Felton Road Pinot Noir Bannockburn 2023

Felton Road Pinot Noir Bannockburn is a biodynamic red from Felton Road in Central Otago, on the South Island of New Zealand. The estate was founded by Nigel Greening, who farms his own vineyards biodynamically and works with a hands-off approach in the cellar, moving the wine from stage to stage by gravity rather than pumping. Central Otago is the world's most southerly wine region and one of its highest, a dry continental climate where warm days and cold nights give a wide diurnal range. That swing ripens the Pinot Noir fully while holding on to acidity, which is the source of the grape's classic balance of fruit and freshness. The wine is aged in barrel, where slow oxygen exchange softens the tannins and adds a light spice frame. It is medium bodied and elegant, with ripe cherry and red berry fruit, plum, dried herbs and a savoury, earthy depth, finishing long and fresh. This is a Pinot Noir in the Burgundian mould, built on detail rather than weight. Serve at 14 to 16 degrees in a large glass. It suits duck, game birds and mushroom dishes.