MORE BATON-PASSING AT CLOUDY BAY

APPROACHING his 25th vintage in Marlborough, Kevin Judd, Cloudy Bay's founding winemaker, announced last December he was passing the baton to senior winemaker Eveline Fraser, although he would stay on as a consultant winemaker until July 2009. However, the widely publicised arrangement ended abruptly in March, with Eveline's departure from Cloudy Bay.

At the time of his resignation, Kevin was the managing director and Eveline was effectively the winemaker, although Kevin still had plenty of input into the company's winemaking direction. Eveline, who began her career in beverages as a brewer, followed by eight years making wine in Australia, France and Marlborough, joined Cloudy Bay in 2001 to work alongside senior oenologist James Healy, who had given long-term notice of his departure to help set up Dog Point Vineyard. 

The general management of Cloudy Bay is now handled by estate director Ian Morden, a lawyer who was previously business development director for Lion Nathan. "A lot of the law is about being dispassionate, cold and logical," says Ian, "whereas in this business it is all about passion, energy and creativity."

After Eveline's departure, Cloudy Bay now has two winemakers. Nick Blampied-Lane, who studied science at the University of Auckland and gained a postgraduate diploma in oenology at Toulouse, in France, joined Cloudy Bay in 2003 with "a passion for great pinot noir". The newest member of the winemaking team, South Australian Tim Heath, who has an oenology degree from the University of Adelaide, describes himself as "a riesling fanatic".