Twenty guests from as far afield as Canada, US, France, UK and China will be speaking at the event, sharing their knowledge and experience of Sauvignon Blanc with over 350 delegates, from eighteen different countries.

Chairman of the organising committee, Patrick Materman, said the response from invited speakers has been outstanding, “Of the A-list of people we asked to speak, we had only one person who couldn’t make it.”

Five Masters of Wine are among the speakers, including David Gleave (founder of Liberty Wines in the UK), Jancis Robinson’s assistant Julia Harding, and New Zealanders Sam Harrop, Alastair Maling and Jane Skilton.

Alexandre Schmitt, known in the wine world as ‘the nose’, will explore the sensory pleasures of aroma in wine. He began his career in Paris in the perfume industry, before working alongside Jean-Claude Berrouet, winemaker at world renowned Château Pétrus, for twelve years. Schmitt has trained numerous top winemakers over the last fifteen years, and has client list that reads like a ‘who’s who’ of the wine.

American-based Matt Kramer has worked as a wine commentator for over forty years, and has been described as ‘an intellectual guerrilla among wine writers’. As a guest speaker he will take a look at ‘where to from here’ for Sauvignon Blanc.

Leslie Sbrocco, recently voted as one of the Top 100 most influential people in the American wine business, also joins the list of acclaimed speakers. She is well known as an award winning author, wine consultant and television host.

Further sessions will be headed up by renowned UK writer, Jamie Goode, on ‘the Science of Sauvignon Blanc,’ and frequent BBC host, Oz Clarke, on ‘How region defines style.’

The International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration is the largest Sauvignon Blanc event ever held in New Zealand and promises attendees an in-depth look at the variety on a global scale.