Cloudy Bay releases its 2022 Sauvignon Blanc around the world on October 1, heralding the launch of its distinctive new packaging.
This October will be a remarkable one for Cloudy Bay, with its 2022 Sauvignon Blanc greeting the world in brand-new packaging. After a superb growing season came a challenging harvest, and the 2022 vintage is proof that a bit of adversity brings out the best. A mixture of terroir and technique brought the wine safely to bottle. In the face of dowsing rain and humidity, Cloudy Bay’s vineyard sites managed to produce perfect fruit. Care and diligence in the vineyards kept it safe until the moment picking could begin.
For technical director Jim White, it was a white-knuckle ride to the finish.
“It’s these more challenging years that we really see the strength and importance of our vineyard sites,” he says. “Despite the troublesome weather, the fruit was perfect, which is pretty remarkable, really.”
The wine itself is more citrus-forward this year. According to senior winemaker Nikolai St George, it’s an excellent example of Sauvignon Blanc’s dynamics and hidden depths.
“Underneath those classic punchy aromatics, there’s a really nice interplay of ripe citrus and subtle stone fruit,” he says. “The length is seriously impressive, and I highly recommending keeping a couple of bottles aside to taste again in a few years.”
As if new wine was not enough to celebrate, this vintage will be the first to be contained in Cloudy Bay’s bespoke redesigned bottles. Yang Shen, Estate Director for Cloudy Bay, says the new bottles reference the brand’s heritage while marking a new chapter in Cloudy Bay’s story.
“The pack represents a refresh and polish of our brand codes, but also a return to our heritage,” he says. “We wanted to further embrace the beautiful Richmond Ranges that can be seen from our winery, and which were such a core part of the original Cloudy Bay label.”
The famously minimalist label has been refined, now emblazoned on a canvas-feel paper stock with a die-cut silhouette of the iconic Richmond Ranges. This motif goes a step further, with the ranges also embossed in the glass for a unique tactile experience.
Yang Shen commented, “We are proud of our history, feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that we challenge ourselves to continually improve in everything that we do, and believe that our 2022 vintage in this bottle is a definite step in the right direction,” he says. “It’s a story of adventure and innovation, of dedication and hard work, and reflects where we are right now.”
About Cloudy Bay
Cloudy Bay was established in 1985. After a single sip of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, founder David Hohnen realised New Zealand’s potential as a wine region. Cloudy Bay became one of the first five wineries established in Marlborough and is now New Zealand’s most recognised winery on the world stage. From the first vintage, Cloudy Bay wines have found international acclaim for their remarkable quality and consistency.