Felton Road, Block 5 Pinot Noir, Central Otago

Brief note only. Under screwcap. Drinking well, dark fruited, freshly cut herbs, damp earth and minerals. Some savoury, secondary nuance. Focussed, with bright acidity, the product of a cooler vintage, but with sufficient body, volume and length. Drink by around 2030.

2007 vintage

Screw cap. 14.5% alc. Red fruits, rhubarb, musk, earth. Medium to full bodied, integrated tannins and oak, balanced. Perhaps just a tad short. In the zone now.

2011 vintage

3rd (and last) bottle in the last 2 years. Needs an hour or two to open up. Subdued nose. Perfectly balanced but perhaps a tad short on the palate. Drinking well now and probably at least another 3 years. Compared to other vintages I think this is a very late bloomer and the early professional reviews reflect it.

2011 vintage

Wines in Whanganui : Provided by Gareth. Under screwcap. Dark ruby with a touch of garnet. Musky fragrant with dark florals, black liquorice, black cherry and berry fruit, spices, earth and cloves. On palate, rich, full and plush, yet savoury and a little umami. Black cherries, dark plums, earth and dried herbs. Silky, fine grained tannins. Concentrated and powerful. There now for drinking over the next few years. Lacking a bit of detail and nuance compared with Felton Road's best …

2011 vintage

Drunk over three evenings during which it changed little. Deep, dark ruby with garnet highlights. At age 11 years - under screwcap - still drinking very well, close to or still at its peak. Attractively evolved, softened and fully open. A nose of musk, mixed spices, dark cherries and blackberries, warm earth, old leather, smoke and dry garrigue. A rounded and mellow mouth. Well integrated. Tannins and acids now resolved. Black plums, cherries, warm, tilled soil and dried herbs. Generous …

2011 vintage

2019 Visit to Cromwell (Central Otago, NZ) : Blair noted that 2007 was a cooler vintage but that the 2007 was picked a little riper than would be done today. A bouquet of espresso, brown spices, dried thyme and preserved cherries. On palate, lovely texture and mouthfeel. Underbrush, dried herbs and tilled warm soil. Fully mature, mellow and savoury. Two days later, finishing the bottle, the nose had turned even more tawny and earthy. Richard, tasting the last glass, noted …

2007 vintage

Patient cellaring rewarded with this lovely wine. Obvious aging in appearance, with a little browning around the edges and brick-red colour. Distinctively aged NZ Pinot nose, with some ripe cherry still hanging in there among earthy aromas. A trifle shy on the front of the palate, but a lovely integrated flavour explosion through the mid-palate, with ripe fruit, tannin and herbal notes (thyme) really in harmony, and drying on a lone and lingering finish. I tend to favour the best …

2007 vintage

Part of a Felton Road virtual tasting. Tasted together with 2011 Cornish Point and Block 3 and the same wines from the 2008 vintage. Very much in line with the Block 3. Dark red fruit and earthy notes. Little more spicy, if there is a difference on the palate. Long finish.

2011 vintage

Sweet cherry, rhubarb, ironstone. Fresh acidity sits high above the lush fruit, peppery spice and slate-like tannins.

2011 vintage

(from magnum). Surprisingly young. In a blind tasting I would never have guessed this to be 12 years old. The nose very giving with strawberries and iron. On the palate vibrant and powerful pure Pinot Noir fruit with a sweet candied wrapping. Typical Otago. Strawberries and herbal notes towards the end. Fine complexity and a medium long finish. A great wine. 93-94P

2007 vintage

Very complex and quite drinkable but could age longer.

2011 vintage

Maciej served this wine blind. Expressive black cherries and other dark fruit and some dark florals on the nose. Very Central Otago, I thought. On palate, very structured and closed. A little blocky. Dark fruit, iron and minerals. On the reveal, I was surprised by the backwardness of this wine, given the years in the bottle. Definitely a hold. A less impressive experience than my previous bottle of this wine (see below).

2011 vintage

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 …

2011 vintage

I hr decant, this time the overall feeling is that this is just too large for itself, too candied for me.

2007 vintage

First glass surprised, as it tasted just like it did 5+ years ago, screaming Otago. After an hour, took on a much more aged character, plums and brown spices and earth.

2007 vintage

Cherry, viol, lavender, white pepper. Fully balanced. Very enjoyable. Among the best Pinots I have had, and surely the best from Felton Road.

2011 vintage

2 hr decant, this is very much a large scaled wine with darker fruit than is my preference, however, that said, it is very well balanced with nothing sticking out. Tannins well resolved with just a nice tart finish that adds to the finish.

