The Donaldson Family have been seriously involved in viticulture and winemaking for over 40 years. Founder Ivan Donaldson planted the first Canterbury vineyard in 1976 and went on to establish Pegasus Bay in 1986 with his wife Christine. It is a true family business, with all four of their sons and two spouses involved, managing various aspects.
The vineyard is located within the Waipara Valley of North Canterbury, on free draining, north facing terraces carved out of New Zealand’s Southern Alps by an ice-age glacier. It benefits from being in the lee of the Teviotdale Range, giving maximum protection from the Pacific’s easterly breezes and thus creating a unique mesoclimate. The vines are over 30 years old, with a large proportion planted on their own roots. The soil is free draining and of low fertility, resulting in naturally reduced vine vigour. This produces low yields of optimally ripened, high quality, flavourful grapes, which fully express the qualities of this unique terroir. The vineyard has warm days, but the nights are amongst the coolest in the Waipara Valley, drawing out the ripening period of the grapes, while still retaining good natural acidity.
Settled weather over flowering resulted in a moderate fruit set. The subsequent warm summer then allowed the grapes to ripen beautifully. Late season conditions were favourable for the development of noble botrytis, essential for the production of this wine style.
With its large diurnal range and long lingering autumns, North Canterbury is an ideal playground for Riesling, and Bel Canto is a perfect example of this. After an extended hang time, the grapes were picked with a portion of noble botrytis and a ripeness of around 25 Brix. The free run juice was then fermented slowly at cool temperatures to help the wine retain its vibrant fruit characters and varietal purity. Alcoholic fermentation was left to continue until a residual sugar level of around 5 g/l was achieved. At all stages, the wine was handled very carefully to help retain a little of its natural carbon dioxide. This has resulted in a small amount of spritzig, which adds extra liveliness to the wine and accentuates its freshness.
The colour is lemon-straw. On the nose there is an abundance of citrus, in particular the orange zest that is such a regional feature of North Canterbury Rieslings. There are also aromas of apricot, ginger and spice. The long hang time and influence of botrytis has resulted in a wine that is rich and full bodied, with ripe phenolics that add structure and length. It is mouth filling, yet balanced with refreshing acidity and a dry finish.
“Alsace-style riesling with apricot, lime, orange blossom, apple and oyster shell flavours. The wine is dry but not austere. It has energy and impressive complexity. Good drinking now but with the potential to develop well with bottle age”
“Thirty-seven years later the family business is still at the top of the New Zealand wine tree, with this Riesling, sourced from a single vineyard in Waipara, one of the best in the country. “Rich, mineral, slight petillance, dried fruits, apricots, honey: a complex, full rich style ….”
“… Bel Canto – the greatest Riesling aromatic wine they make each year. This is one of the top wines in New Zealand with its exquisite balance … enormous concentration of flavour”
“A huge, distinctive, aromatically prodigious, wine that leaps from the glass with aromas of orange blossom, marmalade, apricot, ginger and Manuka honey … This is an engaging, expressive wine that stands out from the crowd.”
“… this wine erupts with orange zest, honeysuckle, layers of lime and quartzy minerality resulting in a dry, lipsmacking finish.”
“Distinctive, floral, aromatic and classic with aromas of lime-flower and blossoms, honeysuckle and a botrytis tickle. A silky texture as the wine touches the palate with immediately contrasting acidity … A delicious wine …”
“Impressively complex and engaging … powerful yet graceful with excellent weight and persistency. Richly textured and mouthfilling, it's brilliantly structured by firm acidity, finishing superbly long and flavoursome.”
“… This complex flavour bomb made from Riesling with a portion of botrytis infected grapes shows a sophisticated range of flavours with depth and intensity.”
“… ripe, complex riesling with ginger, cinnamon, anise, mandarin zest and bush honey flavours.”
“Beautiful Riesling … Hints of botrytis spice. Lightly sweet mouth feel.”
“... Distinctive and complex … A rich, weighty, powerful wine with excellent flavour and concentration, balanced by fresh acidity. Impressive.”
