Fabulous new wine from the ultra consistant Blank Canvas winery.
"Very slightly flinty at first, though this is less noticeable on the day after opening. There's subtle oak notes – creamy, mealy – and ripe citrus with a light note of fruit sweetness but the ripeness is just on the edge, so the fruit sings without being overly rich. There's also a combination of minerally crushed stones and something else I find hard to pinpoint, like a crushed aromatic waxy leaf. I can imagine this would develop a touch of lanolin and toast with bottle age. On the palate, there's immense finesse and tension. Absolutely no lack of fruit but it is knife-edge ripe, giving intensity rather than masses of fruit flavour. Pristine. Very gently rounded out by the lees. Given the full solids, I expected a little more struck-match character but here it is only a light flinty expression. Long and tense and likely to age well – and gets better and better after the bottle has been open a couple of days. This could easily be mistaken from good premier cru Chablis, even if it has that little bit of richness from New Zealand's cool but sunny climate." 17.5 pts Julia Harding MW JancisRobinson.com
