Pinot Blanc 2023

Blackenbrook

Pinot Blanc 2023

A beautiful aromatic, similar but deliciously different from the grape's close cousin Pinot Gris.

It's our golden child: The latest version just brought home gold medals from the New Zealand international Wine Show and the Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition, proudly following on from trophy wins in 2019 and 2020. 

 

$25.00 NZD

Tasting Notes

Floral and vibrant, our Pinot Blanc 2023 is layered with peach, jasmine and spice notes. This white mutation of pinot noir has a bright texture and charming purity

Read Winemaker’s Notes
Three bottles of Blackenbrook wine with two half-full glasses and a vase with pink peonies on a white table.

Only 11 hectares in New Zealand

Pinot Blanc loves our gravelly Moutere clay soil - just like its close relatives Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. Right from the inaugural vintage 2019 this wine attracted lots of positive attention and brought home two Trophy medals for its two first vintages.

Only 11 hectares of this variety are planted in our country and nearly all of these grapes are blended into other white varietals or matured in oak, which brings the texture and flavour closer to a Chardonnay.

But Pinot Blanc is aromatic and fruit-driven all on its own. We are making the wine in a way that allows the varietal flavours to shine by maturing it in stainless steel rather than oak. This way the grape expresses its pure style from our Nelson vineyard.

In terms of flavour, our Pinot Blanc sits right in the middle between the floral Gewürztraminer and the nutty Pinot Gris. It’s crisp and floral and aromatic.

Reviews

Gold Medals

New Zealand International Wine Show 2023

Aotearoa Regional Wine Competition 2023


95/100 (Gold) Bob Campbell MW, therealreview.com

Ripe Pinot Blanc with tree fruit/white peach, vanilla and gentle citrus flavours. A hint of sweetness is nicely balanced by bright, fresh acidity that helps drive a lengthy finish.

Attractive wine with power and purity. 08 NOV 2023

Wine & dine

Try our Pinot Blanc with this beautiful goat cheese bavarois on a salad of pear and micro-greens – a truly outstanding combination.

But it will just as happily partner with mouth-watering crayfish from Kaikōura, a scrumptious pumpkin risotto or grilled asparagus.

Isabelle Schwarzenbach picking white grapes. She's working on a very old vine with a large trunk. The grass and leaf canopy are vibrant green and the sun is shining.

The season

Our 20th year of growing grapes at Blackenbrook Vineyard!

Mother Nature gave us beautiful spring weather for flowering and pollination, setting us up for a good crop.

Summer was quite wet and the vines grew at a crazy pace. We kept mowing, trimming and leaf-plucking the fruit zone but it was a real struggle to stay on top of the phenomenal growth.

Going into harvest the fruit was clean but extremely fragile – and so were our nerves. But two weeks of stunning autumn weather was all we needed to hand-pick our biggest crop ever with beautiful ripeness and flavours – a challenging season with a happy ending.