Riesling Block 1 2008

Felton Road, tasting note (feltonroad.com – produktside feltonroad.com, hentet 2026-10-19): 2008 Felton Road Riesling Block 1 – område: Bannockburn (Central Otago); drue: Riesling; alkohol 9.5%. Enkeltmark ifølge arket: The Elms Block 1 (The Elms vineyard). Producentens noter (engelsk): Tasting note: The nose is a subtle interplay of spring blossom, spice, ripe stonefruits and delicate honeyed characters. The palate is luscious and weighty with superb clarity and flavours that mirror the aromas. Mouthcoating and unabashed sweetness gives the wine tremendous length. Vineyard & viticulture: Felton Road farms three properties totaling 32 ha in the Bannockburn sub-region of Central Otago. Meticulous summer management of a single vertical shoot positioned (VSP) canopy ensures even and early fruit maturity. Shoot thinning, shoot positioning, leaf plucking, bunch thinning and harvest are all carried out by hand to ensure optimum quality fruit. Cover crops are planted between rows to assist in vine balance and to improve soil health and general biodiversity. The season started with good soil moistures after a relatively wet spring. Warm, stable and sunny weather during flowering resulted in a successful fruit set with moderate to large crops. Above average rainfall throughout the summer months led to healthy canopies with a much decreased dependence on irrigation, and in parts of the vineyard with heavier soils, no irrigation for the whole growing season. Cool night time temperatures leading up to the harvest slowed the ripening so that harvest proceeded over a 4 week period starting on March 25. The harvest period was very dry and the fruit was, as usual, in very good condition. The Riesling in Block 1 was harvested on April 15; about 2 weeks after our other Riesling Blocks. Thankfully, vintage was completed by April 23 after which the weather turned very cold with unseasonal snow in the vineyards and heavy rain at the end of April. Vinification: Riesling from Block 1 was carefully whole bunch pressed, settled overnight, racked, then a 4 week fermentation with indigenous yeasts. The fermentation was stopped by chilling to balance the high natural acidity with residual sweetness of 67 g/L and alcohol of 9.5%. The wine rested on fine lees with minimal processing before bottling in September to highlight the delicate Riesling characters.