'Tano' Chardonnay 2023

2023 Tano Chardonnay Blank Canvas Wines Marlborough NZ

$65.00 NZD

PDF Tasting Sheet

Vineyard: Anandale Farm
Subregion: Blind River
Region: Marlborough
Vintage: 2023
Soil Type: Complex silts and loams
Climate: Cool, windy, maritime
Clone: Clone 95
Viticulture: Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand Certified (SWNZ)
Growers: The Turner Family

A visionary, a leader, a mentor and a dear friend, Gaetano ‘Tano’ Tobin was instrumental in establishing and championing the crus of Soave, describing these wines as the Chablis of Italy. We have honoured Tano's life and vision by crafting a wine that embraces his inspirations; ones that we also share. High-toned and intense grapefruit, white florals and an attractive hazelnut and savoury musk form a complex aromatic picture. A highlight of this Chardonnay is its vividly sketched, elevated acidity gifted by the very cool, exposed coastal position of the Anandale Farm vineyard in Blind River. Layered flavours of grapefruit, lemon citrus and hazelnut combine with the vibrant acid line delivering vitality, persistence and a lengthy finish.

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

The hand-picked Chardonnay was gently whole-bunch pressed with the unsettled free-run juice filling one 25-hectolitre botte (Italian for large barrel) with a small balance to French oak puncheons. It fermented wild on full solids slowly, going to natural malolactic fermentation and maturing on lees for a total of 15 months to gain richness and textural complexity. We gently racked and bottled it without filtration in the second winter following harvest.

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Reviews

5 STARS

"The distinctive, very elegant 2023 vintage was grown in the Blind River district, at "one of the coolest, coastal sites in all of Marlborough." Fermented and lees-aged for 15 months in Italian 'botti' (large oak vessels holding 2,500 litres), it has a highly fragrant, mealy bouquet. Showing obvious potential for cellaring, it is mouthfilling and vibrant, with rich, peachy, citrusy, biscuity flavours, balanced acidity, and excellent weight, drive and harmony. Best drinking mid-2026+."

- MICHAEL COOPER MA ONZM

97 POINTS

"This is a beautiful first-release single-vineyard chardonnay with subtle yet intense hazelnuts and sliced cooked apples with hints of Meyer-lemon character. Medium-bodied, it has an extremely long finish with structure and wonderful persistence. The hazelnuts and lightly spiced pears to the hints of cedar are so enticing. Drink or hold."

- JAMES SUCKLING

96 POINTS

"From Blind River, a small subregion to the south of Awatere Valley, this is a very pure wine. Bright citrus, fine white peach and delicate nutty notes; a delicious savoury, silky palate with a briny oyster-shell note and invitingly brisk acidity. Very sleek and precise with good tension and length. Quite stripped back and all the better for it. Appellation Marlborough Wine certified."

- EMMA JENKINS MW | DECANTER

96 POINTS

"A clearly cool-climate chardonnay with hazelnut and saline/oyster shell flavours and refreshing citrus characters together with surprising weight and richness. Accessible now but with good cellaring potential."

- BOB CAMPBELL

95 POINTS

"The 2023 Tano Chardonnay is the fortunate recipient of a very large barrel. The fruit from Anandale Farm in Blind River was handpicked and whole-bunch pressed, with full solids going into the large cuve/botte, and it spent 15 months on the lees. The fruit for the 2025 Tano is being picked tomorrow morning as I write this, and Sophie Thomson-Parker is telling me that they expect the fruit to be at around 22° Brix, and 10–12 grams of total acidity. The wine in front of me is very fine, tightly coiled and floral, with musky notes of hazelnuts and ocean brine, dried coriander and wet stone. This gorgeous wine is triumphant. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."

- ERIN LARKIN

95 POINTS

"Initial notes of smoke and flint blow off with air to reveal a subtle florals, oatmeal, roasted nuts, earth and stone-fruit. The mid-palate starts quite giving with juicy orange fruit and tangy, saline acidity before firming up with chalky grip and edgy minerality on the back. Currently brooding and young, it will open up in a year or two to reveal its innate complexity."

- STEPHEN WONG

95 POINTS

"A complex and intriguing wine. Great colour and aromatic development within the bouquet, a complex wine with layers of fruit, lees spice and acidity, harmonious and detailed. On the palate a dry wine touches first then a rush of flavour from what I can only describe as combinations of texture and flavour from citrus to nut, to echoes of stone fruit and mineral. Dry, lengthy, new and exciting. Best drinking from mid to late 2025 through 2031+."

- CAMERON DOUGLAS

17.5 POINTS

"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."