloudy Bay in the east, carrying crystalline water above and below ground through the heart of Marlborough's largest and most planted valley. Sheltered by mountain ranges and lit by some of New Zealand's longest sunshine hours, this is Kei Puta Te Wairau - the place with the hole in the cloud.
The valley is a mosaic of soils and microclimates, each shaped by the river's ancient path. In the Central Wairau, around the acclaimed areas of Rapaura and Renwick, free-draining gravels and stony riverbeds produce wines of vibrant intensity. Further east in the Lower Wairau, deep alluvial silts and coastal breezes create a cooler, more maritime character. To the west, the Upper Wairau rises toward the mountains - cooler, more continental, and still revealing its potential.
Many of the families who planted here in the late 1970s and 1980s are still making wine today. Their stories are as rich as the soils beneath their vines. Sauvignon Blanc flourishes across the valley, but Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and aromatic varieties each find their place here too - shaped by the particular character of the site, the soil and the people who tend them.
Southern Valleys
The Southern Valleys - Brancott, Omaka, Fairhall, Waihopai, Ben Morven and Taylor - spread like fingers across a rolling landscape south of the Wairau Plains, covering around a fifth of Marlborough's vineyards. The soils here are older and richer in clay than the valley floor to the north, shaped by ancient glaciers and the slow work of time. It is a landscape of quiet distinction.
This is where it all began. In 1973, the first commercial vines went into the ground in Brancott Valley. Two years later, Sauvignon Blanc followed - the vines that started it all. The families and pioneers who planted here laid the foundation for everything Marlborough has become, and their legacy lives on in every vintage.
The cooler, later ripening climate and low fertility clay soils draw out wines of real restraint and elegance. Sauvignon Blanc here is more structured and textural - gooseberry, citrus and a quiet precision that lingers. On the hillsides, where soils are at their leanest, Pinot Noir finds a natural home - dark cherry, plum and a spiced earthiness that speaks unmistakably of place. Chardonnay too thrives here, producing wines of intensity and complexity. Each valley has its own character. Each site its own story.
Awatere and South Marlborough
Awatere - fast flowing stream. It is a name that captures the spirit of Marlborough's most elemental subregion. Cooler, drier and windier than anywhere else in the region, this dramatic landscape stretches from the Awatere Valley south through Blind River to the rugged coastal frontier of South Marlborough - flanked by the Inland Kaikōura Range and overlooked by Mount Tapuae-o-Uenuku, Marlborough's highest peak at 2,880 metres.
Before vines arrived in the 1980s, this land formed part of vast high country stations, including Flaxbourne and Starborough. That pioneering spirit lives on in the people who chose to plant here - drawn by a place that was harder, leaner and unlike anywhere else in the region. The Awatere Fault has shaped the landscape over millennia, creating elevated terraces, dramatic white cliffs of ancient Papa rock, and a complex patchwork of loess, gravel and marine-derived soils.
The long, slow ripening season intensifies every flavour and preserves natural acidity. Sauvignon Blanc here is precise and elemental - fresh herbs, mineral tension and a briny coastal edge that speaks clearly of this place. Blind River, cooler and more exposed still, produces wines of extraordinary precision and finesse. And along the Southern Coast, where a limestone seam runs through Ward and Kēkerengū, a new chapter is quietly being written - wines of chalky texture and vibrant promise, still revealing what this untamed frontier can do.
SAUVIGNON BLANC
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is a wine the world looks to. Shaped by place, crafted by people, recognised by the world - and evolving with energy, intent and ambition. This is where the story begins.
NEW ZEALAND CONSUMERS
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is fresh, vibrant and unmistakable. A style the rest of the world tries to replicate, but never quite can.
From world-leading sustainable practices to lighter styles and new expressions, this is a region that innovates.
NEW ZEALAND CONSUMERS
You've grown up with it. You've poured it at summer barbecues, ordered it without thinking, seen it on every list. Familiarity like that isn't accidental. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is so fresh, vibrant and unmistakable, the rest of the world has spent decades trying to replicate it, and never quite has.
And it's not standing still. From world-leading sustainable practices to lighter styles and new expressions, Marlborough is a region that keeps evolving - quietly, deliberately, vintage after vintage.
That’s something to be proud of. Because this isn't just wine. It's our home, shared with the world.
INTERNATIONAL CONSUMERS
There’s a reason Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc tastes like Marlborough in New Zealand.
It’s the sunlight. The cool nights. The ocean air. The people behind every bottle. It’s a wine that feels alive and bright, fresh and unmistakable.
Loved all over the world, and at home in Marlborough. Every glass starts here.
INTERNATIONAL CONSUMERS
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is unmistakable from the first sip. Trusted for its quality. Sought after for its freshness and precision. Made for sharing.
For the world’s most iconic Sauvignon Blanc, there is only one origin. Marlborough.
NEW CONSUMERS
Some wines you sip. This one you remember. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
Fresh, bright and alive - a taste of one of the world's most extraordinary places. New Zealand's Marlborough, where the sun is intense, the nights are cool and the ocean air is never far away.
Bring it to the beach, the spontaneous Sunday, the table you didn't plan but somehow became the best night.
This is Marlborough. And it’s yours to discover.
GLOBAL AND TRADE MEDIA
From the top of New Zealand's South Island, Marlborough has defined what Sauvignon Blanc is - and what it can be. Capturing an unmistakable freshness that is impossible to replicate, it has earned its position as the world's benchmark.
It is not just Marlborough's signature. It is the category leader and one of the world's most loved wines.
Excellence in quality, consistency and progression has built this reputation. Innovation and collaboration continue to set the pace - from evolving viticulture and world-leading sustainable practices to new styles and expressions, vintage after vintage.
And the best is yet to come.
INDUSTRY
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is the clearest expression of what Marlborough does better than anywhere else in the world - purity, intensity, precision and a relentless drive to innovate, all shaped by place.
This is the wine that built an industry and anchored a nation's reputation for wine. It continues to lead in the most competitive global markets, evolving with every vintage, every site and every decision made by the people who shape it.
This is our story. And there is still so much more to come.
INDUSTRY
Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc didn't happen by accident. It's the result of courageous decisions, hard work and a deep connection with the land.
It was built by people who believed in this place before the world knew its name. Families, businesses and a community that backed something bold and made it happen. Today our name is on bottles in the world's best restaurants, bars and hotels - and your wine rack at home. That's an achievement that belongs to all of us.
It's woven into who we are. Into the land we tend, the community we share and the future we're building together.
This is more than wine. It's our home, shared with the world.
INDUSTRY
One belief changed Marlborough forever. That this place would be world-famous for wine.
Not hope - a belief grounded in what this land could do. A belief that changed everything.
The light here is extraordinary. The nights cool and crisp. The mountains shelter, the ocean air moves through. Here, Sauvignon Blanc found its voice - pure, vibrant and unmistakably Marlborough.
We didn't follow a style. We defined one. And the world recognised it. No other place on earth makes wine like this, and our origin continues to prove it.
It lives in the people who know exactly what this place can do. The result is wines charged with energy, shaped by place and impossible to replicate. Every vintage proves it again.
This is where Sauvignon Blanc comes to life. Unmistakably Marlborough.
MarlboroughNZ
MarlboroughNZ
Winery recruitment campaign. Photo: Richard Briggs
