Laborie Sauvignon Blanc
£11.39
£15.19 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Out of Stock
If your idea of a perfect summer pour is bright, zesty and unmistakably South African, this is your bottle. Laborie's Sauvignon Blanc layers grapefruit and passion fruit over fresh-cut grass and a whisper of green fig, finishing crisp and zingy. Serve it well chilled and watch a quiet evening turn into something worth lingering over. Delivered across the UK.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Expert curated
Our Verdict
We keep coming back to this one because it punches well above its price. Plenty of Sauvignon Blanc shouts; this one has the confidence to stay precise and balanced, with a real Paarl signature in that grapefruit-and-green-fig lift. It is our easy recommendation for anyone who wants a reliable, food-friendly white that never disappoints, whether for a midweek supper or a summer table full of friends. Stock is limited at the moment, so if a crisp, characterful South African Sauvignon is on your list, we'd grab it now rather than wait.
Tasting Notes
A bright, expressive Sauvignon Blanc that announces itself the moment it hits the glass. The nose lifts with grapefruit and passion fruit, cut grass and green fig, with a perfumed, faintly peppery edge that keeps things interesting. The palate follows that promise: fresh and zesty, with a clean linear acidity that keeps every mouthful crisp rather than sharp. It finishes long and fruity with a real zing, the kind of brightness that makes you reach for the next sip.
About This Wine
Here's a wine that does cool-climate freshness the South African way: generous fruit up front, a green, savoury edge underneath, and acidity that keeps the whole thing singing. Pour it cold and the glass fills with grapefruit and passion fruit, then comes the clever part, a lift of cut grass, green fig and a faint peppery, floral perfume that stops it ever feeling simple. The palate follows through exactly as the nose promises. Fresh, zesty and beautifully balanced, with a linear acidity that runs clean from first sip to a bright, fruity finish. It is elegant rather than aggressive, the kind of Sauvignon Blanc that wins over people who think they don't like Sauvignon Blanc. That poise is no accident. Laborie sits at the foot of Paarl Mountain, one of South Africa's oldest wine districts, where warm days and Atlantic-cooled nights give whites their aromatic snap. The estate has been growing vines here since 1691, and three centuries of French-rooted know-how show in the precision of this glass. It loves company at the table: think fresh oysters, grilled white fish, a goat's cheese salad or a plate of asparagus. Equally happy on its own in the garden when the British summer finally turns up. A genuine crowd-pleaser, and a lovely thing to send to a Cape-missing friend, delivered to doorsteps right across the UK.
Food Pairing
This is a wine built for fresh, zingy food. Pour it with a plate of oysters or grilled white fish and the citrus acidity cuts straight through, lifting every bite. It loves goat's cheese and a crisp summer salad, and handles roast chicken or a herb-dressed seafood linguine with ease. Honestly, it is also happy on its own, well chilled, on a warm afternoon.
- —Fresh oysters with lemon and shallot vinegar
- —Grilled sea bass with herbs and olive oil
- —Warm goat's cheese salad with walnuts
- —Roast chicken with lemon and tarragon
- —Prawn and chilli linguine
How to Serve
Decanting
No decanting needed. This is all about freshness and immediacy, so pour it straight from a well-chilled bottle and let the aromatics speak for themselves.
Behind the Wine
Paarl's growing year tends to open with a proper cool, wet Cape winter, the kind that recharges the subsoil water tables after stretches of drought. Cool springs follow, often with rain that keeps the vineyard team busy managing the canopy, and summers swing between warm and cool spells with the odd light shower. For Sauvignon Blanc that means picking at exactly the right moment, holding onto the bright acidity and grapefruit lift that make this wine so refreshing in the glass.
Ageing Potential
This is a fresh, early-drinking style made for its vibrant fruit and crisp acidity, not for the cellar. Drink it young while everything is bright and zingy. Producer guidance suggests it holds for around 20 months from the vintage date, but there is no reward in waiting longer.
The Winemaking
This is Sauvignon Blanc made for freshness above all. There is no oak to get in the way: the focus is on capturing the grape's aromatic intensity, those passion fruit, green fig and cut-grass notes, and locking in a clean, zesty acidity. Careful picking decisions and close attention to pH in the cellar do the heavy lifting here, preserving the linear drive and zingy finish rather than chasing weight. The result is crisp, precise and built to be poured well chilled.
About the Producer
Laborie
Laborie has been making wine since 1691, when a French Huguenot named Isaac Taillefert was granted a farm on the slopes of Paarl Mountain. He brought his name from a village in Champagne, which is why this estate, three centuries later, still feels destined to make sparkling wine. Within seven years of arrival the family was producing wine that visiting travellers compared favourably with small Champagnes, and the vineyards have been worked continuously ever since. The original Cape Dutch manor house is a National Monument, the surrounding vines have outlasted empires, and today Laborie sits within the KWV stable as one of the Cape's most reliable names for Méthode Cap Classique.