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Wine Description
The Story
The iconic wine behind the Cloudy Bay tale
Established in 1985, Cloudy Bay was one of the first five wine makers to venture into Marlborough. At the time, it was almost an unimaginable place to set-up a vineyard. But Cloudy Bay’s founder - David Hohnen - was convinced of its potential to produce great wine and invested in the best land of the region. Since then, Marlborough has risen to become New Zealand’s leading wine region, as well as one of the finest winemaking locations in the world.
The winery was named after Cloudy Bay, a body of water explorer Captain James Cook came across during his voyage to New Zealand in 1770. His discovery coincided with flooding in the region, which washed large amounts of sediment into the sea. Noticing the water’s opaque appearance, Cook cleverly christened the area Cloudy Bay.
Today, Cloudy Bay not only captures the essence of Marlborough but also embodies New Zealand's luxury to the world. The luxury of space and time, of intimate moments and nature’s rarest qualities.
Defined New Zealand's wine and established the Marlborough wine region globally.
Following the harvest, the free-run juice was cold-settled for 48-72 hours before racking. Fermentation was carried out primarily in stainless steel tanks, with approximately 7% of the blend fermented at warmer temperatures in old French oak barriques and large format vats. As usual, our Sauvignon Blanc was blended stringently to include only the best portions.
Wine Information
Current Tasting Notes
Scented and summery, the 2008 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc has deliciously vibrant aromatics that infuse the tropical fragrance of fresh passionfruit and juicy pineapples with garden-fresh basil and the spiciness of crushed tomato leaves. The palate is long and succulent, combining exotic fruits with ripe, red capsicum and a twist of green olive …beautifully complemented by crisp natural acidity and a hint of lime zest.
Vineyard Notes
Grapes were sourced from estate and grower vineyards located in the Rapaura, Fairhall, Renwick and Brancott sub-regions of the Wairau Valley. Free draining, stony soils typify the Rapaura and Renwick areas whilst Fairhall and Brancott are predominantly aged alluvial loams containing some clay. The majority of fruit was grown on a vertical shoot positioned (VSP) trellis, and the balance on the divided Scott Henry trellis system. In 2008, average sauvignon blanc yields came in slightly above the target 10 Tonnes/hectare (4.0 Tonnes/acre)
Production Notes
Harvest started slightly earlier than usual and was particularly condensed. The sauvignon blanc harvest commenced on the 25th of March under settled conditions, the first fruit coming from the stonier, warmer blocks around the winery. Harvesting continued steadily during the month through the progressively later ripening sites, with the last fruit coming in on the 20th of April. Open canopy management and tight pruning regimes came to the fore in allowing the fruit to reach ripeness before the rains in the later part of harvest. Flavours were superb and all vineyards produced ripe, concentrated fruit of exceptional quality.
Winemaker Notes
Idyllic flowering weather led to excellent set in all varieties, in particular sauvignon blanc, which bloomed into a bountiful crop. A warm summer followed and the season finished close to the long term average in terms of heat summation, sunshine hours and rainfall. The exceptionally dry ripening season was punctuated by two rain events during the second half of harvest, producing many a grey hair and speeding up the picking. All vineyards were picked in just over a month and the vintage was
