Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2025

Cloudy Bay more or less wrote the rulebook for Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and the 2025 lands as the winery marks forty years of doing it. Four decades in, they still set the standard others chase — and this vintage shows why.

The fruit is mainly from the Wairau Valley, and while the vast majority is fermented cool in tank to keep it crisp and pure, a small fraction (under two percent) went into large oak vats, some on wild yeast. That tiny detail is what gives the wine its extra breadth without ever tipping into oaky.

2025 is a slightly cooler, more restrained take than some flashier vintages. Passion fruit and elderflower on the nose, a direct citrus freshness, and on the palate riper pear and crystalline lime lifted by elegant green notes and a hint of white pepper on the close. It's bracing, precise and beautifully drinkable at 13% alcohol.

This is the safe-hands bottle you bring when you want to please a table — reliable, recognisable and genuinely good. At around £27 it does exactly what it promises. Note it can't go next-day, so plan a little ahead.

How to Serve

Serve well chilled, 7–9°C, in a standard white wine glass. Drink it young and fresh — no need to decant or cellar. Keep the screwcap handy for the fridge.

Where to Drink It

The Wolseley for a bright lunch. J Sheekey with a fruits de mer platter. Scott's when the occasion calls for oysters and a crowd-pleaser.

Food Pairings

Goat's cheese and a green salad is the classic for a reason. I'd also pour it with Thai green curry — the fruit and acid handle the chilli without a fight.