2023 Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir

The innovative gravity flow winery at Felton Road allows for the gentle destemming of grapes directly into open-top fermenters without pumping, with 20% retained as whole clusters. Traditional fermentation with moderately long maceration on skins extracts vibrant colour and tannin, resulting in a wine with considerable depth of flavour. After fermentation, the wine is aged for 13 months in 25% new French oak barrels crafted by artisan Burgundian coopers. Staying true to our non-interventionist winemaking philosophy, the wine undergoes fermentation with indigenous yeast and malolactic fermentation and is neither fined nor filtered.

At this youthful stage, the wine is tight, somewhat closed, and exudes a dark, inky note reminiscent of old vines. The palate mirrors this, offering deep, rich tannins infused with mocha and the signature length. Riding atop a wave of indulgent phenolics, the pure dark berry freshness of Block 3 dances precariously, like a surfer clinging to the crest before being inevitably overwhelmed. As this vineyard matures, it learns to speak with quiet authority, enhancing its inherent strength and elegance without losing its powerful presence.