“It shows more richness and offers deeper flavors than most Sauvignons from the region priced under $20, but still shows excellent intensity of aroma and flavor, with lots of linear energy to complement the wine’s breadth and depth. An impressively complete wine, and a terrific value at this price.”
Rated 93/100 The Tasting Panel
"Expressive and mouthwatering, with firm yuzu, mango and lime flavors that mingle well with herbal accents of lemon verbena, lemon thyme and fresh ginger root. Notes of green tea linger on the finish."
Rated 90/100 The Wine Spectator

A stunning white, aromatic and supple, with wild fennel, quince, pear and green papaya flavors on a creamy frame. Aromatic details of mango and honeysuckle, with a whiff of flint, emerge on the finish, which just goes on and on. Drink now
Rated 94/100 The Wine Spectator
 

Lots of character to this, with apples, pears, popcorn kernels and blanched nuts. It’s medium-bodied with delicious fruit and a flavorful finish. A serious savuignon blanc for chardonnay lover. Flinty and reductive at the end. Screw cap.
Rated 94/100 James Suckling

Made with grapes sourced throughout nine Sonoma County sub AVAs and partially fermented in stainless steel along with some neutral French oak, this compelling white blended with 2.5% Sémillon begins with a spark of energy. Lean and clean grapefruit bitters hold court with honeydew, dill, Asian pear, and white flowers.
Rated 90/100 The Tasting Panel

#11 Wine Spectator Wine of  the Year 2024

The 2022 Cenizas de Laberinto Sauvignon Blanc is sharp and vibrant, with 12.6% alcohol, a pH of 3.04 and 8.77 grams of acidity. It was produced with grapes from vines planted in 1993 on volcanic ash soils. In 2022, Tirado macerated a bit more, looking for a little more structure. The wine didn't go through malolactic and was bottled after eight months with lees. This is sharp as a knife, with subtle aromas of meat broth and savory rather than floral or exotic, less varietal, complex, austere and mineral, with a rocky sensation. It's textured and tasty, clean, long and nuanced, fresh and balanced, with the cool sensation of the cold nights. He's worked a lot through decantation to be able to bottle the wine unfiltered, and the wine is bright and clean. It's an amazing wine, one of the finest values in Chile. 25,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2022. Experience with older vintages tells me this wine is going to develop nicely in bottle.
Rated 95/100 The Wine Advocate
 

"Made with the help of Master of Wine Richard Kershaw, this is a serious, wellstructured Sauvignon Blanc that outperforms many of its peers. Blackcurrant leaf and elderflower flavors provide lots of crunch and focus, with some added structure from partial skin contact before fermentation. 2022-25"
Rated 91/100 Tim Atkin
(Master of Wine and wine writer for Decanter Magazine)

We find the typical aromatic and flavor spectrum of the typical Kiwi SB to be very abrupt and we find many of those wines lean in the mid palate. Consequently, we often find the back palate acid structures to be unnecessarily aggressive. So when Stuart and James Downes told us they were making SB that a Riesling drinker would appreciate, they had our attention. Sauv Blanc in Elgin can often be a bit green and vegetal. Most attempts to build the mid palate of these wines result in an overly pungent version of that aromatic component. By using a tiny amount of barrel fermented and aged SB, they’re able to create a wine with great length and raciness, drawing out these wonderful mineral notes, but with plenty of power and richness in the mid palate. Production is around 2500 cases.