Our Story
Eric and Beverley Bowers formed Clifford Bay in 1994 after recognising early that the Awatere Valley in Marlborough, New Zealand was a region of great winemaking promise.
Along with partners Graham and Thelma Cains and Chris Wilson the vineyard was established on the banks of the beautiful Awatere River that flows from its birth in the high country alpine basins.
Since the first award winning vintage in 1997, Clifford Bay has continued to produce exceptional wines from our own and several premium vineyards located in the Awatere Valley. Our latest Sauvignon Blanc continues a proud tradition of every vintage we have produced winning Gold Medals.
The Marlborough region is widely recognised as producing the best Sauvignon Blanc the world has to offer and the Awatere Valley is becoming widely recognised for its own distinct Marlborough flavour. The climate is punctuated with cool nights and dry sunny days offering the grapes a long slow ripening period which in turn produces very aromatic and intensely flavoured wines.
Complementing those natural attributes are the skills in vineyard management and winemaking, which Managing Director Eric Bowers describes as "a great team operation”.
The end result is four beautiful, award-winning Clifford Bay wines. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Mark, Heather, Eric & Grant Bowers