Cloudy Bay at Chelsea and Harvey Nichols

The New Zealand winery’s fragrant garden and blooming menu

For designers, being asked to reimagine a wine’s floral notes into a garden means only one thing – the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has arrived. This year Cloudy Bay, the company that introduced New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to a global clientele, has commissioned the award-winning Wilson McWilliam Studio bespoke landscape garden designers to create the Cloudy Bay Sensory Garden for the hallowed Royal Hospital Chelsea event, opening on Tuesday May 20. But for those who never want the festivities to end, or who might miss the explosion of blooms, or who simply have their sights set on London Wine Week, the Cloudy Bay Sensory Garden will be transported to the fifth-floor terrace at Harvey Nichols from Monday June 2 to Wednesday July 30. Here, tables can be booked for Cloudy Bay-matched menus – with dishes including dressed Cornish crab, goat’s cheese and soft herb parfait, poached and roasted poussin, and a pistachio-praline floating island.

Cloudy Bay established the international reputation of Marlborough, New Zealand as a serious wine region, and it’s worth remembering that it is not just Sauvignon Blanc that the winery is renowned for – the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are much more subtle in taste than many on the market. The designers were keen to include the notes and use inspiration from all three. “The taste and aroma of the wines are integral to the garden and important to the composition as a whole,” says Gavin McWilliam, of Wilson McWilliam. “The planting is designed to reflect the complex layering of Cloudy Bay and species are selected to visually portray these taste sensations.” It all sounds very seductive. “We chose bark character, blackcurrant, sharp gooseberry, low ornamental purple and rich grasses, lime and sparkling flowering light perennials to reflect all the wines.”

But how will an antipodean-style garden fare in a Harvey Nichols climate? Well, we are promised. “The design references hint at the terroir in the Marlborough region,” explains McWilliam. “But all plants are suited to the UK climate.” Cheers to that.