It’s a complex Riesling with apricot, honey, spice, clove, floral and citrus characters – a real medley of interesting flavours….. It gives a nod in the direction of Alsace.
- Bob Campbell MW, NZ
Bel Canto
The Season
The growing season was influenced by La Nina weather conditions, resulting in a very mild spring, a warm summer with high sunshine hours and a long, lingering autumn. In spite of being dry we had infrequent, but well spaced showers keeping the vines very happy. We left the riesling on the vines until late in the season and for this wine we hand selected only bunches which had at least 30% of perfectly raisined noble botrytis.
The Vineyard and vines
The outcrop of land on which these were grown consists largely of weathered stones. Millions of years ago these were shorn from the high mountain peaks of the South Island’s Southern Alps by an ice-age glacier, which deposited them in selected sites in the Waipara Valley. The individual mineral rich terroir has helped shape this wine and our vines, which are up to about a quarter of a century in age and have had time to send their roots deep into this soil.
The Harvest and winemaking
We selected only the best riesling grapes to go into this wine. They were immediately pressed and the juice, which was purposely left a little turbid, fermented slowly over the winter at low temperatures, helping it retain its rich, fruity characters. A portion underwent spontaneous, natural fermentation, without the addition of yeast, in old, large barrels to give the final blend extra complexity and richness.
The Wine
On release the wine has a bright lemon hue. The aromas and flavours suggest lemons, limes, nectarines and peaches, with a hint of passionfruit. It is rich and powerful in the mouth but yet remains elegant, tight knit and focused. There is a spine of minerality and crisp acidity which flow through the palate and draw out its length. While ready to drink on release it can be expected to develop a further array of characters with careful cellaring, especially those suggesting mandarin, orange and apricot.
2014
“…The wine is smooth in texture and there is considerable power and drive. The alcohol and lacy acidity are balanced, and the wine has excellent proportion, the dense core unfolding succulent citrus and exotic tropical fruit flavours on a very long and sustained finish. This is a full and substantial dryish Riesling with citrus, marmalade and honied flavours, showing drive, power and balance.” .
- Raymond Chan, www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz
2011
Very rich-smelling nose of citrus and tropical fruits: mango, guava and papaya. Some botrytis-induced complexity on the nose, too. The palate swells impressively with a tropical flourish before finishing crisp and clean with a vibrant, lively acid line.
- Nick Stock www.jamessuckling.com, USA
'An evocative name for a delicious wine. This full-bodied "dry" Riesling from the Waipara Valley is actually off-dry, but it's none the worse for that. This is exotic and rich, with old vine complexity and flavours of lime, peach and nectarine. It's especially good with spicy food, but is also delicious as an aperitif.’.
- Tim Atkin MW, Decanter Magazine
From Waipara riesling supremos Pegasus Bay, comes this amazing opulent and intense example with a shimmering citrus and mineral salt character coursing through its lush palate of honey, marmalade, peach and lime oi.
- Jo Burzynska, NZ Herald
2010
“The Donaldson family offers an exotic range of personalities in their iconic business, and this wine reflects this range beautifully … the palate is fleshy, compact, intensely long, with incredible concentration and complexity a world apart from many clinically clean Rieslings in the market place; this wine is spectacular and will give pleasure for many years to come.”
—Ben Edwards, James Halliday’s Wine Companion, Australia
“The bouquet is complex … the palate weighty, fresh and intense … finely balanced acidity and a minerally, lasting finish. A highly distinctive wine … it's a top candidate for the cellar … This is a complex, funky, layered Riesling.”
—Michael Cooper's Buyer’s Guide 2012, NZ
“… Medium bodied, dry and crisp, it offers plenty of citrusy fruit in the mouth and a long tangy finish.”
—Lisa Perrotti-Brown, MW – Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, USA
“… this has very attractive and mouthfilling flavours … The textures are rounded and soft … The underlying acidity becomes apparent on the very long, sustained finish, adding lusciousness to the complex fruit and honeyed flavours … This is a complex, funky, layered Riesling.”
—Raymond Chan www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz
2009
“… It gives a beautiful nose … Concentrated, complex flavour … and the finish is long. Approachable now, it should develop wonderfully over the next 6-8+ years.”
—Lisa Perrotti-Brown/Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, USA
Top 12 NZ Rieslings – “Big, bold characterful wine that couldn't come from any other winery. ... this concentrated and complex example totally seduces me ... Very classy wine ... It has all the flavour and weight of a sweeter style, but it is dry.”
—Bob Campbell MW, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Australia
“…rich wine with notably intense, citrusy flavours. Lemon-scented, it is complex, slightly spicy and minerally, with good acid spine … It shows great individuality and poise.”
—Michael Cooper WineState, Australia
2009
“Fresh, lime, steely and racy on the nose. Very complete and beautifully balanced with real pizzazz to it. Already a fine aperitif. Dry”
—Jancis Robinson, UK
“Another trade mark Pegasus Bay dry Riesling...This is full of ripe stone fruits and citrus, fully textured and kaleidoscopic”
—Nick Stock, MBM, Australia
“…it’s a very good Riesling made in an Alsace style with plenty of stone fruit, citrus and some floral flavours plus good richness…”
—Bob Campbell & Huon Hooke, GTW Magazine, Australia
“Dry Riesling can be a difficult style to do well in our climes, but this full-flavoured example from Riesling supremos Pegasus Bay has a richness that pulls this off with aplomb. Made from late-harvest fruit from the estate’s oldest vines, it’s an ultra-intense wine in which notes of white peach, mandarin peel, blossom and exotic spice combine with its fresh lift of mineral, grapefruit and tongue-tingling spritz.”
—Jo Burzynska, New Zealand Herald
