WTN: Felton Road Pinot Noir 2004 Block 3 and Block 5

Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 3 2004 - One of New Zealand's top Pinots. Sweet and smooth. Dried fruits. Somewhat flabby although finishes with some acid. Medium-bodied. Friendly wine and pleasant enough but not top class stuff. Not an ager. Drink it if you have it.

Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 5 2004 - The other top Pinot from Felton Road. Much darker than the Block 3 which had the typical pale Pinot cast to it. This is a more substantial wine than the Block 3; having a better acid structure. Also has some dried fruit flavors. A more serious, deeper wine that will likely improve with a year or two of age although it's an OK drink now. Again, a good wine but lacks the complexity one might expect from a reputedly top notch bottle.

[Jenise]

From the top-class prices I've seen for those wines, your report's a bit damning!

I wasn't impressed by the Felton Road Pinot Noir I tried in Charlotte last spring--not sure if it was from a designated block of vines.

Yes, these are a bit pricey. I had the previous vintage of the Block3 I think about a year back and I remember I thought it was an excellent wine so I'm surprised by how the 2004s are showing

I had these two a while back also. I thought they were excellent examples of the style - it just happens to be a style that I am not at all fond of. I would expect that if the modern style of Burgundy, or some of the Californian Pinots are what you seek for in The Grape, then these would go down very, very well.