FreshieNelson Sauvin a.k.a. Nelson
The white-wine hop.
What it tastes like
Nelson Sauvin is named for its resemblance to Sauvignon Blanc wine — gooseberry, white grape, lime, passionfruit, with a flinty mineral edge. It's one of the most distinctive hops in the world. Tightly contracted, hard to get, and almost always advertised when a brewery uses it. Original Pattern, Cellarmaker, and Wondrous all secure significant Nelson allocations.
Best in these styles
Beers showcasing Nelson Sauvin
- Various NZ-hop releasesOriginal Pattern
- VariousCellarmaker
- NelsonAlpine
Substitutes & relatives
If you can't source Nelson Sauvin, these hops bring overlapping character.
Lineage & family
How Nelson Sauvin connects to the rest of the hop family — its parents, and the varieties it spawned. Trace the full pedigree in the Hop Lineage explorer →
Blood relatives
Genetically closest in the pedigree (may taste different):
Pedigree data adapted from the Rohwer (2021) hop family tree (CC0 1.0). Compilation, analysis & visualisation © 2026 Veryation · Freshie™.
For brewers — technical profile
Oil composition
History
Bred at the New Zealand Plant & Food Research Institute, released in 2000. Named for Sauvignon Blanc wines from the same Marlborough/Nelson region.
Explore more hops
Flavor twins across Freshie
Drinks and foods across Freshie that share Nelson Sauvin’s flavor fingerprint — matched on shared flavor axes via the Freshie Taste Graph.