2023 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc
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Tasting notes
Exemplary Marlborough Sauvignon for all the classic love-it-or-hate-it reasons: gooseberry, elderflower and citrus flavours at high-beam intensity, but you can't blame the wine for being true to its type. This vintage is perhaps less complex than other recent ones, however. (RH)
Critic scores
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Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
More reviews and scores
It must be difficult being Cloudy Bay, because fame brings extra scrutiny and the question, ‘Does this brand offer value for money in the context of the wider region?’ In 2023, the Sauvignon Blanc silences its critics. Its vineyard may be much larger than it once was, but it delivers – dry, clean and elegant, with classic characteristics and the bonus of welcome structure on the finish. It may not be the most flamboyant on the nose, focusing more on the herbal rather than tropical spectrum (whether that's elderflower, gooseberry or classic passion fruit), but that seems to be a function of the vintage. The 2023 is long, fragrant and exactly what you want from Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, but with an extra layer of class.