"Intense, punchy sauvignon blanc with passionfruit, lime zest, oyster shell, red capsicum and lemongrass flavours. Mouth-watering acidity perfectly balances a hint of sweetness to leave a refreshingly dry finish. Delicious wine."

"Pungent, intense, fruity, varietal and exacting bouquet of fresh lemon and basil, sage and ripe white flesh fruits, some stone, some tropical. Youthful, vibrant and inviting. On the palate an equally vibrant and refreshing style with salivating acidity, a moment of salinity, flavours of fresh herbs and citrus, white fleshed fruits and tropical moments. Minerality shows as wet river stones and there’s a light floral note on the finish. Well made, saline on the finish and ready to drink from 2024 through 2027+."

"The 2023 Holdaway Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc hails from Dillon's Point, and I am starting to understand very clearly that this little subregion, which is on the flats as the Wairau Valley flows into the ocean, produces Sauvignon Blanc fruit that is pungently laden with thiols, as this wine appears to be. The palate has enoki mushroom, green apple skins, gooseberry, hints of broom and tatami mat, plus layers of fennel, white pepper and cassis. It is concentrated and good, though kind of overt, but it is long and gently shaped by chalky phenolics through the finish. It pushes the upper level of thiol funk for me, but I like it. It's balanced."

"The 2023 Holdaway Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc hails from Dillon's Point, and I am starting to understand very clearly that this little subregion, which is on the flats as the Wairau Valley flows into the ocean, produces Sauvignon Blanc fruit that is pungently laden with thiols, as this wine appears to be. The palate has enoki mushroom, green apple skins, gooseberry, hints of broom and tatami mat, plus layers of fennel, white pepper and cassis. It is concentrated and good, though kind of overt, but it is long and gently shaped by chalky phenolics through the finish. It pushes the upper level of thiol funk for me, but I like it. It's balanced."

"Intense passion-fruit aroma – more marked than in previous vintages, which I have found more green-fruited/citrusy, but the intensity of the fruit is tempered by a fresh herbal note and a hint of something more stony/steely even if this is a more fruit-focused than minerality-focused wine. A powerful and harmonious wine that balances depth of fruit with high acidity, both of which make that little bit of residual sugar unnoticeable except perhaps in contributing to the roundness in the mouth. With time in the glass, the herbal aroma starts to catch up with that initial passion-fruit character but the latter dominates the palate. There's a very attractive chalky aftertaste, which the producers suggest is from the site because they find it in the neighbouring vineyard, too. This will probably age longer than I have suggested but the fruit is so vibrant now there is no reason to wait."

"The 2019 Sauvignon Blanc Abstract Three Rows is a pure and sophisticated wine from, true to its name, three rows of a dry farmed parcel. It is bright and tangy yet savory. The fruit is pure and delicate, like a cloud. It is transparent and yet expansive in the mouth, having no heaviness. Light honey, nectarine, musky boxwood and oatmeal flavours abound with a light creamy character. Sensitive Sauvignon."

"From the Dillons Point sub-region. Fermented and aged for 14 months in five-year-old French oak puncheons. This wine stands out in a crowd ... of sauvignons. For a start it has a rich, mouth-filling texture and real depth of fruit with a mouth-watering savouriness. Don't quaff it, savour it. This is serious sauvignon."

"Complex and new, modern and enticing bouquet of lemon curd and lees spices, fresh peach and quince, there’s a natural soil smoky quality with a fine dried herb and natural varietal lift. Delicious with flavours of yellow apple and lemon, quince and peach stone, an orange barley sugar quality with mineral and floral herb tones. Acidity and soft saline qualities add crunch and texture while the core fruit flavours fill the mid palate and add lengthy as well as complexity. Delicious, fresh and complex."

"Subtle flinty notes, creamy, savoury, but no lack of fruit – it's just that the fruit is not the diva here. Lovely depth of citrus and blackcurrant leaf. Bone dry (hurray!), deeply textured, intense and mouth-wateringly fresh with a marked saltiness on the finish. Ageing well and slowly – the age is showing in a slight cedary character not in SB's often rather unpleasant sweetcorn phase. This has complexity, no excess, but masses of personality. At last, a bone-dry Sauvignon."

"An excellent example of Chardonnay from the Blank Canvas team with aromas and flavours of white fleshed stone fruits and a citrus seam woven through the core. Taut and dry, youthful and textured with a lovely palate squeeze and urgency. Flavours expand on the palate as the wine opens out and gets closer to ambient with baking spices and a light reductive flinty highlight. Oak frames the fruit and is judicious in its level and impact. Generous weight, gentle warming alcohol, plenty of intensity, length and power."

