Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2015

For a long time the world looked at those crazy Kiwis and thought "boy, these guys are charismatic but what do they actually do down there? Other than angry dances before rugby, the kiwi bird but not the fruit and Russel Crowe movies, what makes them tick?" No one asks that anymore, not since 1985 when David Hohnen started growing vines in Marlborough. We know what New Zealand is about now, it's making maddeningly delicious wine. Cloudy Bay lead the way to define New Zealand by refreshing Sauvignons and lip smacking Pinot Noir, like this one! Let's not pigeon hole them though, they still do loads of other great stuff, it's just now when you're hiding behind the sofa as the All Blacks Haka their way across your TV set, you can do it while enjoying a lovely glass of Marlborough Pinot Noir, Sweet as Bro!

Cloudy bay was one of the first five wine makers to venture in to Marlborough, New Zealand, in 1985. At that point in time it was almost an unimaginable place to set up a vineyard but the winery’s founder, David Hohnen, trusted his instincts. Convinced that the region had high potential to produce great wines, he invested in some of the best land available. Since then, Marlborough’s reputation has risen to become New Zealand’s leading wine region. The name ‘Cloudy Bay’ is derived from a body of water that Captain James Cook discovered in 1770 during his voyage to New Zealand. At the time, the region was flooded and resulted in large amounts of sediment being washed into the sea. This gave the water an opaque appearance, leading to Cook’s christening of the area as Cloudy Bay.

Grapes for the Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir are de-stemmed before being cold soaked for several days in small open top stainless steel tanks. Fermentation takes place using indigenous yeast with a peak temperature of 32°C. During this stage in the wine making process, the caps are plunged to ensure a gentle extraction of tannins, colour and flavours. The fruit spends a total of 3 weeks on skins before each batch is transferred into French oak barrels, 35% of which are new, and matured for 12 months before being bottled. A lithe red wine that offers a powerful bouquet of ripe red berries, dark cherries with a hint of plum and lighter notes of rose and violet. The palate holds a seamless structure that supports ripe and silky tannins, complimenting the hints of spicy oak and herbal notes.