Different, but the same

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009. Photo / Sarah Ivey

There is always a little anxiety when there is a changing of the guard, especially when it comes to a household name brand like Cloudy Bay.

After a stellar start and a rapidly established and revered international reputation, can New Zealand's premium label survive the departure of the last of the trinity that stamped such gravitas on the Marlborough Winery? The short answer is yes.

Viticulturist Ivan Sutherland and senior winemaker James Healy embarked on their own venture, Dog Point, some years back and now the remaining "third leg of the stool", the engaging, droll and sometimes reticent original face of Cloudy Bay, Kevin Judd, is doing his own thing with his Greywacke label. But the mark of any successful operation is not so much what was achieved while they were there, but whether they leave enough knowledge behind, allowing Cloudy Bay to not only carry on but continue to excel. It seems they have.

Cloudy Bay became bigger than the front men and has always benefited from an enthusiastic, clever team of winemakers and viticulturists who never lost sight of the fact that in their hands was a national treasure. "Cloudy Bay is all about 'jump out of the glass' aromatics," says new winemaker in charge, Nicholas Blampied-Lane. "With sauvignon we do it a bit riper than most people. We're looking for spice and basil, we like the tomato stalk and we like the tropics as well - that mango and pineapple."

Blampied-Lane has the enthusiasm and focus of a man who certainly doesn't want to drop the baby. "With chardonnay we want to keep it lovely and buttery with a dash of oak but glorious underlying minerality." Relax, everyone. It's going be business as usual.

Recommended

2009 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc
New release that exudes sheer class and remains a benchmark for New Zealand sauvignon. Big, bold and beautiful ... you can smell it from 200m away.
Price: about $33

2007 Cloudy Bay Chardonnay
What looked to be an average vintage was saved by the arrival of a glorious "Indian summer". Refined with a gentle, textured finish that wraps around savoury and citrus flavours. One to age for a few years.
Price: about $38