184 products
- Red Wine
- Grenache, Mourvèdre / Monastrell, Syrah
- Organic, Sustainable
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2.00 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.00% alc./vol
Press Reviews
Platter's Wine Guide
90 Points
Wine Advocate
89 Points - Anthony Mueller
A Southern Rhône-style blend, the 2020 The Birds is composed of 57% Grenache, 28% Shiraz and 15% Mourvedre. The nose offers a mineral-driven essence with red fruit and spicy red tea aromas. Medium-bodied and with 13% alcohol, the palate is focused and remains mineral before offering a tannic edge with a food-friendly finish. It’s a delightful red blend and will perform well in youth with food.
- Red Wine
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
- Sustainable
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 3.00 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.50% alc./vol
Press Reviews
James Suckling
91 Points
Aromas of ripe blackberries and cassis with some sweet spices, hazelnut and tree bark. Medium- to full-bodied with a succulent dark fruit character and firm, polished tannins. Flavourful finish. Drink or hold.
- Red Wine
- Pinot Noir
- Sustainable
- Dry
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.5% alc./vol
Press Reviews
Decanter World Wine Awards
95 Points
Savoury and mineral nose with notes of rich berry, dark cherry and spiced plum. Firm, structured tannins, well-textured with a very persistent toasty finish. Value.
- Red Wine
- Pinot Noir
- Sustainable
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2.00 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.00% alc./vol
Press Reviews
James Suckling
93 Points - James Suckling
Lots of red-berry and blue-fruit aromas and flavours with ground spices and minerals. It’s bright and juicy, with crunchy tannins that are firm and polished. Attractive cherries and blueberries, with a flavourful, citrusy finish. Drink or hold.
- Red Wine
- Pinot Noir
- Sustainable
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.50% alc./vol
About the Winery
Groupe Bellene
Led by Nicolas Potel in Beaune, Groupe Bellene is composed of the négociant arm Maison Roche de Bellene, the winery arm Domaine de Bellene, and a special back-vintage series under the Collection Bellenum label.
- Maison Roche de Bellene offers a complete range of wines, with an emphasis on individual terroirs from old vines of more than 40 years. All of the growers that Nicolas works with are either organic certified or sustainably farmed.
- Domaine de Bellene represents the wines that are produced and bottled from Nicolas Potel's private vineyard holdings.
- Collection Bellenum is a back vintage series that Nicolas Potel sourced from his friends in the region, offering a magnificent selection of bottled history. The wines have moved only twice in their lives, from the original cellar to Potel's and now to yours!
Nicolas Potel grew up at Volnay's Domaine Pousse d'Or, where his father worked. He trained abroad and returned home in 1996 to build a négociant business and started Maison Nicolas Potel, where he sourced grapes from good parcels, often working with the growers to improve the quality. By 2002, he was making 120 wines from 50 different appellations, and the rest is history!
Press Reviews
WineAlign
93 Points - David Lawrason
This is fairly pale, evolving ruby garnet. It has developed a fine, complex and detailed fragrance with pretty cherry fruit, florals, fine spice and subtle leather and earthy notes. It is medium weight with that firm Nuits Saint George core of almost rusty minerality. Lots of tannic grip still in place, with excellent length. Enjoy now with aeration or hold through 2030. Tasted January 2023
- Red Wine
- Syrah
- Sustainable
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2.50 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 14.00% alc./vol
Press Reviews
WineAlign
92 Points - David Lawrason
This is a typically hefty Cape syrah yet made with polish and flair. The aromatic intensity is very good with a core of black cherry fruit and amid layers of smoke, pepper and dried meat typical of the variety. It is quite full bodied but not heavy, with very well balanced alcohol, acid and slightly crusty tannin. Those smoky/tarry notes roll onto the finish, hitting excellent length. Great BBQ red.
- Pinot Noir
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2.00 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.00% alc./vol
Press Reviews
Wine Enthusiast
96 Points - Anna Lee C. Iijima
Crushed stone and raspberry preserves meld into a core of bright red cherry in this vital, piercing wine. Sourced from five premier-cru sites in Beaune, the complex wine offsets bristling red fruit against layers of earth, mineral and blossom. Guard until 2024 at least and drink through 2035.
- Pinot Noir
- Dry
- Residual Sugar: 2 g/l
- Medium Bodied
- 750ml
- 13.50% alc./vol
About the Winery
Blank Canvas
Blank Canvas is the personal wine range of husband and wife team, Matt Thomson and Sophie Parker-Thomson.
Having completed over fifty back-to-back vintages in both New Zealand and Europe as an award-winning winemaking consultant, Matt together with Sophie felt it was time to create and build a wine brand together, with their first vintage in 2013. Blank Canvas embodies their own expression of art-meets-science with single-vineyard, small batch wines that push the sensory boundaries and challenge winemaking orthodoxy.
Winemaker Matt Thomson’s science background defines the parameters of his winemaking canvas, allowing creativity to flow within those bounds. Together with business partner, Master of Wine student and wife Sophie Parker-Thomson, Matt is striving to achieve the unique winemaking fusion between art and science, pushing the boundaries to capture a unique expression.
Sophie recently obtained her Master of Wine title, joining 149 women MWs globally with the total number of MWs in the world now 418 in 32 countries.
Press Reviews
Cameron Douglas, MS
95 Points
Ripe, intense, richly scented, varietal and fruity bouquet with aromas of ripe dark cherries and plums. There’s a definitive dried herb, savoury complexity - classic Otago message - then aromas of smoky oak with a quiet clove baking spice suggestion. All the action for this wine is on the palate - it’s delicious with a detailed story of spices and fruits, textures and length, concentration and a sense of place. Tannins are fine and polished, oak has a nut-like quality alongside the toast-wood. The core of fruit finishes with a floral note - a flick forming part of a lengthy youthful finish. Fabulous drinking now and through 2026+. Definitely a wine of discussion