Blank Canvas Anthem Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018

Blank Canvas Anthem Central Otago Pinot Noir 2018French oak Dark cherry & plum Baking spice & herb Polished tannins "Ripe, intense, richly scented, varietal and fruity bouquet with aromas of ripe dark cherries and plums. Theres a definitive dried herb, savoury complexity classic Otago message then aromas of smoky oak with a quiet clove baking spice suggestion. All the action for this wine is on the palate its delicious with a detailed story of spices and fruits, textures and length, concentration

• French oak
• Dark cherry & plum
• Baking spice & herb
• Polished tannins

"Ripe, intense, richly scented, varietal and fruity bouquet with aromas of ripe dark cherries and plums. There’s a definitive dried herb, savoury complexity - classic Otago message - then aromas of smoky oak with a quiet clove baking spice suggestion. All the action for this wine is on the palate - it’s delicious with a detailed story of spices and fruits, textures and length, concentration and a sense of place. Tannins are fine and polished, oak has a nut-like quality alongside the toast-wood. The core of fruit finishes with a floral note - a flick forming part of a lengthy youthful finish. Fabulous drinking now and through 2026+. Definitely a wine of discussion" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Aug 2020

"Elegant, supple Pinot Noir with floral, dark cherry, five spice and grape stem flavours. A surprisingly approachable wine with restrained power. It should develop well" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Sep 2020

"Attractive and well-executed, modern pinot style here with gently meaty reduction, spicy and toasty oak and bright red cherries, all nicely wound together. The palate has a very plush, smoothly layered and supple feel with bright red-cherry flavors. Impressive shape and depth here. Drink or hold" Nick Stock, Jamessuckling.com, Nov 2020

"A moderately high-toned nose reflects the whole clusters with its intensely floral characters along with spice hints on the cool red berry fruit scents. There is good vibrancy and delineated medium-bodied flavors that possess fine depth and length on the balanced finish that is supported by bright but not drying acidity. Lovely and solidly age worthy" Allen Meadows, Burghound, Nov 2020

A sublime red cherry, raspberry and violet expression of Pinot Noir, chaperoned by a suite of savoury, sappy undertones. Wild fermentation, 50% whole cluster and a low-toast oak regime gives elegance, complexity and structure to the wine. Maintaining the minimalist philosophy, bottled without filtration which means nothing is taken away though a natural deposit will occur over time.

Matt and Sophie both grew up in the enlivening surroundings of Central Otago. With this formative connection they dreamed early on of finding a special vineyard to venerate Central Otago Pinot Noir. They found it in the Athem vineyard, credled in the Gibbston Valley. Soils here are older, wind-blown silt / schist loess depositis atop rocky schist alluvium gravels. Vines are trained on high-cordon and VSP trained, average vine age 19 years old.

2018 was a very special and uncharacteristic year in the traditionally cooler Gibbston Valley sub-region of Central Otago. A warm and dry Summer allowed for an even and favourable flowering which led into a brilliant and stable Autumn. Small berries ensured high skin to juice ratio which translated into intensity of fruit tannin and flavour in the resulting wine. The Anthem Pinot Noir was hand-harvested on the 10th April 2018.

A small parcel of the Anthem vineyard was hand-picked, which was singled out for this wine and freighted it in a refrigerated truck overnight to the winery in Marlborough. 50% of the fruit was left in whole clusters and crushed the balance over the bunches. It underwent a 4-5 day cold soak followed by draining the free-run wine and pressing the remaining wine and skins to French oak barriques (35% new) where it matured for 12 months, undergoing natural malolactic fermentation. It was racked to one tank to gently settle for 3 months and gently racked again, finally being bottled without filtration on 19th June 2019. This was let to rest in bottle for 13months in the cellar before releasing it.