Felton Road, 'Block 3' Pinot Noir, 2025
Felton Road, 'Block 3' Pinot Noir, 2025
- 75cl
- 13.5%
- Red Still
- Pinot Noir
- Organic
- Biodynamic
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Drinking window: 2027 - 2038
Est. delivery in Autumn, 2026
Felton Road's Block 3 is as close as Central Otago gets to a benchmark — a single-vineyard Pinot Noir from a 1.5-hectare block of schist-laced soils on the Bannockburn slopes that has, over the past two decades, quietly established itself as one of the southern hemisphere's most compelling addresses for the grape.
"The age of the vines (mostly 33 years) contributes to the diverse and complete aromatics – led by dark fruits, hints of leather and complexing earthy notes. Flavours are similarly complex with the mouthfeel holding its power in check for the finish. The transparency of the fruit is seasoned with its textbook dried herbs, giving a lovely counterpoint before the finish roars in; a tidal wave of rich chocolate and tannin. An object lesson in ‘Peacock’s Tail’."
Winemaker's note
The Block 3 vineyard sits at around 280 metres on the Bannockburn terraces above Lake Dunstan, where the soils are predominantly weathered schist and loess — thin, free-draining, and fiercely expressive. The continental climate here is extreme by New Zealand standards: scorching summers, cold nights, and sharp diurnal temperature swings that preserve acidity and extend the growing season. That combination of heat accumulation and cool nights is what gives Central Otago Pinot its distinctive combination of ripe fruit and structural freshness. The schist itself contributes a mineral, almost ferrous quality that is the hallmark of Block 3.
Central Otago is the world's southernmost wine region and New Zealand's only continental climate wine region of note — a long way, in every sense, from Marlborough. The sub-regions vary considerably, but Bannockburn, where Felton Road sits, is widely regarded as the finest for Pinot Noir: the soils are older, the climate more extreme, and the wines tend to have more structure and longevity than those from the valley floor. There are no formal appellation rules in New Zealand beyond geographic indication, so quality here is entirely producer-led.
The 2025 vintage in Central Otago is, at time of writing, the most recent harvest, and detailed analytical consensus is still forming. What we do know is that the region has been on a remarkable run of form through the early 2020s, and early producer reports from 2025 point to a season that largely continued that momentum, with a warm, dry ripening period helping growers achieve good phenolic maturity across the board. Central Otago lives and dies by its continental extremes, and vintages that manage to thread the needle between its fierce UV intensity and the cool nights of the Cromwell Basin tend to produce wines of real definition and freshness alongside ripe fruit.
Pinot Noir, as ever, is the one to watch. If early indications hold, 2025 should offer wines with the kind of taut red fruit and structural clarity the region does better than almost anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere. Expect them to reward patience rather than demand it. Most will drink well from 2027 onwards, with the best sites and producers likely carrying comfortably until 2032 or beyond. We'd watch this space closely as more bottles start arriving.
OUR GROWERS
Felton Road
