Winemaker Notes
Notes of stone and tropical fruit, citrus blossom, and just a hint of lightly smoked vanilla.
Delicious with seafood and roasted poultry.
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
Very poised, focused purity and concentration on the bouquet. Impressively complex this has enticing black currant and gooseberry flavors and a really long, elegant finish. Superb.
-
James Suckling
Strikingly fresh, toasty-oak aromas here with very attractive grilled hazelnuts, layered into vibrant, rich, tropical-fruit flavors and a smoothly honed palate. Complex and delicious.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Oke Sauvignon Blanc was fermented with indigenous yeasts in 320-liter "cigars" of French oak. Notes of struck match and burnt coffee appear on the nose, adding an appealing savory edge to scents of grilled citrus and stone fruit. It's medium-bodied and richly textured on the palate, then finishes a bit dry and woody. My best guess is that this needs another year or so of cellaring before hitting its peak, where it should stay for a few years.
Nestled in the heart of Marlborough in the South Island of New Zealand, TE PA FAMILY VINEYARDS is not just a testament to the region's rich viticultural potential—it is a living tribute to a legacy that dates back 800 years. Owned by Haysley MacDonald, te Pa is more than a winery; it's a continuation of a familial saga that began with the earliest Maori settlers in the Wairau Bar. Haysley's ancestry imbues te Pa with a profound sense of place and history that is reflected in each selection of the winery's portfolio.
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 icon and leading region of New Zealand's distinctive style of Sauvignon blanc, Marlborough has a unique terroir, making it ideal for high quality grape production (of many varieties). Despite some common generalizations, which could be fairly justified given that Marlborough is responsible for 90% of New Zealand's Sauvignon blanc production, the wines from this region are actually anything but homogenous. At the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, the vineyards of Marlborough benefit from well-draining, stony soils, a dry, sunny climate and wide temperature fluctuations between day and night, a phenomenon that supports a perfect balance between berry ripeness and acidity.
The region’s king variety, Sauvignon blanc, is beloved for its pungent, aromatic character with notes of exotic tropical fruit, freshly cut grass and green bell pepper along with a refreshing streak of stony minerality. These wines are made in a wide range of styles, and winemakers take advantage of various clones, vineyard sites, fermentation styles, lees-stirring and aging regimens to differentiate their bottlings, one from one another.
Also produced successfully here are fruit-forward Pinot noirs (especially where soils are clay-rich), elegant Riesling, Pinot gris and Gewürztraminer.