A superb spring was followed by a long dry summer that delivered a bountiful, flavoursome crop.
Forget all you know about New Zealand's Sauvignon Blanc
Cloudy Bay broke the winemaking rules to create a sophisticated style of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc made through wild fermentation and aging in old French oak.
Harvest
Batches of fruit from five vineyards were picked according to flavour profile between March 26 and April 11. The grapes were harvested in the cool of night to preserve fruit flavour and loaded immediately into presses.
Vinification
After settling the juice for a period of two to three days, the juice was racked directly to French oak barrel (less than 10% of which were new) and allowed to undergo a slow wild or “natural” fermentation. The primary fermentation, which took until December (8 months) to complete in some batches, was followed by a spontaneous malolactic fermentation. The wine was left in barrel on yeast lees until October 2009, when it was racked and lightly fined for clarity.
Blenheim, New Zealand, 01.10.2018
Cloudy Bay is pleased to announce the opening of their new Cellar Door – The Cloudy Bay Shed - in Central Otago, New Zealand, on Friday 27th July.
In 1985, David Hohnen created Cloudy Bay, the ultimate expression of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
