Greywacke

Greywacke is one of Marlborough's most anticipated 2009 launches, but the story begins a quarter century earlier. Born in England and raised in Australia, Kevin Judd moved to New Zealand in 1983 and joined David Hohnen at the newly founded Cloudy Bay in 1984, in time for the 1985 inaugural vintage. Over the next 25 vintages, Judd's Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc became the international benchmark for Marlborough and arguably the single wine most responsible for placing New Zealand on the global fine wine map. Judd had registered the Greywacke name in 1993 with the intention of one day launching his own label, but he kept the name in reserve while continuing as chief winemaker at Cloudy Bay. After Moet Hennessy's acquisition transformed the scale and ownership of his employer, Judd stepped down in 2009 and released his first Greywacke vintage from grapes harvested that same year. Despite launching at the onset of the global financial crisis, Greywacke immediately attracted critical attention and rapid international demand. Judd's wife Kim Judd partners in the business, and the operation has remained deliberately small, holding annual production at roughly 10,000 cases across a portfolio of seven wines made by a team of six.

• Kevin Judd joined Cloudy Bay in 1984 under founder David Hohnen and led winemaking through its first 25 vintages (1985 to 2009)
• Greywacke name registered 1993; held in reserve for 16 years while Judd remained at Cloudy Bay
• Stepped down from Cloudy Bay in 2009 after Moet Hennessy acquisition; released first Greywacke vintage that same harvest
• Family-owned partnership with wife Kim Judd; intentionally small operation of approximately six people and 10,000 cases per year

The Greywacke portfolio is anchored by Sauvignon Blanc in two distinct expressions, accounting for roughly 70% of production. Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc is the classic Marlborough rendering: cool-fermented in stainless steel to preserve aromatic lift, with grapefruit, passionfruit, blackcurrant leaf, and a precise mineral spine drawn from Wairau Valley and Southern Valleys fruit. Greywacke Wild Sauvignon is Judd's statement wine: fermented entirely with indigenous yeasts and aged in mature French oak barriques (no new oak), it delivers textural depth, lees-derived savoury complexity, and a measured layer of funk that has made it a sommelier favourite and arguably today's cult New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Greywacke Pinot Noir is built around Southern Valleys clay-based sites with Awatere Valley contributions, fermented with a portion of whole bunches in open-top vats, then matured 16 months in French oak (approximately 40% new). Greywacke Chardonnay is a barrel-fermented expression with partial malolactic fermentation and extended lees aging. Pinot Gris is made in a dry, textural Alsace-inspired style; Greywacke Riesling carries off-dry tension typical of cool Marlborough sites; and the Botrytis Pinot Gris is a small-volume sweet wine produced only in vintages when noble rot develops cleanly on the contracted blocks.

• Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc: cool-fermented stainless steel; benchmark Marlborough style with grapefruit, passionfruit, blackcurrant leaf, mineral drive
• Wild Sauvignon: 100% indigenous yeast, aged in older French oak barriques, no new oak; textural, savoury, sommelier cult favourite
• Pinot Noir: whole-bunch portion in open-top fermenters, 16 months in French oak (approximately 40% new); fragrant, structured, age-worthy
• Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Botrytis Pinot Gris round out a deliberately compact seven-wine portfolio

Greywacke owns no vineyards, a deliberate choice that gives Judd flexibility to source fruit from sites he has known intimately for decades. Long-term contract relationships span growers across the Wairau Valley (Marlborough's largest sub-region, source of riper Sauvignon Blanc and most of the volume), the Southern Valleys (clay-based hillside sites south of the Wairau plain that supply structured Pinot Noir and lower-yielding Sauvignon Blanc), and the cooler, drier, more saline Awatere Valley (contributing herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc lift and Pinot Noir spice). The Pinot Noir blend draws from Clayvin Vineyard and other named Southern Valleys sites under contract. The defining geological feature shared across these sites is greywacke bedrock: a hard grey sandstone interbedded with darker mudstone (argillite) that forms most of New Zealand's South Island spine, eroded over millennia into the smooth grey river stones blanketing Marlborough's alluvial fans. These stones absorb daytime heat and radiate it back into the canopy at night, contributing to Marlborough's distinctive Sauvignon Blanc ripening pattern: full aromatic development at relatively low alcohols and high natural acidity.

