We have started picking at Felton Road. A touch of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that was ripe earlier than others but the bulk of the Riesling came in on Thursday and Friday. Above you can see one of the lush ripe bunches of Riesling. When Riesling ripens it takes this lovely "blushy" hue and tastes fantastic! Riesling is perfect when picked around 21° Brix (Pinot Noir is around 24-27° Brix and similarly for Chardonnay). Felton Road makes three Rieslings - a Dry Riesling with residual sugar being less than 9g/L, their main Riesling which is made in the Kabinett style (off-dry with about 40g/L of sugar) and their Block 1 Designate Riesling, a Spätlese style sweet Riesling (around 80g/L residual sugar).
I had the pleasure of tasting a 2001 Felton Road Riesling last week and it was to die for - lovely carmelised peach and floral aromatics with still crisp, youthful acidity to balance the sweetness. I would whole heartedly endorse putting any 2007 Felton Road Riesling you can get your hands on away for 6-10 years to really tease out the full complexity. One of the best New World Rieslings you will try and 2007 was a cracker year for Riesling in Central Otago. Get on it!
1 comment:
Wow! The wine sounds wonderful and your experiences envy-producing!
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