Felton Road Riesling Bannockburn 2023

Brooding aromas of wet stones, stonefruits and hints of lanolin, make for a complexing introduction. The mouthfeel opens with a burst of sweetness which is immediately tempered by intense stonefruit flavours and crisp acidity. Like a perfectly tree-ripened Central Otago peach, the completeness and beauty of the flavours dissolves the sweetness and sings of our mountainous Bannockburn location.

Felton Road farms four properties totaling 32 ha in the Bannockburn sub-region of Central Otago. Blocks 2 and 4 are located on gravel fans within the Elms Vineyard with deep soils of angular schist gravels. 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.

Riesling from Blocks 2 and 4 of The Elms vineyard was carefully hand-picked, whole bunch pressed, settled for 4-7 days before racking, then fermented with indigenous yeasts. The 3 week fermentation was stopped by chilling when the optimal balance was achieved between the acidity, alcohol and residual sugar (56g/L). Careful winemaking with minimal processing highlights the crisp natural acidity and the Riesling characters are delicately poised in the low alcohol of 9.0%.