Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc '16 ★★★★1/2 - 'An appealingly ethereal texture, with good weight and richness.' 93/100

'If there was Kiwi wine aristocracy, Te Mata would be it. Nestled in the foothills of the Te Mata heritage zone, they make some of the best wines in the country. Independent, family-owned, exclusively Hawke's Bay, and committed to making premium wine on site.'

Cape Crest '15 ★★★★ - 'One of the world’s best barrel-fermented sauvignon blancs.'

Cape Crest '15 - 'A riot of citrus, smoke and vanilla, herbal perfume... bursting through the finish with lime and vanilla.. A 1960s Batman TV Series fight scene of a wine!' 95 Points

Cape Crest '15 -★★★★★ 'Tropical fruits entwined with creamy barrel-ferment and nutty complexing layers.' 19.0-/20

Cape Crest '15 ★★★★★ - 'Superbly structured by crisp acidity... Reminiscent of classic white Bordeaux.' 95 Points

'With some of the country’s finest wines on its books there’s little doubt that Hawke’s Bay can produce outstanding-quality reds and whites. You’ll now find Hawke’s Bay wines in Michelin restaurants from Paris to Monaco.'

'My benchmark. Te Mata Estate is the standard by which every other wine producer could be judged. The full range of styles has always been impeccable.'

'Cape Crest ’14 is a wine that redefines sauvignon in New Zealand. In a Class of its Own, Cape Crest has an international following for its unique expression of New Zealand sauvignon. Concentrated, elegant and complex with toast, citrus blossom, pear and stone fruit.'

'Cape Crest '14 offers a very expressive, tropical nose with notes of guava, pineapple and green mango. This is an opulent style of Sauvignon with a finish that goes on and on.' 90+ Points

'Cape Crest '14 ★★★★★ 90+ Points - Pungent peach and pear aromas are complicated by tropical hints and a note of fresh coconut flesh and lifted by lively citrus blossom.'

Cape Crest '14 - 'One of the best barrel-fermented new world Sauvignon Blancs I have ever tasted.'

Cape Crest '14 - ...'A complex and layered experience'...

Cape Crest '14 - 'Barrel fermented blend of mainly Sauvignon with some Semillon and a bit of Sauvignon Gris. El smootho. Lime, banana split topped with almond, floral and herbal notes, touch of toasty spiced oak. Glides through the mouth with a creamy gloss, but has a passionfruit and grapefruit tang, light chalkiness and a pretty finish - crunch of grapefruit and toast - long too. Beautifully turned out.' 94 points

Cape Crest '13- 'Cape Crest - a wine that redefines sauvignon blanc in New Zealand. Outstanding.'

Cape Crest '13 'Weighty, complex wine that’s about as good as it gets in Hawke’s Bay.' 93 points

'Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc '13 proved to be irresistible. Many Australian, New Zealand and Bordeaux winemakers barrel ferment sauvignon blanc – without success. The resulting wines are either too herbaceous or are over-burdened with artefact, but this one shines. Fresh, ripe, slightly grassy sauvignon blanc aroma and flavour is seamlessly integrated with subtle oak and lees influences. The palate is very satisfying and textural.' ★★★★★

Cape Crest '13 - 'Showing the comely curves of oak handling and lees work. Fruit sweetness rolls right through.Classy stuff. 94/100'

Cape Crest '13 - ' A striking bouquet that is both generous and demanding. Packed with white fruits, white flowers and that Semillion/Oak waxy charm. A great wine to rival some northern hemisphere counterparts.' ★★★★★

Cape Crest '13 ★★★★★ - 'It is intensely aromatic on the nose displaying grapefruit, flint, peach and dried herb characters with subtle nutty complexity. The palate is concentrated and compact, and offers wonderful explosion of flavours, finishing superbly long and mouth-watering. At its best: 2017 to 2025.' 95 points

'Bright, light, golden-straw colour with some depth. The nose is softly packed with layers of ripe green stonefruits, nectarines, greengages and pineapple, along with tropical fruits, melded with nutty and creamy barrel-ferment notes. Dry to taste and medium-full bodied, rich and packed ripe stonefruit flavours are entwined with nectarines and peaches, unfolding herbs, spices and nuts. This is a beautifully complex, layered barrel influenced Sauvignon Blanc.' 19/20 ★★★★★

Cape Crest '13 'Highly fragrant, it is weighty, sweet fruited and rounded, with ripe peach and nectraine flavours, a slighty creamy texture, good complexity and a long, dry finish.' Classic ★★★★★

'Wines of the Year - Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc ’13, an attractive perfume, reminiscent of blackcurrant and grass … zesty acidity leaves a crisp finish. Great food wine with a rich mid palate and lovely line.'

