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the wineries own website itself exclaims, it is like “a favourite soft
and comfortable sofa: easy to melt in to!” It has a perfumed nose
of savoury spice, graphite and cranberry. There is a lovely touch of
earthiness here too. You get a sweet, fruity and intricate palate with
some lovely floral and chocolate notes. Again, the 2017 vintage will
set you back about £42 a bottle.
I have also, recently, been drinking a couple of my last three or four
bottles of the 2008 vintage of this wine – beautiful nose of dark cherry,
strawberry, floral notes. Lovely balance and smooth on the palate;
with brooding dark fruit, a touch of spice and a rich finish.
Block 3 Pinot Noir
The Block 3 Pinot Noir, along with the Block 5, is often difficult to find
and, when you do, it is always in limited supply. This Pinot Noir, along
with the Block 5, is the wineries top and most expensive wine (retailed
at anywhere between £57 and £67 a bottle).
With the complex variation in soil, slope, elevation and aspect;
fruit from the grapes grown in the Elms Vineyard is very varied in
personality. Pinot Noir from the deepest parts of the soils in Block 3
display power and complexity. You get crushed herbs, spices, leather;
raspberry, chocolate. Again, I have just taken delivery of a few bottles
of Block 3 from the 2017 vintage. Currently it is too youthful and
will take a number of years to open up and come alive. Even now,
though, you can get the tart black cherry, herbs and leather and a wine
with fine tannins and bright acidity. You can already tell it will be an
opulent and harmonious wine.
I am also still drinking the 2008 Block 3. This is still relatively young,
at 11 years of age, and has a lovely bouquet, lots of black fruit, cherry,
raspberry, with a hint of chocolate and mocha. Silky smooth. The 2004
Block 3 is also still drinking beautifully and possesses extraordinary
fruit, cherries, vanilla, raspberries and strawberries. Textured and
sumptuous, this wine still has great power and is a very good example
of how well these wines age.
Block 5 Pinot Noir
The deepest parts of the soil in the vineyard then extend across into
Block 5. Here we find terroir that generates a unique finesse and depth
to the wine. We find deeply fragrant wines, floral notes and exotic
perfume. The wine is almost aromatic with layers of complexity and
intrigue. This wine retails at much the same price and level as the
Block 3, representing, as it does, the top end of the wines produced by
the Felton Road winery.
According to the wineries own website the 2017 Block 5 has “….. a
diverse and complex aromatic profile. The site and its ageing vines
bestow a completeness and compelling harmony. Spice and perfect
ripeness of fruit keeps it focussed and sophisticated. The wine
saturates and coats the entire mouth with the flavour and tannin
building to provide an enduring and memorable finish. Pedigree,
purity and power”.
Bannockburn Chardonnay
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention one of the great
white wines that come from the Central Otago region (if not from
New Zealand itself) – the Bannockburn Chardonnay. This is Felton
Road's flagship white. It is an elegant and refreshing chardonnay. For
the first time I have recently just purchased this wine – and it is a treat.
The 2017 gives you apples and lemon on the nose. On the palate you
get the same, but a bit of cream and a dose of richness in an otherwise
steely wine. Great stuff – and a bargain at around the £26 a bottle
mark.
Felton Road has become one of the legendary names in New Zealand
wine and is probably the most famous of the Central Otago wineries.
Watched over and influenced by beautiful countryside and snow
capped mountains, the Felton Road Winery has been at the forefront
of the development of Central Otago’s fine reputation for Pinot Noir
and chardonnay for nearly 25 years now.
Their wines can be found online at a variety of sources – although
some of the wines, particularly the Block 3 and Block 5 Pinot’s, can be
very hard to find. As to shops, I know that D Byrne & Co in Clitheroe
(who will deliver to you) stock a selection of their wines. Whatever
and wherever, try and find them, whether you like new world Pinot
Noir or not. The wines are a real treat – so go and find them. I
guarantee you will not be disappointed.
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