Te Mata Estate Cape Crest Hawke's Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2020

Te Mata Estate Cape Crest Hawke's Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2020Dry style Barrel fermented Gooseberry Moreish & elegant "A blend of sauvignon blanc 85%, semillon 9% and sauvignon gris 6%. Fermented and matured in oak for 11 months. Richly textured, bone dry wine with oak and nutty yeast lees quite prominent, although the slightly grassy varietal character is clearly evident. A classy wine" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jan 2022 "Fabulously composed and expressed with Granny Smith apple, lemon lime

• Dry style
• Barrel-fermented
• Gooseberry
• Moreish & elegant

"A blend of sauvignon blanc 85%, semillon 9% and sauvignon gris 6%. Fermented and matured in oak for 11 months. Richly textured, bone-dry wine with oak and nutty yeast lees quite prominent, although the slightly grassy varietal character is clearly evident. A classy wine" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jan 2022

"Fabulously composed and expressed with Granny Smith apple, lemon/lime peel, white floral and oatmeal characters, it’s juicy and wonderfully flavoursome in the mouth delivering excellent fruit purity and intensity with a subtle savoury/saline nuance. Brilliantly structured and super long on the finish. Best now to 2033" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jan 2022

"Impressive for its ripely herbal, complex, sustained flavours, this invitingly scented wine is full-bodied and very savoury, with rich peach and passionfruit flavours, enriched by biscuity oak, a suggestion of herbs, lively acidity and a dry, lasting finish" Michael Cooper, The Listener, Feb 2022

The 2020 is a remarkable Cape Crest; palest lemon and brilliant in the glass. Luscious citrus and succulent stone fruit slide effortlessly towards a precise and lingering finish of gooseberry, lime and sea salt. Among all the ripe and pure fruit on the palate floats crunchy acidity and complexing grace-notes of dill, coriander, beeswax and woodsmoke. Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc ’20 is a signature example, with drive, moreish appeal and elegance to spare.

The fully ripe grapes for Cape Crest ’20 were hand harvested from individual plots within Te Mata Estate’s vineyards between 26 February and 5 March 2020.

The separate parcels were each destemmed and lightly crushed, then cooled before a brief period of skin contact. Following pressing and cold-settling, they were run to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barrels for fermentation. The resulting wines were aged on lees, with regular stirring, for a further 11 months before bottling in February 2021. Cape Crest ’20 is a blend of 85% sauvignon blanc, 9% semillon and 6% sauvignon gris.

Cape Crest and its gannet symbol refer to Cape Kidnappers, the southern point of Hawke Bay, home to the world’s largest mainland colony of these remarkable marine birds. Since 1984, Cape Crest has developed an international following for its unique expression of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Barrel fermented, with a touch of Semillion and Sauvignon Gris, it is concentrated and complex with toast, citrus blossom, pear and stonefruit characters.