IT’S about time this column had a “Wine of the Week” and after this past week it’s probably fitting the first one should come from New Zealand.

But we don’t want to big up that country too much, of course.

They might have won the Rugby Union World Club and won more friends in doing so, but (more importantly!) they got hammered by England in the opening Test of the rugby league series - and here’s hoping for a similar result today at the Olympic Stadium.

What’s more, can anyone else remember when their union brigade sent a stiff letter to our very own community rugby league club New Earswick All Blacks demanding they dropped the moniker All Blacks for fear of cashing in on their “brand”?!

But anyway. Talking of brands, and getting back to wine, it seems the name Peter Yealands is a sizeable one, too, at the heart of a Marlborough region which is more famous for its Sauvignon Blanc grapes than its rugby.

Yealands' 2013 and 2014 Sauvignon Blancs were both award winners, and this year's vintage not long on the shelves has already picked up medals at a couple of wine competitions back home (having gone up against thousands of entrants, not just a handful of potential champions like the All Blacks).

What's more, despite all things New Zealand presently being high in demand, it's currently on at £7.49 at the Co-operative, down from £11.25 until November 24.

This wine is produced from nine separate grape parcels from two separate vineyard sites. The parcels were harvested individually over three weeks and vinified separately before being blended together - a process which takes almost as long as a rugby union scrum.

What we get is acidity as crunchy as a Sonny Bill Williams tackle, and intense but fresh stone fruit flavours that zip sweetly along above a thin bed of freshly cut Twickenham grass (if that makes any sense). Lively like a Fijian winger but, like an England rugby union half-back, with an amiably soft impact.

Like classic free-flowing running rugby league, it's probably one for the summer months but, what the hell, turn the radiators up and let it refresh you now.

Oh, and as Sauvignon Blanc is best drank young, the sooner the better; there's no need to save it for a special occasion.

Perfect for a night in, especially with a seafood tea.

To top it off, this Blenheim-based winery is reportedly hot on all things green, with an aim to create the world’s most “environmentally friendly wines”.

Also currently on offer at the Co-op is a Anciano five-year-old Reserva, down from £7.99 to £5.99 until November 24.

It balances the Tempranillo grapes with oak pretty well and there's a lingering finish. Again, not a bad price and an excellent Spanish red alternative to the popular Rioja.