This unconventional New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is already given away by the vintage. The 2019 harvest began on March 15 and ended on April 2 – the earliest completed Sauvignon Blanc harvest in the 34 years since Cloudy Bay was founded. The making of this extraordinary wine goes against all the classic methods. It was produced with gentle pressing; 24-hour settling; a slow, five-month long spontaneous fermentation; 11 months of ageing, mostly in used French oak barrels, with keeping the wine on the lees. That’s how a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc becomes noble – the place of unruliness taken over by refinement. Fruit turns into perfume, sandalwood is born out of the oak barrels, and what is lively acidity elsewhere is now freshness and purity. A long, subtle and really noble wine. A great experience.