Nigel Greening reflects
Notes from a vertical and horizontal
tasting of Felton Road, Central Otago, New Zealand with its owner Nigel Greening at London's Groucho Club in the heart of Soho.
Overview of Felton Road
estate:
32 hectares comprising The
Elms, Calvert, Cornish Point (12.5ha). Biodynamic since 2006. Not interested in
corn horn and calendars. It is a traditional closed gate farm with goats,
chickens, vegetables, etc as well as the vineyards.
The Elms Vineyard has 14.5ha planted
with Pinot Noir on loess, Chardonnay on alluvial soils and Riesling schist gravels.
Felton Road have recently bought a parcel
of the Calvert Vineyard. Another part of the vineyard is being tended by Cloudy
Bay, where they will be continuing biodynamic viticulture.
Felton Road has 6ha of vines on own
root stocks.
Use biodynamic preps but not
the most important aspect.
With the dry climate of
Central Otago it is easy to deliver fruit in very good condition. Wild ferment.
Use press wines as need tannins. 12-18 months in barrel.
Bannockburn is the entry
level blend of three vineyards.
Wines have been put into screwcap
since 2001. Trials with cork alongside continued until until 2004 when they
decided that they didn't ever want to see another cork ever again.
Felton Road Pinot Noir Vertical of Bannockburn
2007
Lightly bricky, heady
perfume, soft entry, mouth-filling spice, character.
At the time Nigel saw 2007 as a
benchmark but now feels they picked too early giving the wine slightly green tannins.
2008
Mid-plum, again a little
bricky, colour evolution. A little more volume but again soft spicy charm a
little more structure, especially in finish. Richard Bampfield MW – "brambly fruit, touch of earthiness".
Nigel: warm, even year. Have
to let it be reasonably generous. One of nicest tasting vintages. Moreish.
2009
Mid-plum, more youthful
colour, attractive texture. Silky mouth feel but structure more apparent than
with 2007.
Nigel: 2009 and 2010 similar
vintages but different in character. Prefers 2009 because of its tannin and acid
balance.
2010
Light to mid-plum, attractive
red fruits especially raspberry, silky seductive texture. Light tannins in finish, less
structure than 2009 but length of finish.
Nigel: Quite low crop for
warm year. Lacks edginess. Like a rich kid never had any issues.
2011
Quite youthful colour,
texture and richness, mouthfilling, more powerful. Good length and potential to
age.
Nigel: very warm spring, early
flowering cool, wet summer. Picked quickly. Burgundy struggles with sugar,
Otago good phenolic and high sugar but physical ripeness behind tending to give
green tannins. Need to pick quickly when physically ripe. Larger picking team,
now pick in 10 days flat. Green tannins come from seeds. Stalks not a problem.
2012
Rich, ripe fruit, lively
raspberry fruit. Some freshness in finish.
2013
Nigel: Central Otago not
affected by bad weather as Marlborough was in early March. Picked 2 weeks ahead
of neighbours. Looking for earliest possible point and picking as quickly as possible. Seed tannins do not ripen. Ratio of skins to
seed tannin crucial.
Cold nights: 15˚C maturation slows
down 10˚C dormant. 112 days from flowering to maturity. High UV levels. Burgundy would
be at 9500 feet to get same UV levels. Thus grapes have high sugars.
2012 vertical
2012 Calvert Pinot Noir
Attractive red fruits, lively
fruit, soft tannins but good structure and length.
2012 Cornish Point Pinot Noir
Quite heady perfume,
structure youthful, needs time, freshness in finish. Length potential. Power.
2012 Block 3 Pinot Noir
Mid-plum, more closed, less blended together and harmonious. Power and length, ripe tannins in
finish.
2011 Block 5 Pinot Noir
(heavy loess clay)
Lovely ripe, silky fruit,
power, impressive, complexity and length. Structure.
Block 3 and 5 very fine and
certainly a good step up on the other Felton Road Pinot Noirs.
Nigel: Blocks have extra three months in
barrel. Following a visit by Pierre Vincent (Domaine de la Vougeraie) we may
change our winemaking procedure a bit. As vines get older getting more tannin and
structure, more infusion in future rather than punching down. Pierre never
punches down Musigny. Need to build up enough of a history before experimenting. Now ready to try a few
tweaks.
Acid not stable in
fermentation in Otago but this is improving as vines get older at Cornish
Point.
Pinot Noir production: 30%
Single vineyard, 70% Bannockburn.
Calvert like a wife –
elegant.
Cornish Point – like a
mistress – more heady, more makeup, etc.
Nigel: Chardonnay -- NZs
greatest white varietal. NZ makes some sensational Chardonnay.
2012 Bannockburn Chardonnay
Lemony, floral, hint of
butter, texture, good acidity, length.
2011 Chardonnay Block 2
Mid lemon, greater complexity
on nose, touch of oak, quite rich and full good balance of acidity. Three more
months on lees giving greater complexity. High proportion of Mendoza clones.
Fine.
Nigel: Similar CO Chardonnays
have similar ageing characteristics to Burgundy. Mendoza clone best for New
Zealand Chardonnay.
Nigel: My heart is in the
Mosel.
2012 Dry Riesling 4gms of residual sugar
Lime, quite tight,
crisp, refreshing.
2012 Bannockburn Riesling
Some residual but starts as
same wine as the dry Felton Road. Certainly has vibrancy and more than nods to
the Mosel. Quite appley, citric – lime, etc. 64 g of residual sugar – stopped naturally 8.5 alc.
2012 Riesling Block 1 (Loess
soil)
Same figures as Bannockburn.
Good balance, slightly less cloying than Bannockburn.
Nigel: more peachy but does
have lime too – length, lovely. Off dry likens the balance to that in a gin and
tonic.
Nigel considers the wines, while Che looks on
