Riesling Block 1 2019

Felton Road, tasting note (feltonroad.com – produktside feltonroad.com, hentet 2026-10-19): 2019 Felton Road Riesling Block 1 – område: Bannockburn (Central Otago); drue: Riesling; alkohol 9%. Enkeltmark ifølge arket: The Elms Block 1 (The Elms vineyard). Producentens noter (engelsk): Tasting note: The north facing slope of Block 1 with its heavy loess soils always offers a profound expression of Riesling for us. Stone fruits dominate on the nose underpinned by perfumed florals. The palate is immediately expansive and broad with the sheer weight of fruit seamlessly supporting the residual sugar (57 g/L). Candied peel, burnt orange and hazelnut characters offer diversity in the mouth as the taut acid frames the wine and delivers an enduring finish. Vineyard & viticulture: Felton Road farms four properties totaling 32 ha in the Bannockburn sub-region of Central Otago. Block 1 is a north facing slope immediately west of Block 3 on The Elms vineyard. It consists of the same Waenga soils (deep silt loams) as Block 3 and starkly contrasts the schist gravel soils of our Riesling in Blocks 2 and 4. 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. A vintage at first remarkable for its persistent rhythm of rain events throughout spring and early summer. Approaching double our long-term average, we never saw more than two weeks without significant precipitation. These wetter seasons however, are usually always welcome, as with our normally excessively dry climate, increased natural moisture is almost always positive for vine health and fruit quality. Heat summation for the season was slightly above normal. Harvesting of Pinot Noir began on March 29, with all the fruit was picked within a 12 day window, except for Block 1 Riesling harvested on April 17. Bunches were of perfect health: small, loosely packed berries, dense skins and ripe seeds. After a season of unknowns, we were finally rewarded with exceptional quality fruit. Vinification: Riesling from Block 1 was carefully hand-picked followed by whole bunch pressing. The juice was settled for 7 days followed by a 4 week fermentation with indigenous yeasts. The fermentation was stopped by chilling to balance the high natural acidity with residual sweetness of 57g/L, resulting in the low alcohol of 9.0%. The wine rested on fine lees with minimal processing before bottling in late-August to highlight the delicate Riesling characters.