Blank Canvas Escaroth Pinot Noir 2020

Description

We are a Master of Science and a Master of Wine crafting delicious small batch fine wines from three New Zealand wine regions – Marlborough, Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago – from our home in Marlborough. Since we launched in 2013, our wines have been about celebrating the focus and detail of single vineyard expressions. Today we celebrate nine exceptional, sustainable single vineyards through our wines. We’ve sought these vineyards out not only because of their suitability for the variety they’re nurturing with the right soil, microclimate and innate high quality, but also because they’re grown by people who have a fervent desire for their vineyard to grow great wine, not just grapes. Together we have forty two years of collective global wine experience, and have sixty harvests (and counting) in Northern and Southern hemispheres under our belt. This experience forms the inspirational backbone for Blank Canvas. We put all our effort into making wines that are distinctive and cerebral, approaching each wine unencumbered by a regime or badge and are not beholden to tradition. Every vineyard, variety and vintage is approached as if it is a blank canvas. As a result, every wine tells a story, speaking of the exact place and time it is from. – Matt Thomson MSc Sophie Parker-Thomson MW

The tranquil and brooding 2019 Pinot Noir Escaroth Vineyard would calm even the most harried drinker. It is a serene, savory mid-weight expression with a distinctive aroma of woody herbs derived from a high percentage of whole clusters (50%). These herbs are joined by licorice, cherry and plum. A very light hand in terms of oak (35% new low toast) allows the wine’s unadulterated purity to shine. The appearance is a touch cloudy, reflecting the fact that the wine hasn’t been filtered, keeping its goodness in. While the acidity is fresh, the warm and dry season plus the high proportion of whole bunches means this is not quite as focused on the finish, which I’d like to be a teensy bit longer if I’m nitpicking. Approachable now and over the coming decade. Vinous 94 (2019)