Felton Road - Block 5 - Pinot Noir 2021
Felton Road is located in Bannockburn , a sub-region of Central Otago on the South Island of New Zealand . He is one of New Zealand's best known and most respected producers. Considerable research by Stewart Elms (hence the tree logo, 'Elm' meaning 'Elm') in 1991 identified the north-facing slopes at the end of Felton Road in Bannockburn as one of Central Otago's warmest and most ideal sites for growing and producing premium wine. The Estate comprises four vineyards on warm, north-facing slopes in Bannockburn: the original Elms Vineyard (14.7 hectares), Macmuir Vineyard (5.1 hectares), Calvert Vineyard (4.6 hectares) and the Cornish Point vineyard (7.6 hectares). The vineyards are managed by winemaker Gareth King and his team of dedicated associates. Since 2002, the vineyards have been managed organically and biodynamically; organic compost is made from organic cellar waste, cow manure and straw. In 2010, all four vineyards achieved full Demeter certification . Felton Road harvests the grapes by hand and follows the philosophy of minimal intervention in the winery: with gravity-fed systems, indigenous yeasts and no fining or filtration. Wood is a subtle companion.
The Pinot Noir comes from Block 5 of The Elms vineyard, planted in 1993 on a gentle north-facing slope. 20% of the grapes were kept in whole bunches, the rest being carefully destemmed directly in the vinification vats, by gravity, without excessively extractive pumping over. A long pre-fermentation cold maceration of 9 days was carried out before fermentation with indigenous yeasts with manual pigeages up to twice a day. Total time on skins was 23 days. The juice was then pressed and the barrels immediately filled by gravity to the underground cellars. The wine spent 16 months in barrels (30% new French oak) with two rackings before bottling.
Grape variety: 100% Pinot Noir