Felton Road Chardonnay Bannockburn 2024

Felton Road is the benchmark estate of Central Otago — Demeter-certified biodynamic across all 34 hectares, with a philosophy of absolute non-intervention that begins in the vineyard and ends at a gravity-flow winery where nothing is fined or filtered. Winemaker Blair Walter sees Chardonnay as extremely underrepresented in Central Otago, and the Bannockburn is his entry point into what the variety can do on the schist gravel soils along Felton Road — where alone there are ten different soil types across just three kilometres, each contributing something different to the final blend. Sourced primarily from Blocks 2, 6, 8 and 9 of the Elms Vineyard with approximately 10% from Cornish Point, the wine is whole-bunch pressed, fermented with wild yeasts in French oak with just 5% new, and aged 13 months in barrel before bottling unfined and unfiltered under screwcap. 

Citrus blossom, elderflower and wet stones set the scene — the palate offering ripe stone fruit and hazelnut balanced by a bright acidity and a long, focused finish that reflects the Bannockburn site with clean precision. Restrained and savoury with subtle nutty nuances and white-fleshed stone fruit — finesse and focus with just enough creamy richness built through the mid-palate, elegant and concentrated in a style that Burgundy lovers would be delighted to find in their glass. This is Chardonnay that earns its Burgundian comparisons honestly — not through imitation but through a shared commitment to letting the land speak without interference.