Chardonnay Bannockburn 2025

Felton Road, tasting note (feltonroad.com – produktside feltonroad.com, hentet 2026-10-19): 2025 Felton Road Chardonnay Bannockburn – område: Bannockburn (Central Otago); drue: Chardonnay. Producentens noter (engelsk): Tasting note: The hallmark of the Bannockburn Chardonnay has always been its purity and that continues to be the driving force in the 2025. A focussed nose of citrus blossom, mineral and a hint of fresh peach invites you in. Then a rush of pure refreshment; citrus, white peach, greengage, but all so fresh, just on the cusp of ripening. The ethereal florals persist with the flavours right into the clean linear finish, where a gentle wave of salinity closes the show. A wine completely empty of ego, happy to please with its deliciousness. Vineyard & viticulture: Felton Road farms four properties totalling 34 ha in the Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago. Chardonnay is mostly grown on the Elms vineyard in Blocks 2, 6, 8 & 9, with approximately 10% coming from each of Cornish Point and Calvert vineyards. There are a range of altitudes and aspects, with the soils mostly deep schist gravels. 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. Vinification: Various clones of Chardonnay (Mendoza, B95, 548, Monty) were carefully hand harvested from Cornish Point, Calvert and The Elms vineyards. The grapes were whole bunch pressed with the juice flowing to barrel by gravity after overnight settling. Fermentation in French oak (mostly well-seasoned barrels with just 7% new) with indigenous yeasts has produced a wine with considerable complexity. A long and complete indigenous malolactic fermentation with only periodic stirring of the lees (Batonnage), combined with 11 months on full lees; has softened the acid for a rich and complex mouthfeel. In accordance with our non-interventionalist approach to winemaking, this wine was not fined or filtered after spending 13 months total in barrel.