The Cloudy Bay phonomen – best Sauvignon Blanc New Zealand

September 28, 2010

About Wines from New Zealand
Best wine supplier in Philippines discusses wine related topics

The Cloudy Bay phenomenon

Ask any wine retailer which question they are asked most frequently, and the chances are it will be, ‘Have you got any Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc?’, to which the answer will invariably be, ‘No!’. It is remarkable that one of the most highly sought after wines in the UK should be a New Zealand Sauvignon blanc, retailing at about £11, and with a pedigree stretching back just a dozen years. In this brief article, I’ll attempt to uncover just how Cloudy Bay has become one of the great wine marketing success stories of recent times.

We begin in 1983, when David Hohnen, co-founder of Cape Mentelle in Western Australia, first tasted a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and was astonished. In 1984 he travelled to New Zealand and attended a wine show at which he was then able to identify the region responsible for this remarkable Sauvignon Blanc as Marlborough. The next year, 1985, he talked his financial backers into buying some land in Marlborough, which was a risky strategy given the economic climate at the time — in Australia he was then paying 23.5% interest on his bank loan. The first release was 1985, but he winery had not yet been built, so the 40 tons of grapes that were harvested had to be trucked 400 miles north to Gisborne, and winemaker Kevin Judd effectively made the wine by phone. The second release, 1986, found its way to the UK, and was rapturously received by the media. The legend of Cloudy Bay was born! The winery now crushes about 800 tons of grapes annually, some of which are produced by six long-term contract growers.
The wine is certainly a head-turner. With up-front gooseberry, green pepper and elderflower character typical of the region, together with a touch of fatness from the oak and often a slight dash of Semillon, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc is undoubtedly one of the best examples of this variety to come from New Zealand. But this doesn’t explain its scarcity in the UK, especially when other similarly priced and equally meritorious New Zealand Sauvignons sit on the shelf all year round.
Each October, the allocation arrives from New Zealand of the current vintage. Most retailers have a waiting list policy, and will ration the wines among their regular customers. Oddbins Fine Wine receives an allocation, but they will only sell the Cloudy Bay Sauvignon in a tasting pack with five other wines. Some retailers (Jeroboam is one example) put it on the shelves, but at double the usual retail price, hoping that there will be enough customers who ‘must’ have the wine and who will be willing to pay over the odds for it. I am aware of just one retailer who puts their allocation on the shelf at normal price, but I’m not telling. It all disappears pretty quickly! In contrast, I have wandered into several average-sized bottle shops in various small towns in Australia and seen the wine sitting on the shelf. I’ve had the same experience in the USA. It seems that the UK situation is unique.

I managed to catch David Hohnen on a recent visit to the UK and asked him about whether Cloudy Bay had a deliberate policy of restricting imports into the UK to maintain an aura of scarcity. After all, if people had the impression that the wine was widely available, they might not find it as desirable; make it like gold dust, and people will happily buy as much as they can lay their hands on. This has the knock-on effect of raising the status of both this wine and the rest of the Cloudy Bay range. Hohnen denied this (after asking whether I was a journalist), and suggested that it is simply the exceptional popularity of the wine that causes it to sell out so fast. Overall, he said that some 60 000 cases of the Sauvignon are produced each year, with the UK being allocated the lion’s share along with Australia; slightly less goes to the USA. Overall, I think the wine is probably worthy of its elevated reputation. I can understand the frustrations of retailers who are faced with legions of customers who ‘must’ have Cloudy Bay, when equally good examples lie neglected on the shelves, but it would be churlish to criticise Cloudy Bay for their effective marketing of what is an excellent product.

Tasting note:
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 1999, Marlborough, New Zealand
The 1999 incarnation has a huge nose of gooseberries and elderflower, which on the palate are joined by grapefruit-like flavours. Crisp and intense, very well balanced. Notes of grapefruit, gooseberries and elderflower combine with freshly cut green peppers to produce a mouth-watering and sophisticated wine of real impact. (Around £11, the 2000 vintage is released in October 2000.)

Source: http://wineanorak.com/cloudy.htm

Clark Wine Center is more than a wine shop to people living in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone. Clark’s wine shop is also a popular venue for parties and family gatherings. Conveniently located on the main highway of Clark Philippines, it is accessible to guests from Manila, Subic, Pampanga, Angeles City and of course those who live and work in Clark. Aside from the 2-storey wine shop which also has a nice roof deck lawn for small party of up to 80 people as well as an indoor wine tasting room which accommodates up to 60 comfortably, this wine store called Clark Wine Center also has one hectare of picnic grounds surrounding it.

Best birthday gift to send to someone living in the Philippines is a nice bottle of wine from Yats Wine Cellars. Delivery of birthday wine can made to Manila, Angeles City Pampanga, Clark Philippines and Subic.

Wine Shop Manila offers best luxurious beers in Philippines called Vintage Beer.
Birthday gift of wine is the most popular gift idea this year in Philippines. Yats Wine Cellars offers birthday wine gifts that are unique and certain to make the recipient very happy. These birthday wines are not available in wine shops so it is a unique bottle of wine for the recipient.

This Manila Wine Shop is the largest wine shop in Philippines. This is the wine shop to go for fine vintage wines, not just the big names like Lafite, Latour, Petrus, Cristal, Krug, Grange, Vega Sicilia and Sassicaia. This wine shop in Manila offers many excellent vintage wine for under p4,000, even for some that are 20-30 year old from St. Emilion and Pomerol.

Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center. Visitors buy wine in Manila and Pampanga should not miss stopping at this wine shop for a few bottles of fine vintage wines to bring home.

http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila
Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple: after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave. From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City. From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.

Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center.

Clark Wine Center
Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building
Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,
Angeles Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023
0922-870-5173 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)

Wine@Yats-International.com

YATS Wine Cellars
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 ask for Rea or Chay