Dark fruits and crushed herbs. Silky smooth on the tongue, but with a tangible texture. Light but powerful with fine tannins and chocolate with waves of smoked coffee beans.
Precipitation throughout the spring and early summer was more abundant than usual and, along with warmer soil temperatures, resulted in solid early season growth. Flowering started early in warm and ideal conditions with a cool period and rain at the end. A warm and dry January continued to accelerate development with veraison starting early. Early February rains replenished drying soils. The cooler month was welcomed to halt the advanced development. A return to warm and dry weather from the beginning of March meant that the grapes ripened quickly in the final stages.
The grapes were gently destemmed directly into open fermentation tanks without pumping, and 25% were preserved as whole bunches. Traditional fermentation with a moderately long maceration on the grape skins has extracted good color and tannin with a considerable depth of flavor. This wine was aged for 13 months in 30% new French oak barrels from Burgundian coopers. Made with our own wild yeast and was not clarified or filtered.
97 POINTS
The Real Review
Reviewed by Bob Campbell MW
Concentrated, powerful pinot noir with a medley of dark, strong cherry/berry fruits that almost mask a subtler suggestion of floral and fresh herb characters. A moderately assertive backbone of fine, peppery oak and fruit tannins suggests good cellaring potential although the wine is certainly accessible now.
94 POINTS
Robert Parker
94 POINTS
The Wine Front
About Felton Road
Felton Road is a New Zealand winery located in the Central Otago district in the south. This actually makes the winery part of the world’s southernmost wine region. It is an area that provides obvious conditions for growing Pinot Noir, because the hot days are cooled by the snow-covered mountains, which provide cool nights. It is a microclimate that benefits the grape! At the same time, the region offers a long dry spring, which provides a good harvest in April. Felton Road dates from 1991, when the first vineyard was named Elms after the man who found it.
It is from the Elms field that Block 3 and Block 5 get their grapes. Bannockburn was added later, and grapes for all the wines are grown here. At Bannockburn, the fields are divided into sections with different vinification to suit the area’s terroir to the fullest. Felton Road prioritizes that the grape must be expressed in the best possible way in the wine by letting nature dictate and avoiding too much interference from the producer himself. Felton Road produces high-quality Pinot Noir for this reason, thanks in part to winemaker Blair Walter, who has worked with wine in Australia, Oregon, Napa Valley and Burgundy.
