2022 Blank Canvas, Reed Chardonnay, 6x750ml
From the Waihopai Valley, with low-vigour clay soils, comes the Reed Vineyard Chardonnay which typically displays white peach, grapefruit and an attractive flintiness alongside a precise drive of acidity. It is fermented with ambient yeast in 500 litre French oak puncheons with no lees stirring. The unfiltered wine is generous and complex, with great capacity for ageing.
Alcohol: 13.5%
Alcohol: 13.5%
Availability: In stock
Case size: 6 / Bottle size: 750ml
Duty Status
From £125.00
Critics Score: 95
Publication: Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review
Drinking Dates: 2023-2028
Weighty, mouth-filling chardonnay with grapefruit, saline/oyster shell, lime zest, nutty yeast lees and a suggestion of sizzled butter. Great without the complication of food but even better with my hot-smoked salmon.
Blank Canvas is the vinous studio of award-winning international winemaking consultant Matt Thomson and Master of Wine Sophie Parker-Thomson. With over 40 years of collective experience in the global wine industry, they produce small batch fine wines from exceptional single vineyard sites throughout New Zealand under their art-meets-science project. Matt has worked over fifty vintages in numerous wine regions around the world. Sophie has been travelling to Europe and working with Matt since 2011, leaving her career in law behind her. This international experience is the founding inspiration for this husband-and-wife team.
The Reed vineyard is home to growers Pete and Anne Reed. Situated at the mouth of the Waihopai Valley, they first planted vines on their land in 2001. The soil is low-vigour clay, with a naturally dry micro-climate. The vineyard is planted solely with Clone 95 Chardonnay, a Burgundian clone that Matt Thomson thinks is ideally suited to Marlborough. It is flavour ripe at modest sugar levels, and retains its acid, a balance that Matt likes.