“It’s a real thrill when you find a memorable Riesling. There aren’t that many of them worldwide, but Pegasus Bay shows a genius with Riesling that is rare …”
“… It's opulent yet focused and refined … long and delicious.”
“One of the best Rieslings to be had outside Europe is the ‘Bel Canto’ Riesling produced by Pegasus Bay in Canterbury; it’s made in a similar way to Smaragd wines, the best wines of Austria’s Wachau region. It takes on texture and richness as the grapes are allowed to develop certain amount of botrytis rot before harvesting.”
“… Still youthful, it is mouthfilling …with intense, ripe, grapefruit-like flavours, a hint of marmalade, and a crisp, dryish, lasting finish.”
“… Multi-layers of interest have purity and concentration; bright acidity brings focus and tension. This is a concentrated dry Riesling …”
"… Delicious, dry, long. Another captivating Bel Canto from the PB team.”
“…Fruit quickly gives way to a grippy, unfurling stony complexity. This is serious Riesling - it does one thing and it does it extremely well - tense, coiled power in the manner of the impressive German trockens.”
“Bel Canto Dry Riesling is one of New Zealand’s most powerful white wines with its recognisably maverick personality and incredible potential for aging in the long term … I love this wine.”
“Bel Canto is one of New Zealand’s greatest Rieslings from the outstanding Pegasus Bay team in North Canterbury … Drinks very nicely now and will reward time in the cellar.”
“… Very complex. The palate is rich and full-flavoured, intense and expansive It's quite Alsatian in style: powerful, concentrated and rewarding.“
“… a very powerful, weighty wine, with concentrated, peachy flavours, hints of oranges and honey, good delicacy and a dry, lasting finish.”
“… As the wine opens up the complexity builds keeping pace with flavour concentration and texture. Delicious!”
“… A very powerful, weighty wine, it is bright, light yellow/green, with concentrated, peachy flavours, hints of oranges and honey, good delicacy and a lasting finish. It should be long-lived.”
“Exotic …The palate has distinctive weight and richness with guava and apple pastry holding the finish.”
“A gorgeous rendition of dry riesling, it is richly fruited and fragrant … concentrated palate that is generously flavoured and persistent. The wine is elegantly opulent and delectable”
“ ... A richly-textured Riesling with a lingering finish”
“… It's rich and full-bodied, with an opulent, velvety mouthfeel and luxurious flavours of bergamot and orange marmalade.”
A very powerful and essence-like expression of pickled lime, preserved lemon and baked peach fruits. The structure is impeccably judged, reining in massive amounts of flavor perfectly.
“… concentrated, dense heart packed with harmoniously integrated flavours of ripe citrus fruits, marmalade, honeysuckle and musk. This has real body and presence, and the palate has a rounded and gently unctuous mouthfeel….concentrated dry Riesling with ripe citrus fruits, honey, musk and marmalade botrytis flavours on a rounded, unctuous palate”
Dry, flavoursome riesling with honey, toast, lime, ginger and floral flavours. Quite a weighty example, with a drying backbone of phenolics and gentle acidity. A rich and complex wine that should develop well.
“... this outstanding North Canterbury wine shines in just such a fashion with its tropical fruit aromas, juicy acidity, and deliciously long finish. Its drinks beautifully now but can age for a decade or more.”
“… concentrated and with a seductive satiny texture, it is an opulent, Rubenesque expression of a dry Riesling, and it works beautifully.” .
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.
“…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.” .
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.
'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.’.
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.
“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.”
“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.”
“… Medium bodied, dry and crisp, it offers plenty of citrusy fruit in the mouth and a long tangy finish.”
“… 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.”
“… 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.”
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.”
“…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.”
“Fresh, lime, steely and racy on the nose. Very complete and beautifully balanced with real pizzazz to it. Already a fine aperitif. Dry”
“Another trade mark Pegasus Bay dry Riesling...This is full of ripe stone fruits and citrus, fully textured and kaleidoscopic”
“…it’s a very good Riesling made in an Alsace style with plenty of stone fruit, citrus and some floral flavours plus good richness…”
“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.”
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