Hand-picked from a near perfect season, this sublime wine shows a glorious medley of tropical fruits, passionfruit, citrus, elderflower and pear. It is rich and fleshy, almost creamy on the palate, with a restraint and elegance that is all class. Aiming for a complex, satisfying, food-friendly style, a small portion was fermented in older barrels to enhance mid palate weight and texture. Our dry windy climate consistently delivers low yields and this variety is no exception. Obsessive attention to detail throughout the season ensures the fruit comes in at optimum flavour and balance, sometimes even harvesting the warmer side of individual rows and going back a few days later for the cooler side. Winemaker Helen Masters considers the 2008 one of the finest sauvignons yet produced by Ata Rangi.
 
Balanced and attractive with grassy notes over juicy pineapple and Passiona fruit. It’s tangy in the mouth with additional gooseberry tartness that’s softened and smoothed by a little barrel ferment creaminess. I like the clean gin and tonic style acid on exit too. A wine of subtlety and some sophistication. Rated : 92 Points Tasted : Dec08 Alcohol : 14% Price : $32 Closure : Screwcap Drink : 2008 - 2010 Gary Walsh; The Wine Front
 
If you want a nippy, refined sauvignon to perk up Christmas palates, this precocious ’08 is the bottle to serve. Martinborough, on the North Island, gets rather overlooked in the Cloudy Bay South Island sauvignon stampede. A pity, as this floral, white peach-stashed, yet herb and gooseberry-laden, wine demonstrates. Jane MacQuitty, UK Times 13 Dec 08