'Bannockburn' Pinot Noir
Bannockburn · Central Otago, New Zealand
- 100ml
- £20
- Bottle
- £95
A Coravin draws the wine through the cork under argon without opening the bottle. It lets us pour 100ml of wines we could not otherwise offer by the glass.
- Grape
- Pinot Noir
- Vintage
- 2023
- Region
- Bannockburn, Central Otago
The short version
The estate is deliberately capped. They hit the largest size they could farm by hand in 2006 and have refused to grow since.
Certified biodynamic since 2010 — goats clear the briars behind the vines and chickens work the rows.
Burgundy's recipe at the far end of the earth. Wild yeast, whole bunch, unfined, unfiltered.
How it tastes
Aroma & flavour
Sell it with
Steak Tartare, Black Garlic & Game Crisps
Fine tannin and high acid, so it wants lean rather than heavily charred meat — raw beef is the classic Pinot match. The savoury, earthy note meets the black garlic, and the wine's own dried-herb edge lifts the whole plate. Send the big charred rib to the Côte-Rôtie instead.
Where to take them next
The detail — if they ask
A blend of all four estate vineyards. Twenty per cent whole bunch, wild yeast, open-top fermenters, thirteen months in French oak of which a quarter is new, and bottled without fining or filtration. Medium-bodied with fine but firm tannins — more savoury than sweet.
Felton Road
- Producer
- The site was picked out in 1991 for its north-facing slopes; first vines 1992, first commercial vintage 1997. Owner Nigel Greening and winemaker Blair Walter capped the estate at about thirty hectares — the largest they could still farm by hand — hit that ceiling in 2006 and have refused to grow since.
- Region
- Central Otago is the world's southernmost wine region. Bannockburn is its warmest and driest corner, on free-draining schist and loess, where hot sun and cold clear nights give ripeness and acidity at the same time.
- Grapes
- Pinot Noir at the far end of the earth. The warmth pushes full ripeness and real density; the cold nights keep the drive, so it stays savoury rather than jammy.
Certified biodynamic since 2010 and organic since 2020, plus B Corp. Goats clear the briars behind the vines and chickens work the rows — it is a farm, not just a vineyard.