Pinot Noir Block 5 2021

Felton Road, tasting note (feltonroad.com – produktside feltonroad.com, hentet 2026-10-19): 2021 Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 5 – område: Bannockburn (Central Otago); drue: Pinot Noir. Enkeltmark ifølge arket: The Elms Block 5 (The Elms vineyard). Producentens noter (engelsk): Tasting note: In its youthful stage, the nose is bursting with aromas of black cherry, florals and spicy leather notes. Expect this to evolve and develop complexity in the usual Block 5 manner with time in bottle. The 2021 Pinot Noirs delight in their finesse and poise: not heavy or cloying like some other vintages, and as we have seen before, the Block 5 naturally luxuriates in these finer and elegant years. The detail and depth are palpable; the finish is refined and sustained; its unmistakably Block 5. Vineyard & viticulture: Felton Road farms four properties totaling 34 ha in the Bannockburn subregion of Central Otago. Block 5 is situated on a gentle north facing slope in the heart of The Elms vineyard and was planted in 1993. The soils vary up the slope from heavy loess and silt, clay lakebed deposits, and angular 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: 20% of the fruit was retained as whole clusters with the remainder carefully de-stemmed directly to the fermenters by gravity without harsh pumping. Long pre-fermentation soaks of 9 days prior to fermentation with indigenous yeasts and punched down by hand up to two times per day with a total time on skins of 23 days. Pressed off and barrels filled immediately by gravity to the underground barrel cellars. The wine spent 16 months in barrel (30% new French) with two rackings and no fining or filtration, before bottling in early-September 2022.