Winemaker Notes
A brooding nose led by hints of blackberry, potpourri and polished leather notes. Radiant energy initiates a palate that’s finely focused and dances across the tongue. Its precision and completeness combine complex components in perfect harmony: not a step out of line and perfectly formed. The finish seems to never end while you contemplate this as one of the great Block 5’s. Patience with time in barrel has paid dividends in this extraordinary rendition.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fresh and balanced pinot with a firm and gorgeous density of dried strawberries and orange peel. Some tight chewy tannins. Medium-bodied. Bright and crisp. Racy. Tight at the end. This will age wonderfully. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Juicy flavors of maraschino cherry, strawberry preserves and black cherry compote are fleshy and forward, but more complex nuances of spice, herb, forest floor and white pepper emerge slowly, creating a tremendous sense of harmony on the finish, which goes on and on. The tannins are velvety, imparting an appealing sense of traction. Drink now through 2031.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Block 5 Pinot Noir is today seven years from harvest, and it's the same color in the glass as the 2023 beside it—vibrant, translucent ruby. Aromatically, the wine shows deli meat and clove, cocoa and aniseed, with star anise and pomegranate molasses. On the palate, the wine is fresh and spiced, with saline acidity and dried flowers through the finish. It's a powerful, statuesque Pinot Noir with attractive clarity and detail. Felton Road has been Demeter certified since 2009. The tannins are the highlight here, chalky and powdery in texture. This has barely begun to show tertiary notes, hinting at the long age in front of it. 13.5% alcohol. Rating: 93+
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Home to the globe’s most southerly vineyards, which are cultivated below the 45th parallel, Central Otago is a true one-of-a-kind wine growing region, but not only because of its extreme location.
Central Otago is more dependent on one single variety than any other region in New Zealand—and it isn’t Sauvignon blanc. They don’t even make Sauvignon blanc there.
Pinot Noir claims nearly 75% of the region’s vineyards with Pinot Gris coming in a far second place and Riesling behind it. This is also New Zealand’s only wine region with a continental climate, giving it more diurnal and seasonal temperature shifts than any other.
The subregion of Bannockburn has enjoyed the most success historically but the area’s exceptional growth has moved to the promising regions of Cromwell/Bendigo and Alexandra districts. Central Otago is known for its fruity and full-bodied Pinot noir. With the freedom to experiment here, growers and winemakers are easily exhibiting the area’s great potential.