• No estate vineyards; long-term contracted growers across Wairau Valley, Southern Valleys, and Awatere Valley
• Wairau Valley contributes volume and ripe stone-fruit Sauvignon character; Southern Valleys clay sites supply structured Pinot Noir; Awatere adds herbal lift and saline minerality
• Pinot Noir draws from Clayvin Vineyard and other named Southern Valleys hillside contracts
• Greywacke bedrock (hard grey sandstone over argillite) underlies all sites; eroded river stones absorb and radiate heat, driving Marlborough's distinctive aromatic profile

All Greywacke wines are vinified at Dog Point Vineyard's winery on Brancott Road in Renwick, a facility owned by Ivan Sutherland (former Cloudy Bay viticulturist) and James Healy (former Cloudy Bay winemaker). Judd has worked alongside both since the early Cloudy Bay years, and the arrangement provides Greywacke with full-scale winery infrastructure without the capital burden of building one. The classic Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc follows cool stainless-steel fermentation with inoculated yeasts, preserving the pristine aromatic profile international buyers expect from Marlborough. Wild Sauvignon takes the opposite path. Whole-bunch pressed to old French oak barriques (no new oak, no stainless), it ferments slowly with the indigenous yeast population carried in on the fruit, often finishing with elevated residual sugar before slowly fermenting dry over many months. Extended lees contact in barrel adds creamy texture, a subtle reductive complexity, and the controlled funk that has made the wine a defining example of textural, hands-off New Zealand Sauvignon. The Pinot Noir program uses approximately 25 to 30% whole bunches in open-top fermenters, gentle hand plunging, and 16 months in French oak barriques (around 40% new). Across the range Judd's signature is precision: clean, honest fruit expression with restraint on oak, sulphur, and intervention.

• All wines vinified at Dog Point Vineyard's winery in Renwick; owners Ivan Sutherland and James Healy are former Cloudy Bay colleagues
• Classic Sauvignon Blanc: inoculated yeast, cool stainless-steel fermentation, early bottling to preserve aromatic lift
• Wild Sauvignon: 100% indigenous yeast fermentation in mature French oak barriques (no new oak), extended lees aging; textural, savoury, and intentionally funky
• Pinot Noir: approximately 25 to 30% whole bunches, open-top fermenters, gentle hand plunging, 16 months in French oak (around 40% new)

Kevin Judd is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most influential winemakers of the modern era. His 25 vintages at Cloudy Bay shaped the global perception of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and his Greywacke wines (particularly Wild Sauvignon) have demonstrated that the variety is capable of textural, age-worthy expressions far beyond the international 'Marlborough style' template he himself helped establish. Beyond winemaking, Judd is a celebrated wine photographer whose images of Marlborough vineyards have been published widely in international wine media. He has produced two photographic books: The Colour of Wine (2004), a study of Marlborough vineyards through the seasons, and The Landscape of New Zealand Wine (2009), an expanded survey of vineyard sites across the country, released the same year as Greywacke's first vintage. His distinctive vineyard photography appears on every Greywacke label, giving the brand a coherent visual identity rare in the wine world. The combination of a winemaker with five-decade Marlborough experience, intentionally small scale, intimate grower relationships, and a parallel artistic practice has made Greywacke one of New Zealand's most respected boutique producers and Kevin Judd one of the country's most quietly important wine figures.

• 25 vintages at Cloudy Bay (1985 to 2009) shaped the global benchmark style for Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
• Wild Sauvignon expanded the definition of Marlborough Sauvignon beyond the aromatic-fruit template and influenced a generation of textural New Zealand white winemaking
• Author of two photography books: The Colour of Wine (2004) and The Landscape of New Zealand Wine (2009)
• Judd's vineyard photographs appear on every Greywacke label, providing the brand's distinctive visual identity