Craggy Range Te Muna Road - Now This Is Sauvignon Blanc!

One of our favorite Sauvignon Blanc, from a tiny region in New Zealand. The Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard Martinborough Sauvignon Blanc.

100% Sauvignon Blanc from Martinborough, New Zealand. The wine spent 4 months in 3% new French oak barriques. It has residual sugar of 3.1 g/L.

Sample submitted for review. The Craggy Range Te Muna Road Sauvignon Blanc has an SRP of $25 but we’ve spotted it at Costco for as low as $15. Ready to buy? Check your local retailers. Imported by Kobrand Corporation.

From the bottle:

Craggy Range is a family owned winery specializing in the production of expressive Single Vineyard wines. Our Martinborough vineyard is located at Te Muna, which means ‘secret place’. This wine is sourced exclusively from several parcels of vines growing on a stony, limestone influenced soil adjacent to the Huangarua River. Flavours of limes, peaches and apples sit alongside the characteristic herbaceous components and a unique dry grainy texture on the palate. As with all our Sauvignon Blanc wines, intervention in the cellar is minimal out of care and respect for characters of the vineyard. Enjoy within three years of vintage, lightly chilled, wherever there is sun, surf or seafood.

13.0% Alcohol

Most people, I’m sure, are familiar with the excellent Sauvignon Blanc produced in Marlborough, which produces almost 80% of New Zealand’s wine. However, if you don’t look closely you might not even notice that today’s wine comes not from Marlborough, but from Martinborough, which accounts for only about 3% of New Zealand’s vineyard land. This tiny region is best known for Pinot Noir but if the Te Muna Road vineyard is any indication, they can produce an excellent Sauvignon Blanc as well!

Since we last reviewed the 2010 vintage, we were quite excited to see how our impressions would change after 7 years. It turns out not much!

The 2017 Craggy Range Te Muna Road Vineyard Martinborough Sauvignon Blanc begins with a complex aroma of tropical fruit, pear, lime, peach, a hint of creamy vanilla and some herbal and grass notes. The wine tastes very crisp and has plenty of acidity. The primary flavors are pear, lots of lime, guava and mango. The finish features tangy tropical fruit which lingers for a long time and is mixed with a hint of minerality. Very refreshing, very delicious and just as good (if not even better) than we remembered!

Ready to buy the Craggy Range Te Muna Road Sauvignon Blanc? Check your local retailers.