Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2007

Professional Ratings

• 94 Wine & Spirits
  Tense black fruit powers this wine, with black cherry-skin tannins that hold it in place. As a young wine, it feels like a clean and saturated New World pinot, but there’s more to it that simple fruit. Earthiness comes up with air, creating a veil of tannin and added dimension to the flavors. From 15-year-old vines biodynamically grown in loamy soil, this responds well to long aeration, as it will to bottle age.
• 93 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Cropped at 5-6.5tons/ha and matured for 11 months in 55% new French oak, the 2007 Block 3 Pinot Noir has a Burgundian nose with superb definition and fruit intensity: wild strawberry, raspberry and a sense of earthiness. The palate is medium-bodied, very fine tannins and sense of symmetry. Elegant, perhaps less weighty than the 2006, but supremely well crafted. It should age effortlessly over the next decade.
• 93 Wine Enthusiast
  Felton Road’s Pinots have been among the best in NZ, but the 2007s step things up another notch. The Block 3 combines a briary, slightly herbal element with black cherry aromas, then unfolds on the palate to reveal layers of fruit, coffee and spice. It’s lush yet structured, with a long, textured finish.
• 91 Wine Spectator
  Streamlined and tight, with very good focus to black cherry, raspberry, red plum and toasty cedar flavors. Gains weight with air, showing intense minerality, fragrant spice and lean, coiled tannins that define the finish.