'Cape Crest '13 - this is one of the best wines from Hawke's Bay every year. A retrospective tasting going back a decade showed that every Cape Crest shone with freshness, brightness, full body and a seductively silky, weighty texture that most New Zealand Sauvignons can only dream of.'

'I love the fragrance of passionfruit curd, lemon blossom and hints of herbaceousness in this wine. Bursting with ripe citrus fruit, a lovely layer of soft oak, piercing , yet beautifully balanced acidity and a splash of marzipan and wet stone, this wine has a huge future ahead. Gorgeous.' ★★★★★

‘Elegantly proportioned, with ripe aromas of green stonefruits, herbs, nectarines and mineral notes. Ripe white stonefruit flavours with delicate richness and succulence, balanced by very fine acidity. A luscious creaminess, with finesse, ripeness and length.’ 19/20 ★★★★★

Cape Crest '13 'Top flight, wood-aged.'

Cape Crest '12- 'This is as good as it has always been. A beautifully aromatic wine showing dill, grapefruit, green apple and flint, together with a superbly concentrated palate that’s linear and racy. Needs time to show its best but it’s very promising. At its best: 2015 to 2020.' 93 points ★★★★★

Cape Crest '13 - 'A vibrant nose and rich, fleshy palate with great weight and concentration.' 91 points

Cape Crest '12 - 'If you want to take a break from Marlborough Sauvignon - and I wouldn't blame you - try this complex, barrel-fermented blend, which benefits from the presence of 9% Semillon and 5% Sauvignon Gris. Smoky, savoury and mealy, with great oak integration.'

'This is an outstanding Cape Crest, one of the best under this label for sure. But you wouldn’t immediately know the wine was fermented in oak barrels, about quarter of them new, such is the fruit concentration which has absorbed obvious ‘oaky’ flavours. The beauty is that the wine has benefited from the barrel fermentation and maturation which provided integration and complexity as well as fine texture throughout the palate. Indeed the engaging bouquet shows lifted aromas of dried herbs, citrus, peach and flint. The palate is powerful and concentrated with superb mid-palate weight backed by racy acidity. It’s taut, linear and mouth-watering, and very long on the finish.' 94 points ★★★★★

Cape Crest '12- 'Bright, pale straw-yellow colour. The bouquet is full and integrated, with evenly intermixed aromas of passionfruit, green stonefruits, and gooseberries. This is sweet-fruited, and softly textured with a slippery mouthfeel enhanced by good acidity.' 18/20 ★★★★★

'Bright, light straw-yellow colour with green hues, lighter on rim. The bouquet is very fresh with gooseberry, fresh herb and spicy nectarine fruit aromas and restrained, balanced oaking. Though tight and with elegance, this has intensity and concentration. Dry and medium-bodied, intense and penetrating flavours of cool, gooseberry fruits, stonefruits and oak spices and nutty notes are enlivened by bright, lacy acidity. The textures are very fine and match the slender proportions. This has excellent vitality and drive with great cut, and a very long finish.' 18.5/20 ★★★★★

"A magnificent beauty."

'Highly fragrant, it is weighty, sweet fruited and rounded, with ripe peach and nectraine flavours, a slighty creamy texture, good complexity and a long, dry finish. Drink now onwards.' Classic. ★★★★★

Cape Crest '11- 'There’s a tantalising smoky nuance to the peach and classic grassy scents and the flavours are deliciously juicy with grilled peach, pineapple, grapefruit, pear, a glimmer of tarragon and a toasty, grassy finish. A gem.'

'One of my favourite wines each year. Fermented and matured in oak barrels, this is restrained yet persistent with gentle peach, citrus and herbaceous characters combined with elegant nutty notes. And it matures beautifully too.'

