A cheeky sauvignon with a hint of methoxypyrazine

If you like a hint of green pepper in your sauvignon blanc, try wines made with grapes grown in the Brancott area of Marlborough.

Or if your tastebuds crave passionfruit, go for the Rapaura region.

A study is under way to find why sauvignon blanc tastes like it does.

Allied Domecq, New Zealand's largest wine company, released the findings at a Sauvignon Blanc Roundtable in Auckland this week, attended by writers, restaurateurs and several employees of Allied Domecq.

The new research was spearheaded by the University of Auckland Chemistry and Yeast Genetics, Marlborough Wine Research Centre, Hort-Research and Lincoln University. All these bodies have received Government and wine industry money to discover more about sauvignon blanc from a scientific basis.

Three major components have been identified which give sauvignon blanc its flavours - methoxypyrazine (green pepper); C6 compounds (grassy and herbaceous) and volatile thiols which give the riper flavours of passionfruit to a wine.

Now that these flavours have been identified with specific sub-regions within Marlborough, further analysis is under way.

Allied Domecq marketer Simon Nash says, "The point of the research is to take our understanding and that of the world's wine drinkers to the next level to ensure people's interest in New Zealand sauvignon blanc."