Spring at Cloudy Bay Shed
Cloudy Bay Shed in Cromwell, sited in an exclusive high country vineyard overlooking Lake Dunstan, provides one of the region’s most sought-after food and wine experiences. QT Magazine spoke to customer experience manager Meg Soper.
Tell us about the vision behind The Cloudy Bay Shed?
With Cloudy Bay’s beginnings in Marlborough The Shed at Cromwell has been developed as the ‘home away from home’ displaying the full range of Cloudy Bay wines but also focusing on connecting with customers and offering more than just a cellar door experience.
How has the Cloudy Bay Shed cellar door experience evolved?
We have evolved by focusing on our food and wine experiences that offer a unique taste of Central Otago. Over the last nine months our seasonal sharing style menu has been incredibly well received – so much so that we are about to undergo an exciting renovation to allow us to focus even more on food and guest dining experiences. Watch this space.
What types of food and wine experiences are you offering?
We are absolutely loving creating sharing style food with each dish inspired by one of our wines – and our guests are loving it too. Storytelling is something we are proud to include in the dining experience at The Shed. Each dish has so many special ingredients and reasons for why it matches so well with each individual Cloudy Bay wine. In the lead up to Christmas we have designed a group sharing menu for the larger groups wishing to have their end of year functions at The Shed. Bookings are essential.
What does head chef Harry Bonning-Snook’s spring menu include?
Our new spring seasonal menu launching on the October 1 has a beautiful selection of sharing plates available. My personal favourite is the Royalburn Station lamb tartare which Harry created especially for the Eat. Taste. Central food regional food and wine campaign which is happening locally until October 24. The dish matches brilliantly with our current release Te Wahi Pinot Noir 2018.
Are there any new wine releases for spring?
Spring is always a most exciting time of year at Cloudy Bay and each year on October 1 we release our latest Sauvignon Blanc vintage. This year it is an even more exciting launch – keep an eye out also for our stunning new look bottles.
What is happening in the Central Otago Cloudy Bay vineyard during the season?
During early spring we focus on replanting the fallow blocks in our vineyard redevelopment programme. The baby vines come to us in a dormant state so they can be put in the ground and come to life when they detect optimal growing conditions. It is a major task getting all the infrastructure ready and in place, including posts, wires and irrigation systems, before the vines are planted. The vineyard is into its second year of organic conversion so there are lots of new and exciting things to take in on our popular vineyard tours.