Blank Canvas Marlborough Riesling 2018

Blank Canvas Marlborough Riesling 2018Off dry gently sweet style Honeysuckle Lemon zest Mineral notes "From the Blind River vineyard in the Awatere Valley. A powerful riesling with lime, lemon zest and subtle mineral flavours. Low pH and assertive acidity balances around 23g l of residual sugar and builds a lovely tension to give a medium dry finish. An impressive wine that will develop well" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jul 2018 "Bright, very pale straw colour with slight

• Off-dry/gently sweet style
• Honeysuckle
• Lemon zest
• Mineral notes

"From the Blind River vineyard in the Awatere Valley. A powerful riesling with lime, lemon zest and subtle mineral flavours. Low pH and assertive acidity balances around 23g/l of residual sugar and builds a lovely tension to give a medium-dry finish. An impressive wine that will develop well" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jul 2018

"Bright, very pale straw colour with slight green hues, near colourless on the rim. The nose is fresh and delicate with taut and refined aromas of lime fruit, white florals and subtle notes of mouthwatering minerals at the core, revealing nuances of herbs. The aromatics are youthfully pure with excellent clarity. Medium in sweetness and light-bodied, the palate has delicate and subtle flavours of lime fruit, white florals with notes of honey and minerals. The mouthfeel is thirstquenching with crisp, lacy, brisk acidity and the wine flows along a fine line with good enery and tension, leading to a sustained, nuanced finish. This is a delicately fruited medium Riesling with lime, floral and mineral flavours on a mouthwatering palate. It will develop over the next 4-5+ years. Match with Asian fare" Raymond Chan, Nov 2018

"The pale lemon/green 2018 vintage is described on the label as a ‘kabinett’ style of Riesling. A singlevineyard, Awatere Valley wine, hand-harvested and bottled by June, it’s still a baby. Light-bodied (8.6 per cent alcohol) and gently sweet (23 grams/litre of residual sugar), with mouth-watering acidity, it has strong, lemony, appley flavours, showing very good delicacy and harmony, and obvious cellaring potential; open 2021+" Michael Cooper 2018

This wine features bright, balanced acidity that whets the appetite. It brims with flavours of old-fashioned lemonade, Lisbon lemon and honeysuckle and is completed by a zesty, satisfyingly long finish. There is a flush of sweetness on the front of the palate, but its acidity ensures it finishes dry. Its lower alcohol level (8.6% abv) means it is an excellent low-calorie wine option, and a perfect choice to accompany lunch or as a pre-dinner enrichment.

A dry and hot Summer looked promising with maturity tracking 2-3 weeks ahead of normal. Significant rainfall in late Summer into early autumn provided relief to the vines but also slowed down ripening. Luckily the weather stabilised from mid-Autumn and meant a good final run for fruit hanging on the vine. For this Riesling, the Blind River subregion escaped a lot of the heavier rainfall and the free draining soils mitigated any impact further. By harvesting earlier we avoid any instability in weather late season, capture the desirable yellow citrus characteristics in the fruit, as well as keep potential alcohol levels low.

As we love the coastal Blind River subregion in the Awatere Valley of Marlborough for the mineral-driven, delicate characteristics, and thus winemakers have selected the Anandale Farm single vineyard in this area for our Blank Canvas Riesling. The complex silty, loam and gravel soils impart a complex mineral edge to the fruit, and the cool microclimate makes this vineyard particularly well suited to this style of wine.

The grapes were hand harvested and the fruit was gently pressed with the free-run juice only directed to one small tank. The juice was settled naturally and fermented with selected yeast strains in stainless steel at 15˚C. With minimal intervention throughout, the wine was arrested by chilling at ~8.6% alcohol content to obtain the desired balance. With a low total sulphur dioxide addition, the wine was gently filtered and bottled on 26th June 2018.

Food Pairing: This wine is a great match with Asian inspired cuisine, especially Thai, as it can handle spice due to its low alcohol level, high acidity and touch of residual sugar which all counter the effects of ‘heating up’ the palate. Try pairing it with dishes such as Thai Green Curry, Spicy Thai Salad, Sashimi, or Hot and Sour Fish Soup.