"Very clean chardonnay character of sliced apples, flint, and steel on the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with a tight and trim form, tight phenols and underlying sophistication in the flavors of apples, bread dough and stone. This is structured but fascinating to drink now. Drink or hold."

"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."

"It was not the easiest of seasons to make delicious wine in Marlborough, but you wouldn't guess that if you tasted the 2022 Chardonnay Reed Vineyard. It is a pure and precise style with plenty of personality. There's excellent clarity of fruit here, reflective of the delicate handling. Flinty, salty characteristics of reduction emerge, while smoky bacon notes derive from barrel. Just a little more than light in body, there's weight and creamy texture built through the mid-palate, followed up with a fine, citrusy acid line. There's a lot going on, but the components all come together to provide a clever, layered style with a big, savory finish. Ta-da! ."

"Complex and inviting aroma that is the result of both fruit and winemaking style: pure lemon and clementine overlaid by strong notes of struck-match reduction. Intensely flinty and smoky. On the palate, this is, however, intensely fruity even in this flinty style. Mouth- wateringly ripe and crisp citrus, vibrant, salty. A wine to stop you in your tracks. Not subtle yet it is harmonious and will likely become more refined with time in the bottle. Firmly textured, chewy, mouth-filling and still fresh. GV for such a complex wine."

"Elegant, textural pinot noir with cherry/berry, violet, brambles/grape stems and mixed spice flavours. Supple, high energy wine with latent complexity that needs a little bottle age to reveal. Drinking Window 2023–2031" 

"There’s a unique quality about the bouquet of this wine with a soft floral scents and heirloom red berry fruit fragrances with a fine lightly toasted wood quality and most importantly - a sense of place and time. Youthful and complex. Textures from tannins, wood and acidity touch the palate first with a savoury quality before the flavours of red berries, plums, flowers and red currant. Taut and textured with a youthful energy and drive. Best drinking from mid to late 2024 through 2030+. Keen to try this wine again then."

"The 2020 Pinot Noir Escaroth is a transparent, calm and unadulterated wine that has eased its way from grape to glass. While it offers sweet strawberry fruit flavors, there's also an untamed side to this wine thanks to the inclusion of whole clusters, which imbued it with wild woody herb aromatics and brought structure to this tender style. A year spent in low-toast French oak barrels adds savory cedar notes and contributes to its shapeliness. This is a thoughtfully made Pinot that is already drinking well.”

"Mid ruby with soft and lightly bricky rim. Open and aromatic with a combination of sweet red fruits and a suggestion of herbal stemminess but not excessive, just seems to lift the aroma, some sweet spice and starting to show some development of leathery notes. More spicy than the Settlement, and showing more evolution, but less herbal/stemmy. Lots of fruit sweetness on the palate, too, with a hint of spice and more savoury bottle-aged character. Smooth tannins are a little firmer than in the Settlement. Extremely fresh with depth and length. There's definitely some Marlborough red fruit here but it is moderated by the savoury and spice notes. Right in the middle of the palate, there's a lovely floral moment before the more savoury finish."

"A powerful and distinctive bouquet with a core complexity built around ripe red berry fruit, a natural savoury dried herb complexity, a gentle sweetness of oak and baking spice scents to match, there’s density and richness alongside power and finesse. A powerful youthful energy as the wine touches the palate transitioning smoothly through berry flavours, the savoury seam and textures from tannins and acidity. Delicious, youthful and full of pinosity. A lovely expression, complex and lengthy."

"Intense, powerful, firmly-structured pinot noir from the Omaka Valley in the Southern Valleys subregion. The 50% whole-bunches in the ferment has contributed to the wine's tannic backbone, which is balanced by sweet fruit. Floral, dark cherry and dried herb flavours. A richly-textured wine with obvious cellaring potential."

"The 2020 Pinot Noir Escaroth is a transparent, calm and unadulterated wine that has eased its way from grape to glass. While it offers sweet strawberry fruit flavors, there's also an untamed side to this wine thanks to the inclusion of whole clusters, which imbued it with wild woody herb aromatics and brought structure to this tender style. A year spent in low-toast French oak barrels adds savory cedar notes and contributes to its shapeliness. This is a thoughtfully made Pinot that is already drinking well.”

