2006 Felton Road Pinot Noir Bannockburn

The ensuing 2006 Pinot Noir cropped up in a blind tasting and shone brilliantly, somewhat closed at first with a certain earthiness and then violets, the palate imbued with grainy tannins, pure brambly fruit and superb delineation on the refined finish. Feted as one of New Zealand’s best producers and justifiably so, in my opinion, for time and time again Felton Road’s wines triumph against all-comers. Located in Bannockburn, Central Otago, its vineyards nestle on a gentle north-facing slope between 200m and 335m and overshadowed by 2,000m mountains, their micro-climate benefits from low humidity, wide diurnal temperature variation and high sunshine hours. Although not yet certified, winemaker Blair Walter told me that they apply biodynamics to all the vineyards and benefit from a three-tier, gravity-flow winery and use wild yeasts as standard. I tasted their current portfolio at the winery with many turning up in blind tastings, as well as a comprehensive Block 3 vertical that will appear separately. The Pinots usually include some whole bunches depending upon the vintage, fermented in small open-top vessels and matured in oak of which around 30% is new. They mature for between 12 and 18 months and are bottled without fining or filtering. “Calvert” is a joint-venture with the fruit shared by Pyramid Valley Estate and Craggy Range Importer: Wilson Daniels Ltd, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661, fax: (707) 963-8566