THE North and South Islands of New Zealand, with their wide range of micro-climates, make up the world's most southerly wine-making country.

These Kiwi vineyards lie between the 35th and 45th parallels which, if translated to our northern hemisphere, would put them between Bordeaux and Morocco.

Those areas are mostly warm, and sometimes hot - but New Zealand isn't.

Apart from Australia, 2,400km (1,500 miles) away to the east, and Antarctica, more than 16,000km (10,000miles) to the south, there is nothing around it but sea and cold currents.

So New Zealand behaves like a much cooler climate.

It is cooled by the Pacific westerly winds, and the mountains that give both islands plenty of rain producing the many diverse micro-climates that affect the immediate physical environment of the vine.

As if South Island was, in European terms, like Germany or northern France, only without the severe winter frost, and as if North Island was closer in climate to Piedmont than Andalucia.

It is this that determines the choice of grape varieties and styles of wine and helps to put New Zealand in competition with some of the world's best wine regions.

The grape variety that has done most in this direction is still Sauvignon Blanc.

Pleased as they are with the progress to date, many New Zealand winemakers feel that other varieties have at least as much, if not more potential.

They are already showing that potential with melon and peach-accented Chardonnay, deep-scented and fine-grained Merlot and even the remarkably difficult Pinot Noir is occasionally deliciously mastered.

But it is Sauvignon Blanc the winemakers are deservedly world famous for and they really do seem to have discovered its secret.

In New Zealand the grape produces a consistent brilliant gooseberryish or tropically fruity pungency, gentle nettly grassiness and tangy refreshing, sharp shooting acidity that most seafood would jump into nets to meet.

They first made their presence felt to the masses when a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, from The Montana Wine Company, won the well deserved accolade of '1988 White Wine of the Year', thus showing the world what could be done with this grape and catapulting cool-climate New Zealand onto the world wine map.

The rise of New Zealand as a major winemaking force over the last 20 years has been nothing short of meteoric.

Monolithic Montana is easily the country's largest winemaker crushing around 40 per cent of New Zealand's grape crop.

Indeed, it is directly or indirectly responsible for more than half the wines tasted below.

Founded in 1952, it has been at the forefront of all major developments in New Zealand winemaking since the late 1960s.

It was the first company to plant vines in Marlborough in 1973, going on to produce its first exhilarating Sauvignon Blanc in 1980.

Only three years ago The International Wine Challenge again awarded it 'White Wine of the Year' for its Marlborough Chardonnay and, as if to emphasise its supremacy, Andy Frost of Montana was announced 'White Winemaker of the Year'.

Montana has invested heavily throughout New Zealand creating an enviable palette of prime vineyard sites and now owns the McDonald winery in Hawkes Bay and makes the excellent Lindauer and Deutz Marlborough sparkling wines.

The first harvest of the new millennium was a good one for New Zealand.

Vintage 2000 saw volume slightly up on the previous year with North Island having a record harvest.

However, South Island quantities were slightly down on the '98.

Hawkes Bay, in the north, saw an increase of nearly 23 per cent while Marlborough in the south was down by ten per cent.

Quality will not be a problem but it is the price that can be the drawback for many when deciding to go Kiwi.

Just as they are famous for their Sauvignon Blancs, they are infamous for not giving much away under £7.

So, to establish what is on offer today, I asked our usual suppliers to put forward their best example New Zealand white and red between £4 to £8.

See Wine List story for product reviews.