The first vintage of Felton Road Pinot Noir that was available in Sweden, it might have been 2001, was an eye opener for me and many other Pinot lovers, at least for those that were not too rigid traditionalists who demanded a wine made from the Pinot grape to come from a certain French wine district beginning with a B and ending in an e. The clean, aromatic, fresh fruit of the Pinot grape hit us like a brick and we quickly adopted the term “maximum Pinosity” as a descriptor of these wines, a term which is said to have been coined by Blair Walter, the winemaker at Felton Road. Lately we have maybe been a bit less impressed by many of the New Zeeland Pinots, of which we are lucky to get quite a few to Sweden. While the clean Pinosity is still there, many have been a bit one dimensional, with an initial charm but lacking in complexity. Thus, a possibility to review a collection of Felton Road’s wines, with some age, was something we looked forward to. These are my notes. All the wines were tasted blind, i.e. we knew they were from Felon Road, but nothing more.
2002 Pinot Noir Rather deep red. Medium deep nose with a slight vegetal note and some aromatic Pinosity.
Fresh and a bit juicy attack. Good acidity. Rather full bodied and round and good fruit. Getting a bit fiery. Not too heavy but a bit dryish tannins. Rather long and fiery a bit straightforward aftertaste. Good wine, but not terrifically exciting.
2003 Pinot Noir Medium deep red. A bit dull and dusty nose to start with. Not very fruity. Getting better after a while, though. Some meat and shit are developing. Slightly Burgundy-like.
Very fresh attack with a strong acidity. Surprisingly pure, delicious and aromatic Pinot fruit, much more than was hinted by the nose. Good concentration. Some, dryish tannins. Fiery, long, aromatic, slightly smoky aftertaste. Very good.
2002 Pinot Noir Block 3 Very dark red with a thin purple rim. Full and deep nose with a strong vegetal note. Quite a lot of smoky oak. Cherries, earth, spices and roots (beetroots, turnips, Swedes).
Fresh, greenish attack. Refreshing acidity. Vegetal, stalky taste. Good concentration. Some rather structured tannins. Long, chewable, tasty and fiery aftertaste. Good but a bit on the oaky side and that vegetal taste is a bit disturbing.
2003 Pinot Noir Block 3 Deep red. Rather funny, rubbery Pinot nose to start with. Then some cooked meat, strawberries appear. Also some oak in the shape of tasted coffee notes.
Very fresh and thick attack. Good acidity and a nice thick concentrated mouthfeel. Fine grained tannins. Long, smoky but a bit lean and peppery aftertaste. Good wine, but probably not quite ready.
2002 Pinot Noir Block 5 Thick, rather dark red. Rich, deep nose with rather aromatic fruit but also those greenish notes of roots again. Some alcohol shining through.
Very fresh and a bit vegetal attack. Good acidity. Concentrated and powerful. A bit greenish. Fine grained tannins. Long, smoky and fiery aftertaste. Good, but still a bit hard. Could need a couple of years more.
2003 Pinot Noir Block 5 Medium deep red. Medium deep, fine tuned nose with nice, reddish fruit and some tasty and well integrated new oak. Stylish with good Pinosity.
Very fresh and clean attack. Good, clean Pinot fruit. Charming. Some nice smokiness like a slowly smouldering woodfire. Fine grained tannins. Long, wood smoky slightly dryish aftertaste. Still very youthful and fresh. Stylish.
To conclude, this tasting gave a nice view of what becomes of Felton’s wines after a few years of development. The distinct character of the two vintages was quite surprising, with the freshness of the cooler 2003 clearly more liked by the group. The vegetal, stalky character of the warmer vintage 2002 was rather disturbing and also a bit puzzling, since we would rather expect a cooler vintage to show greenish characters. I don’t think they could be blamed on an early harvest to avoid over-ripeness. Could the intense ultraviolet rich sunlight and the ozone hole be blamed for burning the skins of the grapes? It would be nice to hear your views on the cause of this. Sue, I saw a comment from you regarding some of the 2006s showing some of the stalk1ness too. It would be nice to hear your view on the reason for this. Is it something that regularly appears in warm vintages in NZ?
Cheers,
Anders
PS. As you may be able to see, the 2002s were all with natural cock while the 2003s were under screw cap. I doubt this could be the reason for the stalkiness of the 2002s, though.
