2009 Felton Road Cornish Point Pinot Noir

BY NEAL MARTIN | JULY 08, 2019

It was at the 2010 Pinot Noir conference in Wellington where, in front of an ebullient, packed audience, I took the microphone and went off script. Presumably I was supposed to join in the rapturous reception for several New Zealand Pinot Noirs, selected and served blind as exemplars of their aging ability. In reality, these had merely survived, not evolved or flourished, and they certainly had not repaid anyone who cellared them. I was the party-pooper, the gadfly; I expected to be frog-marched out of the auditorium. Instead, my comments provoked a far more interesting and balanced discussion, since I was clearly not alone in my view. Before relinquishing the microphone, I did remark on wine number four, whatever that might have been. “Now that is a great example of mature Pinot Noir,” I announced. “That would rank alongside the greats of Burgundy.” Wine number four turned out to be from Felton Road. Quelle surprise.