Felton Road Chardonnay Block 2 2024

Felton Road was founded in 1992 by Nigel Greening and built with winemaker Blair Walter into one of the benchmark producers of the entire Southern Hemisphere, biodynamically certified (Demeter and BioGro) and run on a philosophy of complete transparency of site — minimal intervention, wild yeast fermentation, wild malolactic, and no fining or filtration anywhere in the range. Block 2 sits on an east-facing slope of deep, angular schist gravel on The Elms vineyard, within the celebrated Bannockburn sub-region of Central Otago, with vines planted back in 1992 using the Mendoza (Wente) clone — among the very oldest Chardonnay plantings on the property. It's one of two single-block Chardonnays Felton Road makes alongside the broader Bannockburn bottling, and critics consistently describe it as the more introverted, restrained, and mineral-driven of the family — Jancis Robinson has called it "much more introvert than the Bannockburn," with its voluminous fruit hidden behind a sheath of fine mineral phenolics.

The result is precise and athletic: ripe citrus, nectarine, and apple meet marzipan, baking spice, and stony, crushed-shell minerality, with sophisticated oak integration adding real complexity without ever dominating. James Suckling has scored recent vintages as high as 97 points, describing the wine as "tight and compact but intense, with all the components to evolve and unfurl over the next decade and beyond" — and Felton Road has been named The Real Review's NZ Winery of the Year in consecutive years, the first producer ever to achieve that back-to-back honour.