Pinot Noir Block 3 2025

Felton Road, tasting note (feltonroad.com – produktside feltonroad.com, hentet 2026-10-19): 2025 Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 3 – område: Bannockburn (Central Otago); drue: Pinot Noir; 13 måneder på fad, 28% nye franske fade. Enkeltmark ifølge arket: The Elms Block 3 (The Elms vineyard). Producentens noter (engelsk): Tasting note: The age of the vines (mostly 33 years) contributes to the diverse and complete aromatics – led by dark fruits, hints of leather and complexing earthy notes. Flavours are similarly complex with the mouthfeel holding its power in check for the finish. The transparency of the fruit is seasoned with its textbook dried herbs, giving a lovely counterpoint before the finish roars in; a tidal wave of rich chocolate and tannin. An object lesson in ‘Peacock’s Tail’. Vineyard & viticulture: Felton Road farms four properties totalling 34 ha in the Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago. Block 3 is situated on a gentle north facing slope in the heart of The Elms vineyard where a deep bench of silt soil is interspersed with calcareous seams. 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. Abundant rain in September and October replenished soil-water reserves. After a later than average budbreak, the vines grew well until a katabatic frost, the most extensive in twenty years, struck the vineyards on 3 November. Fortunately, losses were localised within vineyards and occurred early enough in the season for many vines to recover. A benign, settled period coincided with flowering and a successful fruit set did much to compensate for the damage from the frost. Summer saw even temperatures and a protracted dry period, which served to slow down ripening and concentrate flavours. After February finished with a warm flourish, the weather cooled distinctly, especially at night. The three components of Block 3 were harvested from 3 to 13 April. The slow and measured conclusion of ripening has endowed the wines with an impressive breadth, harmony and finesse. Vinification: The unique gravity flow winery enabled the grapes to be gently destemmed directly into open-top fermenters without pumping, retaining 25% as whole clusters. Traditional fermentation with a moderately long maceration on skins has extracted good colour and tannin with considerable depth of flavour. This wine was aged for 13 months in 28% new French oak barrels from artisan Burgundian coopers. In accordance with our non-interventionalist approach to winemaking, this wine was fermented with indigenous yeast and was not fined or filtered.