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MARLBOROUGH SAUVIGNON With the new releases of 2020 Cloudy Bay, Dog Point and Greywacke, buyer Freddy Bulmer charts the meteoric success of New Zealand’s flagship wine
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espite its relatively small size, the Marlborough region, in the north of New Zealand’s South Island, is a vinous goliath and the popularity of its sauvignon blanc shows no sign of slowing down. It’s still one of the most commercially successful and fashionable styles of wine here in the UK where, after the States, we are its biggest market. So what’s the secret of its success?
Pioneering growers & a united front: Building ‘brand Marlborough’ The wine’s unique, instantly recognisable style – think ripe passionfruit, fresh citrus and that characteristic piercing acidity – has to be key to Marlborough’s success, but the pioneering spirit and teamwork of the producers behind the wines was crucial too. Working together towards the common goal of putting this worldclass wine style on the map, they have 34 | SPRING 2021
Freddy Bulmer
always represented a united front and it has clearly paid off. Marlborough as we know it today is still a young wine region, dating back only to the mid-1980s. Early pioneers like Ernie and Jane Hunter and David Hohnen of Cloudy Bay saw the potential of this region for sauvignon blanc, with its moderate climate, influenced by the ocean and balanced by ripening sunshine; it’s a vision that was realised in 1985 when their wines, together with Montana (now Brancott Estate), received international acclaim. From an almost standing start, a new wine style had taken the first steps on its meteoric rise to fame.
Cloudy Bay, the wine that originally brought this tiny region to the attention of the world, remains the flag bearer for top-end Marlborough sauvignon; an iconic label, ingenious brand positioning and consistently excellent results in the bottle have all assured their place in wine legend. Their 2020 vintage Cloudy Bay Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 (£25 bottle, Ref WT-NZ12371), with its remarkable intensity, lemon-peel aromas and delicious twist of grapefruit, is not to be missed. We have had the privilege and pleasure of working particularly closely with Marlborough ‘royalty’ Hunter’s, who have produced our Exhibition wine exclusively for us for a number of years now. The superb quality of the 2020 vintage shines through in the latest bottling of The Society's Exhibition Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2020 (£11.50 bottle, Ref WT-NZ12101), with its elegant, flint and citrus-driven aromas. Available at a special dozen price of £119 (save £19).
