Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2025

The Real Review

The Real Review

Tight and restrained with long herbaceous, green fruited and subtly mineral details. This has classical influences but presents itself in a subtler, layered and more quiet expression without sacrificing length or concentration. Less overtly fruit-driven, allowing gravelly, wet stone minerality to present itself on the finish. Not a powerhouse but well-balanced for its mid-weight style

Wine Spectator

Concentrated and fragrant, with lemongrass, lemon verbena and celery salt notes to complement the pineapple, mango and lemon curd flavors, backed by a touch of orange sherbet. Gains momentum on the long, expressive finish.

Jamie Goode

First look at the 2025 vintage in Marlborough by way of one of the region’s classics, the Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. It was a good vintage: a cool spell in the new year followed by warm conditions during the harvest period … 13% alcohol. Highly aromatic, as you might expect at this early stage in its life, with green-tinged elderflower, citrus and passionfruit notes: quite intoxicating. The palate has some riper pear and crystalline citrus, together with nicely elegant green notes, a hint of tomato, and a fine white pepper finish, as well as a touch of grapefruit. Crisp, textural and delicious, this is benchmark Marlborough Sauvignon.

James Suckling

Vivid, round and juicy, with lemons, limes, fresh herbs and some mild spices on the nose, following through to a medium body with fresh acidity. Lively and succulent, with a delicious finish packed with limes.

wine-pages.com

This is an early review for this wine, written in November 2025, so expect it to become much more widely available over ensuing months. With fruit mainly from the Wairau Valley, 1.8% of the blend was fermented in large-format oak vats and a portion using wild yeast. Aromatically there is definitely a touch of the passion fruit and elderflower, but this vintage seems to be more about a direct citrus freshness in a wine of very pale colour. In the mouth it is bracing stuff, less flamboyant than some vintages, and again a cool citrus and lightly herbal character rather than anything overtly tropical. It has texture, and glimpses of a juicier nectarine weight in a a well-tempered rendition of this classic Marlborough SB in 2025.

Vivino

(532 bedømmelser, set 18-03-2026)