The first glass of wine I ever had was in an airport.
I was sitting in a wine bar in Washington Dulles International Airport, waiting for a flight home after a client meeting with a popular dial-up internet provider. (Yes kids, we used to have to call the Internet.)
Across the table was my boss – the guy who taught me pretty much everything I know about being a professional copywriter.
He ordered a Sauvignon Blanc.
At that point in my life, I knew absolutely nothing about wine. (Shoutout to Gabby, who recently admitted the same in her Unscripted blog post. It’s good. You should read it.)
So I did what any young professional trying to look like they belonged in a wine bar would do. I said, “I’ll have the same.”
The bottle was The Crossings, from the Marlborough region of New Zealand.
And I remember thinking something very simple:
Ooh… I like this.
Bright. Fresh. A little citrusy. Super easy to drink. It felt summery, even though we were in an airport. In Dulles.
I didn’t know it at the time, but that first glass happened to come from one of the places in the world where Sauvignon Blanc thrives.
So why is Marlborough so good at this?
The short version is: the environment there is almost unfairly perfect for the grape.
Marlborough sits at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, where vineyards get long sunny days and very cool nights. That temperature swing helps Sauvignon Blanc keep its crisp acidity – the thing that makes it feel so refreshing.
The soils there are rocky and well-drained, which forces the vines to work a little harder. Hard-working vines tend to produce smaller grapes with more concentrated flavor.
Then there’s the ocean. Marlborough isn’t far from the sea, so the air stays cool and clean, and breezes move through the vineyards. The result is Sauvignon Blanc that’s intensely aromatic – lime, grapefruit, passionfruit – but still sharp and lively. (At least that’s what I’ve read… I honestly couldn’t tell you what a passionfruit tastes like.)
It’s the wine equivalent of turning the brightness all the way up.
A WINE THAT MATCHES THE LANDSCAPE
There’s another reason Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc works so well. It tastes like the place it comes from.
New Zealand is a country of big skies, sea air, and landscapes that feel incredibly alive – the kind of place where you’re hiking coastal trails one day and staring at waterfalls the next.
That freshness shows up in the wine.
On our New Zealand: North & South journey, one stop takes you straight into the Marlborough wine region, where you sit down for lunch at a boutique vineyard and taste local wines just steps from where they’re grown.
It’s one of those moments where the wine suddenly makes complete sense. The air, the light, the ocean nearby – it all feels connected.
The first glass still wins
I’ve had plenty of wine since that glass in the airport. Some expensive. Some in a box. But that first Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc still sticks with me.
Maybe because it was my first.
Or maybe because, completely by accident, I picked one of the best places in the world to start. (Marlborough, not Dulles.)
