Te Mata Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc Hawkes Bay – 2021

Cape Crest is a blend of 87% sauvignon blanc, 9% sauvignon gris and 4% semillon grapes which were fermented in French barriques in typical white Bordeaux style. The wine was then aged on its lees in barrel for a further 11 months with regular lees stirring to gain weight and complexity. The 2021 vintage was superb for white wines throughout New Zealand.

This is a fresh, dry, hugely appealing  white wine, bursting with citrus, guava, pear and stone fruit flavours. It is concentrated, medium bodied and multi-dimensional in its flavour profile, with gentle toasty oak notes on the finish.

The 2020 vintage of this wine was awarded “wine of the week” on jancisrobinson.com – 26th August 2022 – and “absolutely bears comparison with the great whites of Pessac Léognan and Graves”.

“The 2021 Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc is a mélange of hand-picked estate fruit: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Sauvignon Gris. The wine has aromas of French pear, spring flowers and green apple skins, chalky, talcy and floral, and there’s freshness and texture. The oak is essentially invisible but lends a texturing hand to the phenolics. Low pH here gives the tension and energy. Sauvignon Gris is a seasoning, offering a strawberry/ tropical note, bison grass, straw and smoked cassis. The clay gives a punchy nettley, gooseberry, lantana note. The Semillon is restrained. Malolactic fermentation is blocked, and the wine sees 11 months élevage sur lie in French oak (30% new)” 94/100pts Wine Advocate

Dieser im Fass vergorene und gereifte Sauvignon Blanc ist ein reichhaltiger und komplexer trockener Weisswein mit einer köstlichen Mischung aus tropischen Früchten, Holzrauch und Gewürzaromen, unterstützt von einer frischen, salzigen Säure. Der Jahrgang 2020 wurde kürzlich auf jancisrobinson.com zum “Wein der Woche” gekürt und steht dem Vergleich mit den grossen Weissweinen von Pessac Léognan and Graves absolut Stand”.