Riesling Block 1 2023

Felton Road, tasting note (feltonroad.com – produktside feltonroad.com, hentet 2026-10-19): 2023 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: A nose that bursts with Central Otago apricots and sunshine. The heavy silt soils of Block 1 provide texture and depth through the middle, making it difficult to separate the intense flavours of apricot nectar from the residual sugar. It’s an all-embracing package, that while appearing rich and powerful, is refreshingly light on its feet (9.0% alc). As expressive and exalted as we’ve ever seen. Vineyard & viticulture: Felton Road farms four properties totaling 34 ha in the Bannockburn subregion 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. Vinification: Riesling from Block 1 was carefully hand-picked on April 14 followed by whole bunch pressing. The juice was settled for 3 days followed by a 3 week fermentation with indigenous yeasts. The fermentation was stopped by chilling to balance the high natural acidity with residual sweetness of 63g/L, resulting in the low alcohol of 9.0%. The wine rested on fine lees with minimal processing (no fining or cold stabilisation) before bottling in early-September to highlight the delicate Riesling characters.