Felton Road's Block 3 Pinot Noir 2025 comes from a single north-facing block within The Elms vineyard in Bannockburn, Central Otago, organically and biodynamically farmed for more than three decades. Expect dark cherry and blackberry, leather and dried herbs, building to a long, firmly tannic finish - a wine to put away and forget about for a decade.
Felton Road makes five single-vineyard Pinot Noirs each vintage, and Block 3 is the one that leans into structure rather than immediate charm. The 2025 is still closed and firm in its youth, and rewards patience with real complexity - Cameron Douglas MS gave it 97 points and put its drinking window at 2033 to 2043, which tells you what kind of wine this is.
This is one for the cellar rather than tonight. We'd reach for it for a milestone birthday, a long dinner with people who care about wine, or simply to put away and open in 10 years' time. It's one of five single-vineyard, single-block Pinot Noirs Felton Road bottles each year, made from this one site rather than a broader blend across the four properties they farm.
Block 3 sits inside The Elms, on a gentle north-facing slope where vines planted more than three decades ago grow through a deep bench of silt soil interspersed with calcareous seams. Where Felton Road's Bannockburn Pinot Noir draws on multiple blocks for a broader style, Block 3 is fruit from this one site only, picked and vinified on its own. It's built for the long game: firmer tannin, more savoury depth, and a finish that keeps unfolding rather than wrapping up quickly.
What it tastes like
Dark fruit leads - blackberry and dark cherry - alongside leather and savoury, earthy notes that come from the vines' age and this site rather than winemaking. Dried herbs run through the middle, a savoury counterpoint to the fruit, before the finish arrives in a rush of rich chocolate and firm, ripe tannin. Cameron Douglas MS described it as elegant and complex, built around "an urgent power and frame of red berry fruits and wild flowers", with fresh and dried raspberry, black cherry, a chalky texture and finely polished tannin backed by real acidity. It keeps building across the palate rather than showing everything at once - in Felton Road's own words, an "object lesson in Peacock's Tail", where the flavour keeps spreading and lengthening well after you'd expect it to stop.
Style at a glance
- Body: Medium to full
- Sweetness: Dry
- Acidity: Bright, with real backbone
- Tannin: Firm and finely polished
- Oak: French oak barriques, 13 months, 28% new
- Style: Structured and savoury, built for the cellar rather than early drinking
Food
This wants richer, slow-cooked dishes that can stand up to its tannin: slow-roasted duck breast with a cherry jus, venison backstrap with juniper, braised beef short rib, or roast lamb rump with rosemary and garlic. A mushroom and truffle risotto works too, and is worth the mention because its earthiness echoes the wine's own savoury notes rather than fighting them. A wedge of aged Gruyère is a good match for the end of the bottle.
Who makes it
Felton Road is one of Central Otago's most respected producers, established in 1991 on a strict, uncompromising approach to site selection. The whole estate - four properties totalling 34 ha in Bannockburn - is farmed organically and biodynamically, BioGro and Demeter certified, and Felton Road holds B Corp certification and belongs to the International Wineries for Climate Action. Winemaking follows the same hands-off philosophy throughout: gravity flow rather than pumping, wild yeast and wild malolactic fermentation, and no fining or filtration. Gareth King farms the vineyards, Blair Walter makes the wine, and Nigel Greening owns the place.
About the vintage
Central Otago's 2025 season opened with abundant rain through September and October that recharged soil moisture after a later-than-average bud burst. Then, on 3 November, a katabatic frost - the most extensive the region had seen in 20 years - swept through the vineyards during flowering. Losses were localised and patchy, and came early enough in the season for many affected vines to recover. A settled, benign spell during flowering itself helped fruit set take hold and offset some of what the frost had cost.
At Felton Road, a dry, even summer slowed ripening and concentrated flavour in the fruit, and a warm finish to February gave way to distinctly cooler nights through March. Block 3's grapes came in over 3 to 13 April, harvested in three passes as each part of the block reached its own peak. That slow, unhurried finish to ripening is what gives the wine its breadth, harmony and finesse.
Felton Road's own winemaker, Blair Walter, called 2025 "another very decent vintage" - a fair assessment for a year that started with a serious frost scare and still finished with excellent fruit health across the region. Yields across Central Otago came in only slightly below 2023 and 2024, and the cooler nights that ran through harvest helped preserve acidity in Pinot Noir right across the Bannockburn subregion, which is good news for the vintage as a whole.
Critic scores and ratings
97 POINTS – Cameron Douglas MS – camdouglasms.com, August 2026 – elegant and complex, with an urgent power and frame of red berry fruit and wild flowers, and finely polished tannin.
When to drink it
Cameron Douglas puts the drinking window at 2033 to 2043, and that lines up with how the wine shows now - firm tannin, real structure, and a lot still to unfold. This isn't a wine for the next year or two. Lay a bottle down and enjoy the benefits of a decade or more in the cellar.
Technical details
| Winery |
Felton Road |
| Wine |
Block 3 Pinot Noir |
| Vintage |
2025 |
| Variety |
Pinot Noir |
| Vineyard |
Block 3, The Elms vineyard, Bannockburn, Central Otago (planted 1992) |
| Region |
Central Otago |
| Country |
New Zealand |
| Alcohol |
13.7% |
| Farming |
Certified organic (BioGro) and biodynamic (Demeter) |
| Winemaking |
Hand-harvested, gravity-fed, 25% whole cluster, wild yeast, unfined and unfiltered |
| Oak |
French oak barriques, 13 months, 28% new |
| Closure |
Screw cap |
| Serving temperature |
Best served slightly below room temperature, around 16-18°C |
Where to buy
For international delivery to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, the Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2025 is available via our winenz.com website. For delivery in New Zealand you can purchase from thewineryonline.co.nz. If you are visiting New Zealand, you can also buy it at our Queenstown and Arrowtown stores, alongside a large range of New Zealand and international wine.
Questions we are often asked
What does Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2025 taste like?
Blackberry and dark cherry lead, with leather and earthy, savoury notes underneath. It finishes long, with rich chocolate and firm tannin - a structured style built for the cellar rather than early drinking.
Is Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir organic?
Yes. Felton Road farms its entire estate, including Block 3, organically and biodynamically, with BioGro and Demeter certification.
How long will Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2025 keep?
Cameron Douglas MS pegs 2033 to 2043 as its window. Between the firm tannin and the structure, this isn't a wine to open in its first few years.
What food goes with Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir?
Richer, slow-cooked dishes: slow-roasted duck breast with cherry jus, venison backstrap, braised beef short rib, or roast lamb rump with rosemary and garlic.
What makes Block 3 different from Felton Road's other Pinot Noirs?
It comes from a single north-facing block within The Elms vineyard, farmed and vinified on its own rather than blended across Felton Road's four Bannockburn properties, which gives it firmer tannin and more savoury depth than their broader Bannockburn Pinot Noir.
Where can I buy Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2025?
The Winery ships Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir 2025 internationally from winenz.com to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, and delivers within New Zealand from thewineryonline.co.nz. It is also available in our Queenstown and Arrowtown stores.
