Winemakers Notes
The scent of pink grapefruit and lemon blossom is
beautifully counterbalanced by smoky, savoury aromatics,
reminiscent of roasted cashews and macadamia nuts.
The palate is rich yet refined with a chalky texture
supporting the delicious mineral-like complexity and
creaminess derived from traditional winemaking techniques.
Gentle fruit handling has produced a tightly structured,
elegant wine that will age gracefully over the next
six to ten years.
Vineyard
The grapes for this wine – predominantly the
low yielding Mendoza clone with a lesser quantity
of UCD6 and newer Burgundian clones – were harvested
from nine estate and grower vineyards located in the
Wairau and Brancott Valleys of Marlborough. Soils
vary from the silty gravels found in Rapaura to the
fine silty loams of Renwick and the Brancott Valley.
The vineyards are planted at a density of 1,850 vines
per hectare and all vines are trained to the Scott
Henry trellis system.
Season
Settled spring weather at the start of the 2002 growing
season and the continued effects of the 2001 drought,
provided excellent flowering conditions and an abundant
crop was set. Above average, but welcome, rains fell
between November and the end of January, necessitating
rigorous canopy management and selective fruit removal.
Temperatures were generally quite cool during February,
which slowed ripening and delayed the start of harvest,
but idyllic autumn conditions prevailed during March
and April, with brilliant sunny days and cool nights.
At times a testing season for the vineyard crew ...
a nail-bitingly slow but steady ripening period, which
in the end delivered fruit with great concentration
and a remarkable array of flavours and aromas.
Harvest
The chardonnay harvest commenced on 29th March and
finished on 24th April. Stable but cool weather with
intermittent showers persisted through the harvest
period but all fruit was received at the winery in
exceptional condition with excellent balance and flavour.
Fruit composition averaged 23.9 Brix, pH 3.20 and
acid 9.4g/l.
Vinification
Three quarters of the crop was machine harvested
at night into half-tonne bins designed to minimise
phenolic extraction and loaded directly into tank
presses, the remainder was hand picked and handled
the same way. The juice was then racked into stainless
steel tanks or oak barrels. The tank portion was inoculated
with a pure yeast strain, and then transferred to
barrel once fermentation had started. The remainder
was allowed to ferment using indigenous yeast strains.
All batches were fermented in French oak barrels,
20 percent of which were new and most of the wine
went through malolactic fermentation. The components
were blended after one full year in barrel and the
blend remained on yeast lees for a further period
prior to a light fining for clarification, then bottling
in the spring of 2003. Final analysis shows an alcohol
of 14.0v/v, pH 3.34 and acid of 6.7g/l.
Cloudy Bay
Chardonnay - Cloudy
Bay Sauvignon Blanc
Cloudy
Bay 2003 Sauvignon Blanc Vintage
