2021 Blank Canvas Escaroth Pinot Noir, Marlborough

Seamless pinot noir with a subtle savoury edge and flavours that suggest red fruits/raspberry, vanilla, fresh herbs and spicy French oak. Nicely balanced wine with good cellaring potential and an impressively lengthy finish. Drink to 2031.

95 points Bob Campbell for The Real Review, August 2024

The Escaroth vineyards sit at the convergence of the Wairau and Awatere Valleys, dry farmed and harvested on Easter Sunday as a family tradition. A solid core of Bing cherry and dark plum anchors the wine, threaded with woodsy herbs, thistle, fern and bay leaf. Tannins carry a gentle grain, framing the fruit with quiet structure. The finish returns to pitted cherry, underpinned by a granitic, dark earth minerality and a hint of mace. A wine of clarity and purity, grounded firmly in its landscape.

94 points Shanteh Wale for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026

Ripe strawberry aromas with fresh flowers, stems and a slightly ferrous undertone. Full-bodied and layered, with juicy fruit, velvety tannins and a crisp finish. Hints of smoke at the end. A generous and textured pinot. Drink now or hold.

93 points James Suckling, March 2024

The 2021 Escaroth Pinot Noir is supple and concentrated, and it is quite contrasted in style to the Settlement Vineyard Pinot Noir from the same vintage. Here the fruit is plush, ripe and almost rounded, with a scaffold of pliable/bendy tannin and gentle chew through the finish. This is all cherry, red apple, sugar-coated almonds, blood orange and bay leaf. Drink to 2031.

90 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, February 2025

The Escaroth vineyard is located in the Taylor’s Pass area of Marlborough. The soils here some of the oldest in the region and comprise of low vigour clays that naturally limit yields and concentrate flavour. The large diurnal temperature range of the microclimate brings freshness, tension, and aromatic lift to the fruit

Andy and Kyna live on their vineyard, with Escaroth being a nod to Tolkien’s world: it is taken from the ‘Lake-town’ in The Hobbit, where the elves sourced their wine. Their vineyard is dry-farmed and entirely hand-tended, a necessity given the steep, hillside terrain. It is planted to clones 115 and 777, with the north-facing aspect ensuring excellent sun exposure.

About this producer

Blank Canvas was founded in 2012 by husband-and-wife team Matt Thomson and Sophie Parker-Thomson MW as a culmination of decades of global experience and ongoing curiosity.

Their single vineyard New Zealand wines start lives as blank canvases, each seeking to present an authentic glimpse of a time and place through precision viticulture, restrained winemaking and transparent provenance.

The floor on quality is set high here, with wide critical acclaim bestowed on each wine and vintage. Blank Canvas is a certified member of the quality promoting Appellation Marlborough Wine as well as Sustainable New Zealand Winegrowing.