2023 Abstract Three Rows Sauvignon Blanc from Blank Canvas Marlborough Wine

Abstract | Three Rows Sauvignon Blanc 2023

$55.00 NZD

PDF Tasting Sheet

Vineyard: Holdaway Vineyard
Subregion: Dillons Point | Lower Wairau
Region: Marlborough
Vintage: 2023
Soil Type: Deep alluvial silts over sand
Clone: Mass selection
Viticulture: Dry-farmed and regenerative
Growers: The Holdaway Family

Appellation Marlborough Wine Certified (AMW) | Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Certified (SWNZ)
Vegan | Vegetarian

If classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is all fruit and zing, Abstract exists in another dimension altogether. It’s our savoury blanc, where texture and aromatic complexity bedazzle, and where vineyard and winemaking contribute equally. There’s an intense and seductive perfume of blackcurrant and white florals, while winemaking lends savouriness and flinty minerality. The must is wild fermented in French oak puncheons and matured on lees for 15 months, delivering a sumptuous richness and complexity to the palate. With elegance and beautiful balance, it is for enjoyment now but will age with grace and dignity.

Unfined | Unfiltered

Abstract is a study in terroir refined by deliberate, restrained winemaking to showcase fruit purity and textural depth. Hand-harvested from the Abstract block on 31 March 2023, the fruit was whole-bunch pressed and the pristine free-run juice sent straight to French oak puncheons (15% new) without settling.

Fermentation was left to wild yeast, beginning naturally after 3–5 days, and the wine completed natural malolactic fermentation during the warmer spring months. The wine matured on fine lees for 15 months with no stirring, was gently racked off lees and bottled unfiltered on 9 July 2024 delivering textural complexity, precision and the structure for long ageing.

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Reviews

5 STARS

"Designed as an ageworthy 'Savoury Blanc', the classy 2021 vintage was hand-harvested in the Holdaway Vineyard, at Dillons Point, and fermented and matured on its yeast lees for 15 months in French oak puncheons (15 per cent new). Bright lemon/green, with a rich, savoury bouquet, it is mouthfilling, with concentrated, ripe, tropical fruit flavours, gentle mealy notes, finely integrated oak, and excellent vigour and complexity. A top example of barrel-fermented Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, it's a drink now or cellaring proposition."

- MICHAEL COOPER MA ONZM

95 POINTS

"Intense, aromatic sauvignon with pronounced passion fruit/tropical fruit flavours together with grapefruit, red capsicum, oyster shell and gooseberry supported by vibrant juicy acidity that helps drive a lengthy finish."

- BOB CAMPBELL MW

95 POINTS

"Fantastic, a developing bouquet of barrel-ferment and fruit intensity, spice and power, a wine in a perfect window for drinking, scents of baked apple and lees, peach and soft wood spice highlights, a nettle and black currant quality then a dried herb extract. A satin touch gives way quickly to firm texture from acidity and tannins, lees and a soft wood smoke quality. Complex and lengthy a delicious wine to drink on its own or with select cuisine. Best from day of purchase through 2029+."

- CAMERON DOUGLAS MS

94 POINTS

"Complex flint and oak notes over elegant flavours of papaya and grapefruit. Structured and architectural, with some chewiness on the dry finish for interest. Refined, lots of detail and depth here; mineral savouriness and salinity. Quite reserved, it is just unfolding now and will provide food-friendly drinking in the mid-term."

- STEPHEN WONG MW

17.5 POINTS

"Flinty and Sauvignon fruit aromas are interwoven. Definite but not excessive note of struck match. Intense notes of ripe green fruits and blackcurrant bud. The interplay of smoky reduction and bright fruit continues on the palate, mouth-filling and mouth-watering at the same time. Intense flavours balanced by the creamy texture (roundness) from the oak, and the merest hint of oak spice. The flinty character is marked but not too much on the long finish. Ageing slowly and beautifully, which is not always the case with Sauvignon Blanc, and has a way to go. Complex and harmonious with a long smoky finish."