CLOUDY BAY Pinot Noir
A balanced and lively expression of Pinot Noir from the Marlborough region.
Harvest
The harvest of 2014 supplied our best Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir to date. The picking of Pinot Noir began on March 9th and was completed by April 1st. The timing was perfect as significant rainfall arrived on April 9th.
Vinification
The Pinot Noir fruit was de-stemmed into our small open top stainless steel tanks and cold soaked for several days. The fermentations were carried out with indigenous yeast, with a peak temperature of 32°C. During the fermentation we plunged the caps to ensure gentle and complete extraction of tannins, colour and flavours. Following three weeks on skins, each batch was transferred into French oak barrels (35% new) and matured for 12 months. The wine was then carefully assembled before bottling.
Origin: Cloudy Bay
Established in 1985, Cloudy Bay was one of the first five wine makers to venture into Marlborough. At the time, it was almost an unimaginable place to set-up a vineyard. But Cloudy Bay’s founder – David Hohnen – was convinced of its potential to produce great wine and invested in the best land of the region. Since then, Marlborough has risen to become New Zealand’s leading wine region, as well as one of the finest winemaking locations in the world.
The winery was named after Cloudy Bay, a body of water explorer Captain James Cook came across during his voyage to New Zealand in 1770. His discovery coincided with flooding in the region, which washed large amounts of sediment into the sea. Noticing the water’s opaque appearance, Cook cleverly christened the area Cloudy Bay.
Today, Cloudy Bay not only captures the essence of Marlborough but also embodies New Zealand’s luxury to the world. The luxury of space and time, of intimate moments and nature’s rarest qualities.
