Blank Canvas Meta Marlborough Riesling 2018 (375ml)

Blank Canvas Meta Marlborough Riesling 2018 (375ml)"Full golden colour, brilliant. The bouquet is honeyed and rich, with some marmalade and fruit compote nuances, nutty background. In the mouth, it has intense flavour and is very frisky with elevated acidity, which undercuts the substantial sweetness. A glorious wine of great drive and energy" Houn Hooke, Real Review, Oct 2020 "A striking bouquet; powerful, intense and fruity. Aromas of preserved lemon and baked apple then honeyed tropical fruits

"Full golden colour, brilliant. The bouquet is honeyed and rich, with some marmalade and fruit compote nuances, nutty background. In the mouth, it has intense flavour and is very frisky with elevated acidity, which undercuts the substantial sweetness. A glorious wine of great drive and energy" Houn Hooke, Real Review, Oct 2020

"A striking bouquet; powerful, intense and fruity. Aromas of preserved lemon and baked apple then honeyed tropical fruits suggesting baked pineapple and mango. On the palate - pure, fresh and sweet, honeyed stone-fruits then non-fruits flavours of beeswax and whipped rewarewa honey, some toasty preserved lemon layers and a whisper of saltiness. The sweetness is easily contrasted by the acidity lengthening the finish and providing a crisp, precise finish. Best drinking from today and through 2026+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Jul 2020

"This is a sweet Riesling (167g/L residual sugar) but it has plenty of mouthwatering acidity providing refreshment. Marmalade, orange and peach flavors meet sweet spice flavors, which linger on the lengthy finish. 9.5% alcohol" Rebecca Gibb, Master of Wine, Vinous Media, Nov 2020

"Meta' means transformation, in this case by botrytis influence. It's a rich and flavoursome wine with peach, honey, grapefruit marmalade and musk flavours. Initial sweetness contrasts with subtle steely acidity on the lengthy finish" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Feb 2019

"Beautifully fruited and inviting, the wine shows apricot, apple, fig and vanilla characters on the nose with a hint of gun smoke. It's succulent and rounded on the palate with excellent weight and intensity, backed by creamy mouthfeel and bright acidity, finishing long and complex" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Feb 2020

Aromas of citrus zest, orange blossom honey and marmalade are poised against a luscious and pronounced sweetnes on the palate which persists thanks to a backbone of enlivening acidity.

From a single vineyard in the Rapaura sub-region of the Wairau Valley, this small block of Riesling is run meticulously by the Couper family. Cane-pruned and VSP trained, the vineyard was brilliantly stituated to deliver perfect noble rot conditions. Carefully hand-picked at the very end of vintage on the 30th April.

A hot Summer accelerated ripening across all varieties, but the relatively wet lat Summer conditions provided an ideal environment for the onset of noble rot. The botrytis infection was rapid thorughout the region and was in a form called 'slip-skin'. This resulted in a very even infection across the vineyard with very little sporulation or grey rot. Winemakers were able to obtain excellent concentration and the entire parcel was nearly 100% infected with botrytis.

The grapes for this wine were selectively hand-harvested in the vineyrd and the fruit was gently whole-bunch pressed with the juice returned to the skins for an overnight maceration to soak up further flavour, sugars and acidity. Upon pressing again the juice was settled naturally and fermented with selected yeast strains in a small stainless steel tank. With minimal intervention throughout, the wine naturally ceased fermentation at 9.5% alcohol. The wine was racked to French oak puncheons where it spent 6 months on light lees, followed by gently filtration before being bottled on 28th November 2018.

The name 'Meta' was chosen for this botrytised, late harvested Riesling, as it embodies the remarkable change of condition the graes undergo as they are transformed by noble rot over the final weeks of Autumn. From healthy fruit into shrivelled but concentrated, intensle sweet berries; once harvested these have the potential to yeild the most hedonisitic, nectarous wine one can imagine.