Felton Road Riesling Bannockburn 2024

This Riesling from New Zealand's prestigious Felton Road is characterized by its gentle honeyed sweetness and excellent balance of acidity. It has a low alcohol content.

It pairs well with salty appetizers such as blue cheese and salmon salad, as well as ethnic dishes using coriander and sweet chili.

A companion to ethnic cuisine

When you bring your nose close to the glass, the first thing you notice is a strong aroma of green apple, followed by pleasant notes of lime and honey.

There is also a slight hint of petrol (an oil-based scent such as kerosene or gasoline), giving it a complex aroma.

It has a gentle sweetness in the mouth, but a clean acidity prevents it from feeling cloying. Despite its relatively low alcohol content (10.0%), the finish is long and lingering.

It has a blend of nuances of green apple, citrus fruits, and honey, with a very elegant aftertaste.

The balance is simply superb! This wine is a model of an "off-dry (slightly sweet, medium-dry)" Riesling.

Recommended pairings

Sweet wine and blue cheese are known to go well together, but I would also like to pair this wine with blue cheese.

Green salad with blue cheese, pears and walnuts

Another recommendation is Asian cuisine.

for example,

• Fresh spring rolls with sweet chili sauce
• Pad Thai, fried rice noodles
• Slightly spicy "Japchae"

And so on.

Fresh spring rolls

Pad Thai

About the Felton Road Winery

Felton Road is one of New Zealand's leading wineries. It began in 1991 when Stuart Elms established Elms Vineyard in Bannockburn, Central Otago.

They then brought in winemaker Blair Walter and released their first Pinot Noir in 1997. The wine quickly captivated wine lovers around the world, and Felton Road became a top winery with a world-class reputation.

The Central Otago region has now become a famous wine-producing region recognized by wine enthusiasts around the world, but it was Felton Road who pioneered the Pinot Noir that drew the world's attention to the region.

Building a brand in the style of Burgundy

The wine has a simple label with the detailed name of its place of origin, "Bannockburn."

Felton Road divides its wine series according to the grapes from the vineyards they use, and even if the same variety is harvested in the same year, they release several different varieties based on the "vineyard."

This is because even within the same Central Otago region, each field has its own unique soil characteristics, and these differences result in differences in the quality of the grapes and the aroma and taste of the wine.

The more limited the vineyards from which the wine is harvested, the more limited the number of bottles produced, making it a ``rare wine'' and often resulting in a higher price.

This is a traditional branding method used in the Burgundy region of France.

A leading expert on the "Gravity Flow System" in New Zealand

Felton Road places great importance on the power of nature, and all of its vineyards are cultivated using biodynamic farming methods , resulting in wines made using a more natural approach to winemaking.

One feature that stands out in particular is the "Gravity Flow System."

This is a method of using natural gravity as much as possible without using machinery in the process of harvesting grapes and fermenting wine.

In recent years, this system has been adopted by leading wineries around the world, but Felton Road was one of the first wineries in New Zealand to use it, aiming to produce more natural wines.

About Central Otago

Central Otago, the southernmost region in the country, is known as a famous producer of Pinot Noir and is known as one of the world's three major Pinot Noir producing regions, along with Burgundy and Oregon.

In addition to Pinot Noir, the region is also focusing on the cultivation of aromatic white grapes. This region is the only one of New Zealand's wine-producing regions with a semi-continental climate, characterized by large daily temperature differences, coolness, and extreme dryness.

The region is also home to a treasure trove of small wineries, and winery tours based in the scenic town of Queenstown are popular.

Felton Road Riesling Bannockburn 2024