Felton Road - Cornish - Pinot Noir 2019
Felton Road is located in Bannockburn, a sub-region of the Central Otago in New-Zealand’s South Island. It is one of New Zealand's best known and most highly respected producers. Considerable research by Stewart Elms (hence the Elm tree logo) in 1991 identified the north facing slopes at the end of Felton Road, Bannockburn, as being one of the warmest and most ideal sites in Central Otago for the growing and production of premium wine. The estate comprises four vineyards on warm, north-facing slopes in Bannockburn: the original Elms vineyard (14.7 hectares), the Macmuir vineyard (5.1 hectares), the Calvert vineyard (4.6 hectares) and Cornish Point (7.6 hectares). The vineyards are managed by viticulturist Gareth King, and his team of dedicated staff. Since 2002 the vineyards have been managed organically and biodynamically; organic compost is made utilising the winery waste, and organic cow manure and straw. In 2010, all four vineyards were awarded full Demeter certification. Felton Road harvests grapes by hand, and follows the minimal intervention ethos in the winery: with gravity-fed systems, wild yeasts and no fining or filtration. Oak is a subtle companion.
The Pinot Noir comes from the Cornish Point vineyard, close to water that creates a unique mesoclimate. The unique gravity flow winery enabled the grapes to be gently destemmed directly into open-top fermenters without pumping, with 23% retained as whole clusters. The fermentation is traditional, with a moderately long maceration on skins to extract good colour and tannins with considerable depth of flavour. The wine was aged for 13 months, in 30% new French oak barrels from Burgundy.
Grape variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Purchase limited to 1 bottle