Felton Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir – 2021

Felton Road is one of the world’s most southerly wine producers, located in the Central Otago region of New Zealand’s south island. The winery was founded in 1991 and has been certified biodynamic since 2002. Their Bannockburn Pinot Noir is one of New Zealand’s best- respected premium quality Pinots.

The 2021 growing season was relatively cool and long, producing a pretty, elegant and ethereal set of Pinot Noirs with purity and restraint. Respected New Zealand wine journalist Gary Walsh of the Wine Front journal thinks this could be their best vintage yet!

Winemaker tasting note

“A classic Felton Road nose of dark blossoms: rose and violet with a compote of dark fruits. The mid-palate is just screaming Felton Road. Black cherries and cream on the nose introduced cherry crumble on the palate with baked spices. Very harmonious for a wine so young, but a brooding undertow reveals the intrinsic power of the wine. Four Bannockburn vineyards seamlessly integrating to provide many layers and textures. ” Blair Walter, winemaker

Press reviews

“Alluringly scented pinot noir with a heady mix of floral and cassis aromas. Intense wine with a medley of cherry/berry characters that gradually unfold as the wine sits in the glass. The seamless texture impresses as does the balance between fruit sweetness and fine-grained tannin. Deliciously approachable, but no rush. This wine just keeps getting better and better.” 96pts Bob Campbell MW

“Verführerisch duftender Pinot Noir mit einer berauschenden Mischung aus Blumen- und Cassisaromen. Die nahtlose Textur beeindruckt ebenso wie die Balance zwischen Fruchtsüsse und feinkörnigem Tannin. Köstlich zugänglich schon jetzt aber keine Eile, denn dieser Wein wird immer besser.” 96 Punkte Bob Campbell MW. 

Winemaking notes

The unique gravity flow winery enabled the grapes to be gently destemmed directly into open-top fermenters without pumping, retaining 20% as whole clusters. Traditional fermentation with a moderately long maceration on skins has extracted good colour and tannin with considerable depth of flavour. This wine was aged for 13 months in 25% new French oak barrels from artisan Burgundian coopers. In accordance with our non-interventionalist approach to winemaking, this wine was fermented with indigenous yeast and malolactic, and was not fined or filtered.