Felton Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2012

Scores

95 / 100

"This super-classy “entry level” wine outguns many flagship labels from other producers although, to be fair, so does the price. Berry/cherry and floral flavours against a background of savoury/earthy/spicy characters giving extra complexity. Firmly structured Pinot Noir that, though still quite approachable, shows good cellaring potential 17 JUL 2013"
- Bob Campbell MW

17 / 20

"Bright ruby (not much blue despite the wines' youth). Intensely ripe on the nose but no sweetness on the palate. Quite a change of style! Quite grown up. Lots of excitement and reverberation on the palate. Dry finish and real savour. Very long and punchy."
- Jancis Robinson MW

93 / 100

"Deep, dark red/purple colour. Pepper, spices and black cherry aromas, and the palate is big and bold, with super-ripe fruit flavours tending to predominant black cherry, and a big, tannin-gripped finish. A big, bold, super-ripe, deeply coloured but not very subtle, typical Central Otago style. It will reward cellaring. 02 NOV 2013"
- Huon Hooke

91 / 100

"A combination of one third of each The Elms, Calvert and Cornish Point vineyards, all biodynamic certified sites. 2012 was a ‘very nice growing season, crystal clear days 26 to 29 degrees leading up to picking with night time temperatures all below three degrees. Cool leading up to the final months too, but flavour came with the last months. With ageing vines and biodynamics for ten years we think we are getting a more crystalline maturity to flavour, more delicacy and purity, more florals’, offers winemaker Blair Walter. The wine spends 11 months in around 30% new oak, and with one racking to bottling tank and no fining or filtration for the end wine. ‘Block 3 and Block 5 are the great sites’, says Walter, ‘but we produce all wines looking to distinguish single vineyard identity. This is essentially the wine that is declassified from our single vineyard wines that weren’t selected for single vineyard wine labelling. Our Village wine, in a way’. Spicy, cinnamon and clove meets sandalwood aromas with dark cherry/plum characters chiming in. Though brooding and dark in bouquet, it’s a lighter and juicier affair to taste. Freshness lifts the wine, it’s bright and finishes crisp and with building slate-like minerality and dryness, though there’s a wash of fleshy, hedonistic fruit that sloshes around the palate before this. Pepperiness shows its hand too. Loose knit expression, with great vitality of fruit and a subtle complexity at play. A worthy addition to a collection of this wine."
- Mike Bennie

Tasting Notes