TN: A top New Zealand Pinot Noir

WINE TALK
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  • 2011 Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 5 - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago
    A terrific Central Otago-specific Pinot Noir drinking very well now. Under screwcap, showing, at six years of age, appropriate evolution. Bright, translucent but dark ruby. Intense, spicy and musky with black cherries, blackberries, cloves and lavender perfumes. In the mouth, vibrant, intense and powerful. A mixture of red and black cherries, some cranberries, minerals and black plums. Seamless with clean lines. Silky, with well integrated, spherical tannins. Well balanced. Good length. Ripe, with a slightly sweet-seeming edge. There is no doubt this wine is New World in style. However, finishing the bottle with a couple of very good 2001 Grand Cru Burgundies, this Felton Road was in no way out-classed. (93 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

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Always a lovely wine as are all of their Pinots. Recently served a block 5 next to the Bannockburn Pinot and many preferred the entry level wine, which was a surprise.

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Hi Kent, actually this is not a surprise to me that much! I buy the wines each year and I often ask myself which I pay the extra $30 a bottle for the Block 3 and Block 5 when I find the Bannockburn very much the equal to the Block wines… [scratch.gif]

I have a friend who works at Felton Rd during the year at various times and he would say that the regular Bannockburn and the Calvert/Cornish Point and the Block 3/Block 5 wines are all very close in quality but have subtly different styles. Especially in the 1st 10 years. I think he told me that Blair and Nigel believe that the Block wines need extended bottle aging to show their finest.

My conclusion is that there is not much difference in quality between all the Felton Rd Pinots as they are all excellent to begin with. flirtysmile

Brodie

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A serious if possibly unanswerable question for Kiwis and lovers of NZ Pinot:

What are the markers of a well made Pinot from New Zealand as compared to similarly styled and weighted wines from other Pinot regions of the world?

I know you can’t make broad generalizations across entire regions, but I’ve got a handle on the differences between an archetypal high quality Pinot made in the best vineyards in Burgundy, Oregon and
California.

Where does NZ fit in the picture? More of what? Or less of what?

I buy zero NZ wines and am curious what I’m missing.

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Matthew,
Tough question.

I think that you need to look at the regions separately as NZ wine regions vary considerably. In fact in Otago alone, Bannockburn is quite different to Gibbston Valley.

But in very general terms, Central Otago Pinots are typified by intensely ripe black cherry flavours, with good lift and resonance. The latitude, high durnal variation and low rainfall delivers grapes with a long growing season and excellent, dense, ripe fruit definition. Some can tend to over ripe.

Marlborough Pinots often riper expression without fruit weight of best from central Otago.

Martinborough Pinots quite variable from big and ripe to finer, more tannic, long lived.

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Thanks Kent for thoughtful response.

Any producer recs for someone with a lower alcohol/red fruit/dirt-and-twigs palate? [cheers.gif]

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Thanks for the note Howard.

I wish it were easier to find NZ pinots where I live in US, but the pickings are often limited (I did manage to find some of the Felton/Cornish, which I look forward to).

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Matthew,
I share a similar palate to you.

Here are a few that i enjoy:-
Felton Road
Lowburn Ferry
Peregrine
Brennan
Gibbston Valley
Chard Farm
Ata Rangi
Escarpment
Pegasus bay
Martinborough Estate
Palliser
Craggy Range

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have you tried the block 3 2011?
kinda a leaner year I hear
I do like the leaner more structured year

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Some of my favorites include:
Valli and Rippon. Valli more restraint and Rippon bigger fruit.

I also really enjoy TWR- Te Whare Ra in Marlborough. They use some of the only hill fruit vineyards in Marlborough. Concentrated and restraint.

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Thanks Stephen. Welcome to the board.
I do like Rippon. Coincidentally opened a 13 Valli PN last night that was a bit tough going. Improved with air though.

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Thanks for the note Howard. I do have the '11 Block 5. It was actually my final vintage of the blocks or Calvert as they are getting pricey in our market, The '11 Block 5 was $90, the '09’s were $100. Can no longer justify that price if I want to also continue to put the x multiple on the red burgs I prefer to have over these. Happy to hear it is already drinking well.

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Interesting discussion here guys.

If you want some information on NZ Pinot Noir there’s this old thread:

Here’s the best known published heirarchy of NZ PN:
http://tysonstelzer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-Great-New-Zealand-Pinot-Noir-Classification-2014.pdf

Personally, I’d swap Escarpment for Rippon in the top tier. Rippon has some of the oldest PN vines but their lake location, for me, means that they need a warmer vintage (eg 2012) to show their best.

Michel, I have it, but I haven’t tried the 2011 Felton Road Block 3 lately. I’m sure it’s good. I typically prefer the more red fruited, ethereal Block 3 to the more black fruited and structured Block 5.

Brodie makes an interesting point. My group has Blair Walter, the Felton Road winemaker, doing a big tasting to test his theory the quality of Calvert/Cornish Point, with more vine age now, may be converging with, and may ultimately surpass Block 3 and 5 as his best. There are critics now who typically rate either Calvert or CP higher, although I, having tasted the full range of 2015s, wouldn’t agree.

Another difference between Central Otago and Martinborough, to add to Kent’s excellent points, is that the vintages, of course, differ. The best recent vintage in Central, in my view, is 2012, while it’s 2013 for Martinborough. I’ve tried top 2015s from both Martinborough and Central (including Ata Rangi and all of the Feltons) and I think it is potentially a better vintage than 2012 and 2013 in both places, so something to look out for as they release IMO.

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Thanks all. Very helpful. I will source a bottle listed here and report back!