94 points,"Bright, tangy Sauvignon Blanc with appealing purity and freshness. Punchy aromatics with lime juice, gooseberry and oyster shell against a background of subtle passionfruit and tree fruit flavours."- Bob Campbell MW 94 points,"This isn't a huge fruit salad of Marlborough Savvy aromas; it's much more nuanced, offering subtle violets, nectarines and apple skin that dare I say has a whiff of the Loire. While still fresh, the acid is rather gentler than you'd expect - potentially an expression of this ripe vintage. An excellent showing."- Vinous Any new project from Master of Wine, Steve Smith, needs to be firmly on the radar of a true fine wine lover… CRU is the latest creation from Steve Smith MW (a legend in the New Zealand wine game who has worked at Villa Maria and Craggy Range) and Brian Sheth (the American businessman and wildlife conservationist who is presumably bankrolling the initiative). The idea behind it is to create a contemporary negociant business, buying grapes from some of the country's greatest growers and using them to create wines focussed on terroir and Turangawaewae. Terroir, as we all know, is the French word that describes a wine's sense of place. Turangawaewae is Maori word that defines a place to stand in the world, where one feels empowered and connected. The Wairau Sauvignon Blanc is crafted using grapes from old vines with an average age of around 25 years. Some come from the rocky soils around the Renwick township in Marlborough, and the others come from biodynamic hillside plots that are part of Sam and Mandy Weavers'Churton vineyards. Partially barrel fermented, which imparts the wonderful creamy texture, the wine is herbal, with soft passionfruit, nectarine, tangerine, gooseberry, lime and apple skin fruit, accompanied by a beachy salinity. What sets it apart from many other Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs is that it's much less grassy - herby but not grassy - and it has a more tempered acidity, making it feel rather gentler and less overpowering. And that makes it a fabulous food wine, especially when paired with fish or Vietnamese summer rolls laced with fresh herbs and mango.£3.07 per 100.00ml