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  • Country ranking ?

    51
  • Producer ranking ?

    18
  • Decanting time

    45min
  • When to drink

    2020-2025
  • Food Pairing

    Salads

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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.

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Wine Information

Current Tasting Notes
Generosity is the defining word for the 2009 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. Its aromatics encapsulate a broad spectrum of varietal flavours; tropical fragrances of guava and mango to ripe lime/ citrus and sweet herbs. The palate also is juicy and voluminous, combining concentrated flavours with a mineral acidity that leaves a long, fresh, intense finish.
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 with three canes laid down. In 2009, average Sauvignon Blanc yields were 9.52 Tonnes/hectare (3.85 Tonnes/acre).
Winemaker Notes
The Sauvignon Blanc harvest commenced on April 4th under very settled autumn conditions. The first fruit was picked 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 April 23rd. Some blocks required fruit thinning to remove Botrytis affected bunches prior to harvest. Strict yield management paid off with classic Marlborough flavours and fresh acid levels attained in all blocks. The fruit was machine harvested during the cooler night and early morning temperatures. The grapes were de-stemmed and transferred straight to tank presses within hours of picking. Free run and lightly pressed juice was cold settled for 48 – 72 hours then racked and inoculated with neutral yeast strains. The fermentations were carried out in stainless steel tanks, with a further two months on yeast lees following fermentation. At the blending bench, the winemakers selected only those batches that best reflected the characters expected from a diverse number of Marlborough vineyard sites before bottling in August. Final wine analysis shows an alcohol of 13.5%, pH of 3.23 and titratable acidity 7.6 g/L.
Ratings
95 Points
Week-End Australian ~ 2010 February
“Forget all about typecasting Marlborough sauvignon blanc; this wine... has outstanding structure, balance, line and length; the variety is almost irrelevant, for this is terroir speaking through the long-practised mouthpiece of the Cloudy Bay winemaking team.” - James Halliday

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Information

Origin

Blenheim, Marlborough
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