Way before I made my way to New Zealand in 2019, precisely 10 years before that (more or less), I stumbled into Felton Road wines thanks to an incredibly annoying, narcissistic yet talented sommelier who used to work with me at Vue de Monde.

I will not reveal his nationality at this point, as I don’t want to fall into the cliché that goes by the saying that, although we consider the two nations as almost related, we somehow detest each other. Enough said.

Burgundy- and Bordeaux- wines were flowing a lot in those days on the 55th floor of Rialto South tower (or Mordor’s tower, as we affectionately used to refer to them). Yet, one day, the sommelier mentioned above looked particularly excited as he hurried toward me with a glass of Pinot Noir in his hand.

“Are we trying DRC here?” I thought. It was instead Felton Road Block 3 Pinot. Needless to say, I understood his excitement and shared it since. Felton Road has never compromised quality over quantity and always lets the terroir speak loudly. No one bottle is ever precisely the same, yet the peculiarities of the vineyard and vintage are always masterfully detailed.

Fully organic and biodynamically certified, the folks at Felton Road work painstakingly to follow the needy rules, keep quality high, and not fall into that funky-murky-dirty fashion that lasts only a season or two. They are also a proud member of IWCA- International Wineries for Climate Action, which is not just essential nowadays, but is also commendable.

2024 Felton Road Bannockburn Chardonnay
96 pts | RRP NZD $52

A wine that opens with an eye-catching, brilliant colour and a bit of reduction, with that struck match character, always has my attention. Then, it could lose easily if there wasn’t much else to see. But this is not the case. For those of you who love a good shopping list of aromas, here is all about pink grapefruit, guava, green papaya, yuzu, lemon verbena, golden delicious apple, dry camomile flowers, and hawthorn. On the palate, a wonderfully velvety, silky texture, reminiscent of waves of fresh whipped cream, melted butter, and lemon pie, indicates an amount of lees work. Yet, these are well amalgamated into a stream of refreshing acidity, ensuring the palate is clean and ready for the next sip. With more air and time in the glass, it opens to another dimension, built on ripe nectarines, bleached almonds and pinenuts. A long, almost pristine length, where that reductive note, on the verge of funkiness- yet very well calibrated- makes this Chardonnay the perfect French contestant in a blind tasting. 

2024 Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir
98 pts | RRP NZD $109

At first, and even second and third glances, I’m under the impression that the true essence of this Pinot is still buried under the ground, under fresh turned earth and moss. It needs to be unburied gently and patiently to reveal itself. With time, Wild mulberries, raspberries, dark cherries and a touch of seaweed and ironstone characters as well. And onto the palate, wow. Look at the tannins. Such grippy, puckering tannins. Here is the structure, the pedigree, the mass of Central Otago. It’s a larger-than-life type of wine, yet still tight and packed right in the mid-palate, where the beautifully strong musculature frames the complete fruit picture. The balance of acidity pushes the excellent, tightly compact length, leaving traces of Moroccan spices on the way. It’s a wine that has a lot of frameworks, a lot of character, a lot of presence, yet it’s so restrained. It will open up beautifully with time and reward your patience. 

2024 Felton Road Cornish Point Pinot Noir
94 pts | RRP NZD $83

With the Cornish Point Pinot, you look at a wine that shows more ripeness and candied red fruit of cherries, strawberries, watermelon sorbet, preserved red plums, with a lovely sweet side of vanilla and milk chocolate and an earthy accent of beetroot. The palate is broader and more giving, with a noticeable roundness and warm generosity. The fruit length is there, although slightly more on the verge of being spirited. When I look at the savoury side, I see more of that soy sauce, seaweed characters and a kind of oriental spices, as opposed to what I perceived in Block 3—nevertheless, a terrific expression of a different terroir.

2024 Felton Road MacMuir Pinot Noir
96 pts | RRP NZD $96

A brilliant ruby red colour welcomes your eyes before the fragrant, lifted, crunchy and well-polished bouquet of red fruit would capture your nose. Plums, Kanzi apples, cherries, and a lick of vanilla pods contribute to the moreish nature of the wine. Still, the palate is quite something on its own. There is this almost iron-like character; the crispiest acidity and the fine-grained tannins also enhance the lovely bitterness, reminiscent of dark chocolate and coffee beans. The length is painted in mineral, earthy, savoury-like colours. Whilst my expectations were thrown into the air by this dichotomy, I love the wine. I love the polish and shimmering quality of the fruit. I love the outstanding balance. And while this is already a completed Pinot, it surely has plenty of time ahead of itself.

2024 Felton Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir
97 pts | RRP NZD $67

The show here depicts a dense, rich nose of dark cherries, wild raspberries, mulberries, graphite, Indian spices and well-polished blood plums. There is a density of fruit on the palate, layer after layer of succulent fruit. The tannins are slowly building and are pretty chunky. Alcohol is slightly more spirited, but it doesn’t detract from the fruity length. More broody, more masculine, with a foxy undergrowth character when compared to the other vineyards. It has fruit density and tannin density, and it fills the whole palate in the blink of an eye. It’s undoubtedly a Pinot where you need your knife and fork,  like you were having a liquid lunch.