BLANK CANVAS ESCAROTH PINOT NOIR 2021

Blank Canvas is the wine brand of wine-making 'guru' Matt Thomson – the name behind many of Marlborough's top labels as well as as a 'flying winemaker' in Europe for Liberty Wines – and his wife Sophie Parker-Thomson MW. 

Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"Escaroth is a site that truly reflects vintage variation, with 2021 for us being close to if not the very definition of Pinot Noir perfection. It has a beguiling, complex perfume that treads both red and blue fruit and an enchanting spice, game and earthy savouriness. The very low-yielding year (3.3 tonnes/ha) coupled with the dry-farmed nature of the site has resulted in incredible concentration and intensity. A proportion of whole-bunch is used to ensure balanced extraction and lifted aromatics. The result is a very complex, savoury Pinot Noir with a structured yet elegant tannin framework.

The vineyard is dry-farmed and entirely hand tended, a necessity given the steep, hillside terrain. The Pinot Noir is a blend of clones 115 and 777, offering fragrance and depth. Andy and Kyna, a Californian by birth, live on the vineyard and embody a philosophy of hands-on stewardship. The name Escaroth is a nod to Tolkien’s world, taken from the ‘Lake-town’ in The Hobbit, where the elves sourced their wine. A lifelong Tolkien fan, Andy named the vineyard in homage, and even installed a fire breathing Smaug to guard the entrance. Though now decommissioned (after a few too many curious visitors), Smaug still stands watch, more charm than threat, but a fitting symbol of the vineyard’s character: graceful, bold and presiding.

Hand-harvested on 18 March 2021, 50% of the parcel was tipped in as whole clusters into an open-top fermenter while the remainder was destemmed and crushed over the top. The fruit was kept cool until wild yeast began fermentation after five days. The ferment was closely tended with daily hand-plunging over 14 days to draw balanced colour, tannin and aromatic lift. The wine was drained and pressed to French oak barriques (35% new). Maturation took place in barrel over 11 months before a further three months in tank to integrate and naturally settle, and the wine was bottled without fining or filtration on 15 June 2022, retaining clarity, savoury depth and site expression."

5 Stars Michael Coooper (2021 Vintage)
"The very youthful 2021 vintage Was hand-harvested from 20-year-old, unirrigated vines on a north-facing clay slope at Taylor Pass, in the Southern Valleys, matured for 11 months in French oak barriques (35 per cent new), and bottled unfined and unfiltered.  From an ultra low-cropping harvest (3.3 tonnes/ha), it is deeply coloured, mouthfilling, sweet-fruited and savoury, with highly concentrated cherry, plum and spice flavours, and good tannin backbone.  A more 'masculine' style than its Anthem Vineyard stablemate of the same vintage, it should be very long-lived; best drinking 2027+."

Rated Outstanding & 96/100 Cameron Douglas MS (2021 Vintage)
"Immediately complex with a bouquet of depth and intrigue, softness and floral highlights, there’s personality and prettiness then scents of earth and dried clay minerality, red berry fruits and a fine dried herb quality. There is oak too with a seam of baking spices and savoury complexity framing the core aromas. Delicious on the palate with an abundance of fine needle-point tannins, plenty of acidity and a core of red berry fruit flavours – from mangosteen to plum to cherry. Then, a light leather and tea quality with a fine savoury layer. Well made, youthful, delicious now and will be so through 2033+."

96/100 Jamie Goode, WineAnorak.com (2021 Vintage)
"Escaroth is located in the Taylor Pass subregion of Marlborough, with clay-rich soils. Vines are around 20 years old on a north-facing hillside, and they are dry grown, which is very rare in Marlborough. 115 and 777 clones. This is a distinctive Pinot Noir with floral cherry fruit on the nose as well as some mulchy green hints, dried herbs, and some pepper. In the mouth there’s lovely structure underneath the fresh, sappy cherry, plum and pomegranate fruit and also some silkiness. There’s an appealing intensity and texture, with grainy structure. The green notes integrate beautifully with the sweet cherry notes. This is complex and beguiling with potential for development."

5 Stars & 95/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review (2021 Vintage)
"Seamless pinot noir with a subtle savoury edge and flavours that suggest red fruits/raspberry, vanilla, fresh herbs and spicy French oak. Nicely balanced wine with good cellaring potential and an impressively lengthy finish."

17.5/20 Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com (2021 Vintage)
"Mid smudgy garnet. Shows the whole-bunch component in a stemmy/sappy freshness (not at all green). There's a floral note but it's wild not domesticated, herbal not headily perfumed. On the palate, this is dry and savoury and avoids the sweetness that is so common in Marlborough Pinot Noir. Not quite starting to show tertiary flavours (eg leafy undergrowth) but there's a sense of the direction this will take. For now the non-sweet fruit is still captivating and controlling the long, fresh finish. Highlights how successful this vineyard is in low-yielding years (as in 2019). Excellent ageing potential, and a great example of the well-judged use of whole bunch. Has all the freshness and purity of the New Zealand climate as well as the complexity and ageing potential of sophisticated winemaking."