Bright Fruits from the Heart of the Desert

About one hour’s drive east out of Queenstown took us to the former mining town of Bannockburn. Clear blue skies, fluffy clouds greeted us as we drove through the rugged mountains hugging Gibbston valley adjacent to the meandering Kawarau river.

Sluicing by coal miners and gold seekers in Bannockburn in the mid to late 19^th century led to changes in the landscape with original alluvial soils and vegetation eroded to the rocky, silty loam soils today.

Bannockburn is known as ‘The Heart of the Desert’, with some of the lowest rainfall (350-450mm annually) in Central Otago. Such low humidity contributes to reduced disease pressure on vines in the region. Continental climate with cold winters, hot summers, abundant sunshine, good diurnal variation especially during the growing season; has fostered a number of internationally renowned wineries producing high quality wines, albeit relatively small volume of grapes.

In 1991, Stewart Elms went from planting fruit to vines, after discovering his perfect north-facing slope off Felton Road. He divided the land in plots with vine clones to match different soils. Blair Walter joined him in 1997, making the first Felton Road Pinot Noir. He remains the winemaker to this day.

In 2000, the winery was purchased by the Englishman Nigel Greening. Having already purchased Cornish Point down the road in 1998 and ripped out the apricot trees for planting vines, he further split the Elms vineyard into 23 blocks, mapping soils with rootstocks and clones to match the heat patterns in different plots. Along with viticulturist Gareth King, Felton Road has 34 ha of vineyards farmed bio-dynamically, with full Demeter certification since 2008.

Felton Road has a zero growth policy for environmental reasons.

Chickens greeted us at the entrance – their eggshells are used with lavender and thyme as biodynamic fertilizers!

African Boer goats have the job of pruning and maintenance of rosehip plants on the upper slopes and their by-product serve as fertilizer. Plus they end up as a delicious food for wine pairing I was told!

Highland cattle are kept for their manure and horns for biodynamic fertilizer, and I guess another good wine pairing food at the appropriate time!

Very friendly chickens at the winery entrance!

There are 4 vineyards – The Elms, where all the ‘Block’ vineyards are located; MacMuir, Calvert and Cornish Point.

Annual production is 12,000-13,000 cases of Chardonnay and 9000 cases of Pinot Noir

Nicola Greening showed us around the Elms vineyard, surrounding the immaculately kept winery buildings, and led us through the tasting of 5 wines.

Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2016
- This is a blend of all 4 vineyards with 14 months in oak
- Pale bright ruby colour with a floral nose of violets, fresh raspberries and cherries. Dry with fresh acidity, soft medium tannins, juicy on the palate with a medium body and finish. It’s charming now but should develop more flavours in 2-3 years.
Calvert Pinot Noir 2016
- Pale ruby colour with a good nose of violets, red fruits and sweet spice. Velvety tannins that coats the palate balanced by the concentrated flavours with a richer texture than the Bannockburn and a more lingering finish.
Block 5 Pinot Noir 2016
- 18 months in oak
- Pale ruby but with a more intense nose that opens with a floral nose, followed by strawberries and black cherries, dried herbs and spice. Silky tannins and supple fruit coats the palate with a lingering finish. Nicola say this would get better in another 4-5 years, or even 8-10 years and I can see why with such good fruit concentration and structure.
Bannockburn Chardonnay 2016
- Pale lemon colour, with slight cloudiness as this is un-fined.
- A good nose of grapefruit, white peach and wet stones with a hint of toasty oak. On the palate it has racy acidity, savoury mineral notes that complements the citrus and stone fruits giving an overall finesse.
Bannockburn Riesling 2017
- Pale lemon colour with a medium nose of blossoms, ripe peach and lemon shebert. Off dry on the palate, with high but crisp acidity, 8.5% Abv. There is a gradual evolution of citrus flavours and minerality on the palate with a medium finish. There is 64g of residual sugar but it is so balanced with the acidity that it doesn’t taste as such.

Felton Road is a legendary name in Central Otago, with fantastic wines and such friendly people who obviously love their pristine environment and their wines. Plan ahead and write to them for a visit!

Article by: Yvonne OU, DipWSET
Photos by: Thomas HO