WTN: 2008 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc

[Jenise]

The last young CB SB I had was the 2006, which I thought both ripe and bland. This one's back on form: a quietly powerful, harmonious blend of tangerine, lemon grass, lime and herbs, with terrific minerality and perfect acidity giving it a refreshingly graceful elegance. Only $20 at Costco--I'm going back for more.

$20's a pretty good price for Cloudy Bay. Good to know they're back on form with 08 (their 07 was a little under-par, although I did like the 06 about a year after release) - I'd like to try out a bottle soon.

Has anyone out there tried the 2008 Matua Paretai ? For the last couple of vintages when I have tasted bottles sourced from our market I was disappointed. Both the 2007 and 2008 seem to lack that major aggresive character that I so like in New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. I am seriously beginning to wonder if the bottles I got were heat damaged. In the case of the 2007, I tasted the Paretai against the regular bottling when they had both first showed up in our market. After tasting 4 bottles over the course of the first month or so, they all seemed about the same. I then tasted a bottle that was from a second shipment. It was much more what I have come to expect. It had that great acidity and intensity. I do not know if they bottle different batches like Wither Hills. I did not think that the production level of this bottling was that high.

Oh by the way, I am still being shipped the 2007 Cloudy Bay. I will be anxious to taste the 2008 when I comes into our market. So far, my benchmark for best NZ Sauv Blanc is Saint Clair Wairau Reserve. I also have not yet tasted the 2008 Kim Crawford which is in our market. Another of my favorites is Delta 2007 made by Matt Thomson who is also at Saint Clair. One other question I have for other members is whether they see any Sacred Hill Rifleman's Chardonnay or Deerslayer Syrah in other US markets.

michael, I think you will find that any wine company that has multiple tanks of wine will bottle in batches. If they have 10 50,000li tanks of SB they can not find a 500,000li tank to mix the lot and bottle the wine as the same batch. I personally do not have a problem with what Wither Hills did. If they had have said "Yes, we bottled the first tank, after choosing the best one, and put this wine into the wine show" then there would not have been such a kerfuffle. Instead they denied that they had done a special bottling. Wrong move, IMHO. But all batches were still very good wine, and it took a judges palate to notice the difference.

$20's a pretty good price for Cloudy Bay..

Isn't that a price reduction from previous vintages? Are these wines getting less expensive? (I.E. are people less into them these days?)

I would agree that I have never been disappointed with the quality from Wither Hills regardless of which batch it has been. I thought that the Matua Paretai was a small production bottling. Maybe it is heat damage. I am just trying to figure out why there has been such bottle variation for the 2007 and 2008. I did not experience this with the previous vintages 2004, 2005, and 2006. When the Paretai is on its game it is one of my favorite Sauvignon Blancs. I am just trying to figure out the differences.

Isn't that a price reduction from previous vintages? Are these wines getting less expensive? (I.E. are people less into them these days?)

I don't know what they charged for previous vintages but depending on when the 2008 was imported, exchange rate might have something to do with it. $NZ is down about 30% versus $US over the past year. Buying at Costco may also be a factor. I know of other wines that are priced 10-20% lower their than at "normal" retailers. Combine those two factors and Jenise's price could look at lot cheaper than in past vintages without representing an actual price reduction as far as the winery is concerned.

Combine those two factors and Jenise's price could look at lot cheaper than in past vintages without representing an actual price reduction as far as the winery is concerned.

Aha.

I don't follow NZ wines very closely but was wondering if maybe some of the cult buzz around CB had dimmed in recent years, especially with all the other NZ sauvignon blancs rising up.

Costco works on about a 10% margin. Here in Oregon that would put it at $20.99. There are also lots of distributors dropping prices on numerous items that have been slow. I know that in our market Cloudy Bay sales have indeed dropped off from a couple of years ago.

Isn't that a price reduction from previous vintages? Are these wines getting less expensive? (I.E. are people less into them these days?)

Price in the far east seems to be unchanged, it's just that the NZD is nowhere as strong against the USD as it was this time last year.

Probably the only thing that'll bring the price of a LVMH product down here...

Probably the only thing that'll bring the price of a LVMH product down here...

You're thinking of Château d'Yquem?
/A

Probably the only thing that'll bring the price of a LVMH product down here...

You're thinking of Château d'Yquem?
/A

Anders
They also own Cloudy Bay & Cape Mentelle (in Australia).

At the prices it goes for in NZ, it's a great value SB with character and ageing potential.
Priced at the "rarity" (sic.) levels it is in the UK, it's not really worth the attention. Not many wines you could double the price of and still keep it within a measure of "value for money".

regards

Ian