Winemaker Notes
A bright and pale straw color, the 2021 Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc immediately offers up notes of guava, lime juice, white nectarine and white peach, that all lead into a palate exploding with tropical fruit, salinity, and a fine, crystalline acidity. The perfect match for a plump fresh oyster in its half shell, the complexing notes of woodsmoke, grapefruit and juniper in this wine make it satisfy now yet more than capable of aging. Moreish and complex, this a wine of immense reward.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc is aromatically a little sweaty, with white flowers and enoki mushroom, pear and even sweet pea. This is composed and impressive and yet still so young. Having had the benefit of tasting the lineup, I'd say that while I can both appreciate and even encourage drinking these wines in their youth, the complexity and layering that evolves over time is magnificent, and you are missing this element in youth.
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James Suckling
A perfumed nose of green apples, passion fruit, grated nutmeg and beeswax. Medium-bodied. Bright and driving. Lemony acidity with a subtle smokiness. There is lovely weight and texture here with a solid core of fresh fruit and a lingering finish. A blend of sauvignon blanc, sauvignon gris and semillon.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
An eclectic region on the east coast of the North Island, Hawkes Bay extends from wide, fertile, coastal plains, inland, to the coast range, whose peaks reach as high as 5,300 feet. While the flatter areas were historically more popular because they are easier to cultivate, their alluvial soils can be too fertile for vines. In the late 20th century, the drive for quality led growers to the hills where soils are free-draining, limestone-rich and more suited to producing high quality wines.
Over the passing of time, the old Ngaruroro River laid down deep, gravelly beds, which were subsequently exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. In the 1980s growers identified this stretch, which continues for approximately 800 ha, and named it the Gimblett Gravels. The zone has proven to be ideal for the production of excellent red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
Today the area takes well-earned recognition for its Bordeaux blends and other reds. Expressive of intense stewed red and black berry with gentle herbaceous characters, Gimblett Gravels wines are suggestive of their cool climate origin, and on par with other top-notch Bordeaux blends around the globe.
Chardonnay is the top white grape in Hawkes Bay, making elegant wines, strong in stone fruit character. Sauvignon blanc comes in close behind, notable for its tropical, fruit forward qualities.