Cloudy Bay Vineyards is a winery based in the Marlborough wine region of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, with vineyards in both Marlborough and

Central Otago Central Otago is located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River and tribu ...

. Established in 1985 as one of the earliest wineries founded in Marlborough, Cloudy Bay attracted international acclaim for its first

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

wines in the 1980s and was instrumental in establishing New Zealand's international reputation for white wine. It was acquired by

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

house

Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810, and i ...

in 2003 and is now a

LVMH LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French holding multinational corporation and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house ...

brand.

History

Cloudy Bay winery was established in 1985 by David Hohnen, the founder of

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. ...

winery

Cape Mentelle Vineyards Cape Mentelle Vineyards (commonly referred to as Cape Mentelle) is a wine estate in the Margaret River region, 274 km, south-west of Perth, Western Australia. The winery was founded by David Hohnen, a third-generation farmer who studied w ...

. The winery was named after

Cloudy Bay Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay is located at the northeast of New Zealand's South Island, to the south of the Marlborough Sounds and north of Clifford Bay. In August 2014, the name Cloudy Bay, given by Captain Cook in 1770, was officially altered t ...

, the stretch of coast named by

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

during his voyage to New Zealand in 1770. The winery brought New Zealand

to world-wide attention in the 1980s when its first vintages were reviewed by British wine writer Oz Clarke, who wrote that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is “arguably the best in the world”. Wine writer George Taber recounts that Cloudy Bay is “what many people consider to be the world's best Sauvignon Blanc.” In 2003, Hohnen sold his remaining shares of Cloudy Bay Vineyards to

, bringing the winery under the full ownership of multinational luxury goods firm LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. In 2014 it acquired its own

vineyards, its first expansion outside of Marlborough, by purchasing the Northburn Station vineyards and cellar door.

Location

The Cloudy Bay winery buildings are located in Marlborough’s

Wairau Valley Wairau Valley is the valley of the Wairau River in Marlborough, New Zealand and also the name of the main settlement in the upper valley. State Highway 63 runs through the valley. The valley opens onto the Wairau Plain, where Renwick and Blen ...

, approximately 8 kilometres north-west of

Blenheim Blenheim ( ) is the English name of Blindheim, a village in Bavaria, Germany, which was the site of the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Almost all places and other things called Blenheim are named directly or indirectly in honour of the battle. Places ...

. Cellar doors are located at the winery in Marlborough and at Northburn Station in Central Otago.

Wines produced

The winery is primarily noted for its Sauvignon Blanc wines, the first New Zealand wines to be exported in the 1980s, and still represent the majority of its production. The “Te Koko” Sauvignon Blanc is a wild-ferment, barrel-aged version that contrasts with the fruit-driven unoaked style of the original. The winery also produces

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new ...

, the “Pelorus” sparkling and its “Te Wahi”

Pinot Noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for ''pine'' and ''black.'' The word ''pine ...

from Central Otago.

References

{{LVMH Marlborough Region Wineries of New Zealand LVMH brands

History

Location

Wines produced

See also

References