2005 Te Mata Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc

[Adair]

Okay, time to clean the teeth and freshen the palate for the Wallaby-Springbok game tonight. The 2005 Te Mata Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc looks perfect for the job. Upon opening the bottle, a wave of passionfruit and gooseberry hits me. The bottle is still remotely warm, although it has been in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, as I just bought it a few hours ago at the bottle shop, but this wine should be drunk more like a Chardonnay than a traditional Sauvignon Blanc anyway.

2005 Te Mata Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc - 13.5% - Hawkes Bay, NZ
Creamy passionfruit, gooseberry, tropical fruit salad, vanilla with yogurt, biscuit and nectarine nuances on the nose are relayed on the palate with lime, caramel, minerality and strong but pleasant grassiness. The wine’s flavours are defined and focussed. The palate is sumptuous and creamy but wonderfully controlled by the wine’s strong, but both creamy and fresh, acidity, carrying the wine with power, authority and control. Length is also exceptional with both fruit and barrel characters carrying the wine to a long, lingering finish. A red wine drinker’s Sauvignon Blanc. 94/100 (18.5/100), apparently this wine ages well but I love it just the way it is now.

Kind regards,
Adair

[Craig(NZ)]

An Aussie with an A-Z palate

anyone who hasnt tried this wine i reckon must be just plain dumb . rave reviews everywhere you look. i dont even think te mata knows what sort of waves it has produced around the place. sublimely elegant and stylish. i have one more that i plan to drink first warm spring day with a big hunk of snapper and salad. It does have a reputation of aging fairly well but from my point of view why risk it? can it really get any better? i doubt it

look forward to serving you up the other mega star sauvignon blanc of the vintage when you are over next adair

C.

[Attila]

Oh, I think it will be worth holding back your bottle Craig for a year or two. Remember, this is a blend, not a straight sauvignon blanc so in my view the components will benefit from "coming together". This wine was part of the Australian-NZ masterclass in Hungary, early July. All attendees agreed they've never tried a better NZ sauvignon but I noted this time that it needs 1 year for sure to show even better. 95 points from me for this mighty white.
Cheers,
Attila

[n4sir]

I agree with the above comments - a bottle of it was very classy stuff at the T-Chow offline last week:

2005 Te Mata Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc: Pale straw colour with a tinge of green. A very attractive nose to open the evening, a nice balance of ripe fruit & clever oak; slightly smoky and sweet, gooseberry fruit and a touch of pickled capsicum, subtle, nutty/smoke and flint/burnt match characters. The palate was even more impressive, clean, sweet/spritzy citrus fruit on entry building through to the mid-palate, finishing with refreshing acidity and lingering sweet lime, the length absolutely outstanding.

Hopefully with the Sauvignon Blanc glut in New Zealand (and probably in Australia in a couple of years time) there'll be a bit around of this quality at a good price. Well, I can always hope for it anyway.

Cheers,
Ian

[danclarke]

Probably the only excellent SB I have seen. And contributed by CM 94 may be light on I think Adair, nice pick.

...but red drinkers SB !

[Jordan]

I agree whole heartedly about this wine. Best SB I have had and one of my wines of the year to date. I think I gave it 96 points... but I can tend to get very excited at times

[platinum]

Agree that this is a very lovely SB (the best I've had) but for me I think it will be even better sometime over the next 2 years. Will try my next one late this coming summer.

[MerlotWine]

What a nice description of a wine!!!