The bottle to go it alone

There's undoubtedly an incentive for winemakers who have worked for larger companies to want to go and do their own thing.

Kevin Judd, founding winemaker of Cloudy Bay, is planning to ease himself out of the winery he helped establish 25 years ago.

There were no vineyards, no winery, no name then, he says, but he has helped make the Cloudy Bay brand one of the most respected and sought-after in the world.

From mid-2009, he will be the company's consultant, and plans to establish his own label and develop his photography business.