All the Rieslings are whole-bunch pressed and the 2007 Dry Riesling was my favorite of the three with an intense nose of orange-blossom, passion fruit and guava, a little spritzy upon entry with superb weight and concentration on the palate, grapefruit and passion fruit lingering on the aftertaste. You would never guess this has just 3.5 grams per liter residual sugar and it should drink over 2-5 years.
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
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