2013 Felton Road Pinot Noir Block 3
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Tasting notes
(14% alcohol on the label): Dark, fresh red. Sexy aromas of raspberry and rose petal plus a touch of smoky minerality. Imploded, extract-rich wine with gripping flavors of crunchy berries and savory soil tones. Chewy, impeccably balanced Pinot Noir with terrific rising length and finesse. This should reward further aging. (Incidentally, Walter also opened a bottle of the 2012 Block 3, which offered sexy scents of red fruits and truffley underbrush and lovely sweetness to its lush flavors of strawberry and smoke. This wine from thick-skinned grapes and a cool summer has plenty of fat but is a bit burlier and seems more heavily extracted than the 2013 version. I rated it 93 points and recommend that it be consumed within the next four or five years.)
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Medium to deep ruby-purple, the 2013 Block 3 Pinot Noir offers a herbal laced nose with notes of Provence herbs and dried lavender over a core of mulberries and warm red currants plus touches of roses, cloves and cedar. Firm and structured in the mouth with layers of currant and mulberry laced flavors supported by chewy tannins, it finishes with great length.
Good bright, deep red. Deep, dark, fully ripe aromas of black raspberry, minerals, flowers, red licorice and brown spices lifted by a peppery nuance. Fat, pliant and sweet, offering superb density and depth to its berry, spice and mineral flavors. Energized by its spine of saline minerality. A New Zealand pinot of rare density and length, finishing with firm-edged tannins and lingering spices. Balanced from the outset but built for a graceful evolution in bottle.