Yes so was my astonishment when my parents served me this South African Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon blend. My mom prefaced it by saying that she didn’t really like it that much and usually we align quite a bit on white wine. So I was a bit skeptical going into it. But man was I in for a surprise!

👁 Medium lemon

👃👅 On first whiff I was immediately transferred to a very different place: Bordeaux. It had that classic cat pee, grassy, apple and lemon which I’ve come to love so much from white Bordeaux. But also a bit of pepper to it. I was probably primed a bit by knowing the blend beforehand though. Now that I think of it I had I not known the blend before it could also have been a good but cold vintage New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

📐 But then again it had a very satisfying med-full body (which is more common when blended with Semillon I think) with a high acidity and a quite long length.

🥇 Had I tasted this blind I would have for sure yelled out either New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (although the lack of tropical fruits and the thicker body should have pointed me away from that) or white Bordeaux. Really impressed with this. Although the only bad thing I would say is that the complexity is just not quite up there with white Bordeaux. But still this is great and it starts at least 3 to ♾ cheaper 😎

Looking at the back of the label and a few things shows that this could in fact be a good bottle. First off, it mentions the specific region the wine comes from: Western Cape. Still Western Cape I believe is mostly known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. But still any closer identification of where the grapes are from are usually a good sign . And furthermore the winemakers location is another region Elgin also known for making great Sauvignon Blancs. So that all adds up.