From Marlborough, Hawkes Bay and Central Otago, New Zealand, Blank Canvas embodies the story of husband and wife team; international wine-making consultant Matt Thomson, and solicitor turned Master of Wine Sophie Parker-Thomson.

Their collective goal is to create distinctive small-batch, single vineyard wines that reflect the best sub-regional sites in New Zealand. Their approach is minimalist, treading a path that incorporates both tradition and innovation, embracing both science and artistry.

Wines made without recipes, Blank Canvas is about pushing boundaries, taking risks and using creative license to create wines that are different, distinctive and sincere.

Escaroth is tucked away in the Southern Valley's Taylor Pass in Marlborough. It produces a bewildering fragrance of peony and violets, red cherry and pomegranate overlaid with a smoky, earthy savouriness. It is a site that truly reflects vintage variation with this inaugural release displaying the perfume and delicacy of the year, whilst retaining its innate muscular tannin structure that ensures it will age even better than Keith Richards. The low-yielding, dry-farmed site gives intensity and enables the use of a high degree of whole-bunch fermentation, adding further complexity and structure. We feel the wine is ultimately befitting of the fire-breathing dragon that guards the vineyard.