2007 vintage

Pleasant pinot with black cherry fruit in a fairly balanced package. Silky and lighter bodied. Some typical pinot funk on the nose that blows off with air. Smooth but short finish. Not as exciting as my last bottle.

2011 vintage

Very ruby red in glass, on nose deep plum, incense, violet and clove, not as expressive as 2010 and a little tauter. On palate feels young touch tannic and austere but plenty of power and warmth there. Cloves, red berry and dark wild black fruit and lovely intensity. Needs an hour decant then can drink and over next 5 years

2011 vintage

Drank over 2 nights. Held up very well. Concentrated, Intense and complex but still very new world. A wine to be saviours and preferably had with matching food.

2011 vintage

Very smooth and rich full flavour

2011 vintage

sulfur nose immediately on pouring which blew off after about 30 minutes in the glass. quite a rustic pinot with smoky, toasty oak and earthy characters predominating the nose, with less intense cherry, plum and mineral aromas. also spice (clove, cinnamon) and liquorice. moderate acidity balances somewhat the grainy tannins. i sense that this is past it's best.

2011 vintage

Central Otago Pinot Noir (Prince Sydney, 40 Hansard Street) : slight stalky notes, muted red fruit especially red currant. In the mouth the wine has flavours of slightly smoky red currant fruit, talc like tannic burr, fruit carries but it's not for me.

2011 vintage

light/medium ruby, clear, a little brick rim. intense dark berries and sweet herbal nose. fruity palate dominating, nicely balanced with floral, earthy, subtle spices and chocolate flavour. mild acidity, medium- bodied, generally moderate style but some heat in the core. medium finish with a little creamy and chocolate note. superb elegant Central Otago! Alc 14.0%, TA 6.0 g/L, pH 3.62. 10 months in French Oak Barriques, of which 30% were new. Air NZ Gold - 2012, 2013; Bragato 2012 Gold. …

2011 vintage

double decanted this was everything good pinot should be. cherries & strawberry , silky long finish. will last a few years yet. but great now

2007 vintage

Medium ruby, shiny color. expressive nose of red fruit predominantly with some bakery. Medium bodied on the palate, with excellent freshness and balance. Aromatically not as long as the 2012 or some of the Block 3 I recently had from this estate but still a very good Pinot. The Felton Road single vineyard Pinots (Block 3, Block 5, The Calvert) remain my favorite wines from New Zealand and are among the best outside of Burgundy. Try them if you can …

2011 vintage

Magnum Christmas Party 2014 : Stem, strawberry, iron and blood with a light floral overtone. Tight palate, the fruit is rather restrained, with nice acidity. A good showing despite how young it is.

2007 vintage

Beautiful pinot with nice complexity and silky texture.Black cherry with spices with nice acidity. Really a pleasure to drink. Pop and pour.

2011 vintage

Drunk alongside standard '08 release. Initially this was no more impressive but as it unwound it revealed its superior pedigree. Bright, polished, integrated which improve - best left for a couple more years.

2007 vintage

Top quality NZ and US Pinot Noirs and Burgundies, with an old Loire to finish (Tinakori Bistro, Wellington) : Colour deep red with a dark core. An aromatic bouquet of largely black berry fruit - black cherries and blackberries - with high toned dark florals and some Asian spices, quite brooding. After a sweet entry on palate, this is clearly very serious, quality New World pinot noir. The fruit is very ripe (but not overripe) with lovely sappiness, but with …

2007 vintage

Awesome nose. Wonderful rounded on the palate with long aftertaste and persistant tannins. Drinkable now, but will beyond doubt become better.

2011 vintage

Red fruits, prune nose, light but dense, pleasant and fresh palate.

2011 vintage

Very young Pinot; Need to breathe a bit Fantastic flavors; not very long finish; good intensity at the beginning. Suggest decanting for his wine

2011 vintage

Tangy, aromatic, brightly flavored, crisp, excellent.

2007 vintage

Even after 3-4 hour decant was still fairly closed at this stage, duh, knew I should have left it much longer!! Still nice, but needs time to evolve and meld. Will be awesome, just have to keep my hands off it!

2007 vintage

tight as a drum but you could sense a brooding powerhouse underneath. darke fruits and larger tannins (grapey tannins) than the block 3 but maybe just as much potential. hard to judge based on how closed for business this was. don't touch until 2015+

2007 vintage

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Felton Road, Block 5 Pinot Noir, Central Otago

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