Cape Crest '11- 'Classic amalgam of ripe nectarines, florals, oak spices, toastiness ... with great drive. Superb and youthful.' 19 points ★★★★★

'Te Mata Cape Crest 2011 is one of my favourite wines each year. The wine is predominantly Sauvignon Blanc (85%) with Semillon and Sauvignon Gris, and it is a world away from the classic Marlborough style. Fermented and matured in oak barrels, this is restrained yet persistent with gentle peach, citrus and herbaceous characters combined with elegant nutty notes. And it matures beautifully too.'

Cape Crest '11- 'This New Zealand family makes wines with a nod to Europe. Cape Crest is my Christmas choice. Bordeaux-like but bolder: floral, gooseberries, cream and toast. Superb.'

Cape Crest '11- 'Brilliantly forthright oak, like all-butter shortbread. Lemon citrus and vegetal notes still present on the palate, good restraint despite the potent nose. This could be Graves or Pessac-Léognan.'

Cape Crest '11- "This is like top white Bordeaux."

'Te Mata Estate - Four stars out of four. Grand and prestigious. Especially good within it’s price range.'

Cape Crest '10- 'Lovely pink grapefruit, honeysuckle, pear juice and lime cordial aromas with a touch of cedar.' 91 points

'Full of personality and complexity together with capacity to develop beautifully in the bottle. It’s concentrated and finely textured with lovely fruit intensity and bright acidity.' 93 points

Cape Crest '10- 'John Buck has been making Cape Crest barrel-fermented sauvignon for decades... but I don't think he has ever produced a better example than this. The use of oak is amazingly subtle but adds a baked-custard and hazelnutwhip creaminess to the wine, brilliantly complementing the juicy passion fruit and nectarine that run riot through it. It gets better and better after it has been opened a while: really ripe grapefruit joins the fruit medley, chopped hazelnuts get sprinkled on the custard cream, and somewhere a single leaf of mint just makes its presence felt.'

'Very pale staw in colour showing its youth. Beautifully fresh with exotic nectarine, herb and minerally aromas along with a smoky oak touch, this was exquisitely fine on palate with intensity, depth and tightly bound fruit flavours and fresh acid crispness. ‘Cape Crest’ always looks fine on release and this will age 5-8 years.'

Cape Crest '09- 'Beautiful notes of lime leaf, jasmine, honeysuckle and passion fruit. Top quality winemaking at work!' 89 points

'I’ve always been a big fan of this wine. And it still impresses.' Outstanding.

'Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc 2009, another mind-blowing wine made using full barrel fermentation, which is a lovely fusion of dried herb, citrus and spicy oak with a lingering dry finish, best in four to five years from now.'

'Hawke’s Bay sauvignon blancs are becoming more popular, if the all matched the panache of Te Mata’s Cape Crest savvy, I could understand why.'

'I’ve always been a big fan of this wine. And it still impresses.' Outstanding

'Pale straw colour, this had a full and open bouquet of ripe tropical fruits, herbs and oak spices and a weighty, but soft palate full of tropical fruit and herbal flavours. Excellent depth, concentration, liveliness and already quite approachable. However, this label has proven ability to carry 6-8 years bottle age.' 19/20

Cape Crest '08- 'A nutty, toasty overlay mixes with peach, nectarine, herb and mineral aromas ... with a smoky, savoury, complex flavour of excellent depth and persistence.' ★★★★★

Cape Crest '08- 'Slightly richer than the ’07, this wine displays varietals aromatics with a very fine texture and long, persistent flavours. There is almost a savoury character to the wine which is bone dry yet wonderfully balanced by the refreshing acidity.' Highly recommended

'Te Mata’s Bordeaux style sauvignon blanc, 2008 Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc, has a little semillon and sauvignon gris added to the barrel ferment blend. While it is refreshing drinking now this wine is designed to age with big herbal and passionfruit aromas, dry minerality in the palate and a soft waxy texture that will develop richness with up to about 10 years age.'

'A straw gold colour with a full, soft and rich bouquet of ripe herby notes and some smoky elements from the full barrel ferment and 8 months in 30% new oak. With some bottle age, the fruit expression had mellowed and the textures have become quite harmonious. Full-bodied, there was excellent acidity.' 18/20

Elston '06 - 'Just released are the honey, citrus, butterscotch ‘06 Elston Chardonnay and ‘06 Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc much more complex and textural than most Kiwi sauvignons.'