"From the Omaka Valley. Shallow layer of wind-blown loess over low-vigour clay loams. Dijon clone 777. BioGro certified organic and New Zealand Sustainable certified. This is their first release of the Settlement Vineyard Pinot Noir, the vineyard was established in 2009. North-facing hillside. Omaka is the most tannic subregion in Marlborough and this has 50% whole-bunch. Mid cherry red. A notably savoury aroma though no lack of dark and dark-red fruits lifted by a hint of perfumed sweetness, almost a floral note, highlighted by the whole-bunch component, which adds a herbal but not unripe quality which shows more on the day after opening. On the palate, this is a beauty, firmly structured but with extreme tannic finesse. That savoury character on the palate too, with just a hint of stems adding to the well-balanced freshness. Plenty of Southern Valleys character and power here, in an elegant style, very slightly chewy at this young stage but even so it’s hard to resist drinking it now even though it should age well. Just goes to show that Marlborough doesn’t have to make tutti-frutti Pinot."

"The Anthem Vineyard sits in the coolest part of Central Otago – which itself is the most southerly vineyard region in the world – and when it escapes frost and is able to ripen its fruit, the Gibbston Valley can sing sweetly. The 2019 Pinot Noir Anthem Vineyard is undeniably cloudy, being unfiltered, but this means all the good stuff is left in. It is mysterious and brooding, luring you into a labyrinth of flavours and textures. Its cool origins (plus the inclusion of whole clusters) are on display in its exotically spiced fragrance of woody herbs, wormwood, pine and red cherry. Soothing in its feel and caress, this is a wine that acts as the equivalent of two nights in a spa hotel. Round but never heavy with supple tannins that lightly coat your cheeks, this is a hugely pleasurable wine already and will continue to be over the medium term."

"Fabulous bouquet of delicacy and perfume, complexity and charm. Aromas of pressed roses and cherry flesh, there’s a fine savoury quality layering finesse and detail. Oak offers moments of spice and sweetness. On the palate - delicious, layers of texture and finesse with flavours to reflect the variety and complexity with strawberry and cherry, red apple and spice. Perfectly balanced with a fine chalky mouthfeel, fine tannins and medium+ acid line."

"Elegant, fine-textured pinot noir with fine herbs, mixed spice and hedgerow aromas. High energy wine with a seamless texture. Nicely structured with fruit/alcohol sweetness balanced against fine, drying tannins."

"Light bricky red. Elegant aroma of evolving red fruit and the start of a more savoury undergrowth-like character. But this doesn't hide the floral freshness of this site. More stemmy on the palate than on the nose, giving finesse to the tannins. Vibrant fruit shaped by deliciously dry texture and masses of freshness. Just a touch peppery/spicy on the finish but very little sign of the oak. Perfect for drinking now but no rush. The floral character builds on the finish as does the savoury spice: highly complementary."

"This is a single vineyard expression of Syrah, 60% whole cluster and co-fermented with a small portion of Gruner Veltliner skins. Matured for 14 months in new and seasoned French oak. The resulting wine showcases aromas of spices and black fruits, crushed black currant berries and raspberry, violets, clove and toasty barrel scents. A complex and intriguing bouquet, quite powerful and very youthful. On the palate - delicious! Flavours of black fruits and currants, wild berries and spices from barrel and fruit, licorice and clove, some meat moments, pepper and iron-like stony soil qualities. Complex, lengthy and still rather youthful." 

"From the smallest vineyard in the Gimblett Gravels subregion. Co-fermented with 7% grüner veltliner skins for colour stability, complexity of tannin and a spicy, aromatic lift. The wine certainly has a great depth of colour with rich, ripe flavours including Black Doris plum, liquorice, cocoa powder, mocha and a suggestion of violet. A generously proportioned wine with an appealingly supple texture. Should age well."

"Elegant, fine-textured pinot noir with fine herbs, mixed spice and hedgerow aromas. High energy wine with a seamless texture. Nicely structured with fruit/alcohol sweetness balanced against fine, drying tannins."

"Free-draining gravel-bed soils which have lenses of sand, silt and clay at various depths. Clones are Chave, mass selection and Stonecroft. NZ Sustainable certified and herbicide free. Growers Dominic and Rachelle Smith. Co-fermentation with a small proportion of Grüner Veltliner skins as well as whole-cluster fermentation. Deepest crimson. Wildly peppery aroma with the fabulous perfume that I associate with the northern Rhône, all stony dark fruit and peonies. Just very slightly and attractively reductive, as top-notch Syrah tends to be. This is stunning: the best Blank Canvas Syrah I have tasted and likely to age well into serious complexity. It is deep but not at all sweet-fruited, dark-fruited, savoury, tarry, complex and has immense length. Just shows how well Syrah is suited to this region of NZ."