Cloudy Bay Vineyards is a winery in the Marlborough

Marlborough, New Zealand

Marlborough is one of the regions of New Zealand, located in the northeast of the South Island. Marlborough is a unitary authority, both a region and a district, and its council is located at Blenheim. Marlborough is known for its dry climate, the picturesque Marlborough Sounds, and sauvignon blanc...

 region of New Zealand. The winery is primarily noted for its Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

 wines, and have played an important pioneering role in establishing New Zealand's and Marlborough's reputation. Cloudy Bay's first commercial vintage

Vintage

Vintage, in wine-making, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product . A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certain wines, it can denote quality, as in Port wine, where Port houses make and...

 was produced in 1985 from purchased grapes, and the company later planted its own vineyard

Vineyard

A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...

s. It was one of the first New Zealand wines to be widely exported and came to attention because its fruit-forward style and very pronounced varietal

Varietal

"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...

 character. The classic French Sauvignon Blancs from Sancerre

Sancerre (wine)

Sancerre is a French wine Appellation d'origine contrôlée for wine produced in the environs of Sancerre in the eastern part of the Loire valley, southeast of Orléans. Almost all of the appellation lies on the left bank of the Loire, opposite Pouilly-Fumé. It is well regarded for and primarily...

 and Pouilly-Fumé

Pouilly-Fumé

Pouilly-Fumé is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée for dry white wine from the Loire Valley wine-producing region of France. Pouilly-Fumé is made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape variety. It is characterized by smoky flavors and minerality. The vineyards are located in the communes...

 from the Loire Valley

Loire Valley (wine)

The Loire Valley wine region includes the French wine regions situated along the Loire River from the Muscadet region near the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast to the region of Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé just southeast of the city of Orléans in north central France. In between are the regions of...

 were typically more restrained and austere in comparison, and with higher acid levels.

Cloudy Bay’s 140 hectares (345.9 acre) of vineyards are located at three sites in the winegrowing region of Marlborough, including areas close to the bay

Cloudy Bay

Cloudy Bay is located at the northeast of New Zealand's South Island, to the south of the Marlborough Sounds. The area lends its name to one of the best known New World white wines although the grapes used in production of that wine are grown in the Marlborough wine region further inland.The bay...

 for which they are named. The region is noted for its production of Sauvignon Blanc wines. The vines are planted on deep alluvial gravels. Five long-term contract growers also work closely with Cloudy Bay.

Cloudy Bay also produces notable Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

 and Pinot noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

 wines, but the Sauvignon Blanc remains its standard-bearer.

Cloudy Bay Vineyards is now owned by the multinational luxury goods firm LVMH

LVMH

LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A., better known as LVMH, is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France, France. The company was formed after the 1987 merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy, a company formed after the 1971 merger...

 (Louis Vuitton Möet Hennessy) through its champagne house Veuve Clicquot

Veuve Clicquot

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin is both a champagne house in Reims, France, and a brand of premium champagne. Founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot-Muiron, Veuve Clicquot played an important role in establishing champagne as a favored drink of haute bourgeoisie and nobility throughout Europe...

, and exports to 20 countries around the world, with the largest markets being Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, United Kingdom, USA, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.