Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Juicy and concentrated, with fine balance to wild raspberry, blueberry and pervasive wet stone character. Sandalwood and subtle spice highlight the mineral nuances on the finish. Opens up nicely with air. Drink now through 2012. 8,000 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The ensuing 2007 Pinot Noir has a very elegant, understated nose that takes time to peek its head over the horizon. At first, simple strawberry and dark cherry fruit but there is a subtle touch of undergrowth and charcoal. Good definition. The palate is medium-bodied, elegant, very harmonious with prudent, well integrated oak. Silky smooth and very pure on the finish, this is another classy Felton Road to cherish.
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.