Wine Article
2021 Felton Road Pinot Noir Cornish Point
Last edited on 10/22/2022 by LindsayM
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Tasting Note
This is the most grown up Cornish Point yet. It has all the classic components (vibrantly fruited, voluptuous and rounded mouthfeel...), but with a structural complexity we have rarely seen before. Indulgent but serious tannins demand a thoughtful conversation in this 15th rendition. Baritones and altos all in harmony leading to a crescendo of a Finish
Vineyard & Viticulture
Felton Road farms four properties totalling 34 ha in the Bannockburn sub-region of Central Otago. This wine is from Cornish Point vineyard where the close proximity to Lake Dunstan (surrounded on three sides) creates a unique mesoclimate. Heavy silt soils overlie alluvial gravels interspersed with calcareous seams. Meticulous summer management of a single vertical shoot positioned (VSP) canopy ensures even and early fruit maturity. Shoot thinning, shoot positioning, leaf plucking, bunch thinning and harvest are all carried out by hand to ensure optimum quality fruit. Cover crops are planted between rows to assist in vine balance and to improve soil health and general biodiversity.
Vintage
After a moderate winter with normal rainfall, budburst occurred in late September. Flowering occurred in early December with some rain and temperatures hovering around average. A period of cool evenings raised concerns of a potential poor set. Significant rainfall at the beginning of January and further rain in the middle of the month resulted in more than double the monthly rainfall. This wetter period throughout the phase of cell division resulted in generally larger berries and made-up for potentially lower bunch weights from the uneven flowering conditions. The weather stabilised in February with warmer and much drier conditions; which continued throughout the lead-up, and until the conclusion of harvest. The Pinot Noir harvest commenced on March 25 concluding on April 11.
Vinification
The unique gravity flow winery enabled the grapes to be gently destemmed directly into open-top fermenters without pumping, with 25% retained as whole clusters. Traditional fermentation with a moderately long maceration on skins has extracted good colour and tannin with considerable depth of flavour. This wine was aged for 13 months in 25% new French oak barrels from artisan Burgundian coopers. In accordance with our non- interventionalist approach to winemaking, this wine was fermented with indigenous yeast and malolactic, and was not fined or filtered.
This is the most grown up Cornish Point yet. It has all the classic components (vibrantly fruited, voluptuous and rounded mouthfeel...), but with a structural complexity we have rarely seen before. Indulgent but serious tannins demand a thoughtful conversation in this 15th rendition. Baritones and altos all in harmony leading to a crescendo of a Finish
Vineyard & Viticulture
Felton Road farms four properties totalling 34 ha in the Bannockburn sub-region of Central Otago. This wine is from Cornish Point vineyard where the close proximity to Lake Dunstan (surrounded on three sides) creates a unique mesoclimate. Heavy silt soils overlie alluvial gravels interspersed with calcareous seams. Meticulous summer management of a single vertical shoot positioned (VSP) canopy ensures even and early fruit maturity. Shoot thinning, shoot positioning, leaf plucking, bunch thinning and harvest are all carried out by hand to ensure optimum quality fruit. Cover crops are planted between rows to assist in vine balance and to improve soil health and general biodiversity.
Vintage
After a moderate winter with normal rainfall, budburst occurred in late September. Flowering occurred in early December with some rain and temperatures hovering around average. A period of cool evenings raised concerns of a potential poor set. Significant rainfall at the beginning of January and further rain in the middle of the month resulted in more than double the monthly rainfall. This wetter period throughout the phase of cell division resulted in generally larger berries and made-up for potentially lower bunch weights from the uneven flowering conditions. The weather stabilised in February with warmer and much drier conditions; which continued throughout the lead-up, and until the conclusion of harvest. The Pinot Noir harvest commenced on March 25 concluding on April 11.
Vinification
The unique gravity flow winery enabled the grapes to be gently destemmed directly into open-top fermenters without pumping, with 25% retained as whole clusters. Traditional fermentation with a moderately long maceration on skins has extracted good colour and tannin with considerable depth of flavour. This wine was aged for 13 months in 25% new French oak barrels from artisan Burgundian coopers. In accordance with our non- interventionalist approach to winemaking, this wine was fermented with indigenous yeast and malolactic, and was not fined or filtered.