Cloudy Bay - New Zealand

Cloudy Bay is the sister winery to Cape Mentelle, Australia and is one of the most enigmatic wines in the world. Low yields, seminal quality and a veil of mystery ensures demand always outstrips supply of the classic Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, which is rich and full bodied due to the small amount of Semillon blended into the cuvée. Whilst we have a good allocation of Cloudy Bay wines the Sauvignon Blanc is offered on a first come first served basis.

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Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2008

Ref: nz2007

Price: £21.95 inc VAT

Mouth-watering aromas of passionfruit and lemongrass meld with the spiciness of just-picked tomatoes tossed with fresh basil. Many small parcels of fruit, ripened under ideal conditions, bring layers of complexity to the 2007 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. The palate has exceptional richness, with ripe gooseberry flavours and a hint of fresh fennel leading to a powerful, crisp finish.

Vineyard

The Sauvignon Blanc 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.

Season

The season started well and early spring conditions were settled with a couple of chilly mornings, but thankfully, no frost damage. The weather during December and early January was unseasonably cold and cloudy with consistent, intermittent rainfall. This led to variable flowering and resulted in tonnages on the low side of average. The weather improved considerably during early January and for the rest of the summer fine conditions prevailed. By the time harvest commenced the season had 'clocked up' enough sun to catch-up with the long term average of heat summation levels. Harvest commenced under sunny skies but an unwelcome cold spell produced a couple of inches of rain and delayed picking over Easter. A dry April allowed the rest of harvest to be completed at a very measured pace. The light crop loads meant all vineyards were able to ripen in the cool Marlborough autumn. When a record frost occurred over most of the valley on the 25th of April the majority of Cloudy Bay's vineyards had been harvested leading to a good foundation for Cloudy Bay Sauvignon

Harvest

The Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2007 harvest began on the 13th of March - the earliest start date on record - 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 7th of April. All vineyards were picked at optimum ripeness. Despite the season being average in terms of heat summation, the harvest was completed by the 10th of April ... allowing the Cloudy Bay team to experience Easter for the first time without their gumboots on.

The fruit was machine harvested during the cooler night and early morning temperatures and transported directly to the winery. The grapes were de-stemmed and transferred straight to tank presses. Free run and lightly pressed juice was cold settled for 48 hours then racked and inoculated with a neutral yeast strain. The fermentations were carried out in stainless steel tanks; after fermentation the wine remained in contact with yeast lees for around two months, prior to blending in July and subsequent bottling in August.

Maximum 12 bottles only can be ordered of the Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Search tags:

New Zealand | White |

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Reviews :

"Wine of the Week. A few wine companies can now claim to make Marlborough sauvignon blanc as good as the Cloudy Bay, but this remains the icon sauvignon" Northern Advocate

"Typically ripe fruity nose with lots of passionfruit, hints of limes and an edge of capsicum. The palate is full and complex with ripe gooseberry flavours" The Hamilton Press