The Season

An exceptionally early budburst was brought about by a very mild spring. Warm summer days with cool nights and a balmy, dry autumn produced healthy, beautifully ripened fruit while retaining a wonderful balance and crispness.

The Vineyard and Vines

The vines, which are 25 years old, on their own roots, grow in well drained, stony soil on a series of north facing, gradually descending terraces. The site is warm during the day but cool at night, resulting in good ripening while retaining the berries natural acids. Our main variety of chardonnay, known locally as Mendoza, typically produces light crops of small berries and hence tends to make concentrated wines.

Harvest and Wine Making

We use traditional Burgundian winemaking methods. After picking in mid-April, the fruit was gently pressed and the unclarified juice put into large French oak barrels (puncheons), only 30% of which were new. There it underwent spontaneous primary fermentation by the grapes’ own yeasts, (without any temperature control, other than the cool nights of the late autumn). The wine then rested on this yeast deposit (sur lie). In the summer after harvest it started to go through natural secondary (malo-lactic) fermentation by its indigenous micro-organisms. It was regularly tasted during this time and the process stopped when ideal balance was achieved. After a total of 1 year in puncheons the wine was blended and put into a very large, old, oak vat to allow it to further integrate prior to bottling, which was 20 months after harvest.

The Wine

There is a complex interplay of fruity and savoury elements. Impressions of peaches, yellow plums, greengages and citrus fruits blend with those of breakfast cereal, lightly buttered toast, wood smoke and liquorice. While it has presence in the mouth, initially expanding and starting to show its weight, it is kept tight knit by a stream of minerality which flows through the palate and draws out its tangy after-taste. Although ready to drink on release, with careful cellaring it should continue to develop a range of additional nuances in the bottle over the next 5 or 6 years and live for a decade or more.

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Awarded Classic Status.
- Michael Cooper's Buyers Guide, NZ
"Although wine maker Matthew Donaldson look as though he has just got in from an all night rave they are presently producing some of New Zealand’s most exhilarating, Burgundy inspired white wines...".
- Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, USA

2020

94/100
“Rich and reductive nose of toast, lemon curd, mango stones … Deep and oily with a full body and bright acidity. Toasty. Salted caramel at the end.”
- James Suckling Wine Reviews, www.jamessuckling.com, USA
92/100
“ … It’s a serious and unapologetic style erring on the right side of funky …"
- Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous,USA

A great, complex, layered South Island Chardonnay; one of New Zealand’s best ….”

- Joelle Thomson, Drinksbiz Magazine, NZ
Strapping yet delicate, richly flavoured yet subtle, this sophisticated North Canterbury wine is one of the country’s best Chardonnays … “
- Michael Cooper, Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide, NZ
95/100
Impressively complex and engaging a powerfully expressed palate offering awesome weight and persistency.” 
- Sam Kim, www.wineorbit.co.nz, NZ
94/100

“ … Full-bodied, rich in flavours with a creamy satin texture ….”

- Cameron Douglas MS, camdouglasms.com, NZ
92/100

“… The wine is rich and concentrated. Full throttle! ….”

- Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate, www.robertparker.com, USA


2019

“… An absolute Southern icon chardonnay … generously layered … It’s beautifully balanced, and boasts slightly charred oak and waves of gumtingling textures that last and last. It’s outstanding. … “
- Yvonne Lorkin, www.yvonnelorkin.com, NZ
95/100
There’s no mistaking the power and intensity of this wine … Bold and proud bouquet … a decent acid line and persistent lengthy finish.” 
- Cameron Douglas MS, camdouglasms.com, NZ
“… fragrant, complex bouquet. Mouthfilling, it is concentrated, with vibrant, peachy, mealy flavours, oak complexity, fresh acidity and the structure to mature well. Full of personality …"
- Michael Cooper, www.michaelcooperwines.com, NZ
94/100
“Lots of flint and stone aromas with lemons and green apples. Medium-bodied with a tight and linear palate and a long, flavourful finish. Very intense.”
- James Suckling Wine Reviews, www.jamessuckling.com, USA
95/100

“… a smooth-textured chardonnay with white peach, lemon curd, grapefruit and spicy oak flavours. Appealing purity and power. A sophisticated and complex wine.”

- Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, NZ
19/20
“This is one of the South Island’s most powerful, full-bodied, dry and rewardingly complex Chardonnays … The flavours are elegant and focused with a lingering finish.”
- Joelle Thomson, Drinksbiz Magazine, NZ
95/100
Superbly complex and inviting with ripe stone fruit, grapefruit, gun smoke … it's powerful and richly expressed on the palate offering outstanding depth and textured mouthfeel. Great presence with a prolonged gratifying finish.”
- Sam Kim, www.wineorbit.co.nz, NZ
18.5+/20
“ … This rich, multi-layered Chardonnay shows power and abundance of vivid fruit across a lengthy, sustained finish.
- Candice Chow, www.raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz, NZ

2018

19/20
“…The wines is creamy, dry, full-bodies and savoury with an incredibly refreshing taste of ripe, citrusy grapefruit and a lingering finish.” 
- Joelle Thomson, Drinksbiz Magazine, NZ
92/100
“…This is not your shy and retiring Chardonnay … it’s a real mouthful … “
- Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous
“Strapping yet delicate, richly flavoured yet subtle, this sophisticated North Canterbury wine is one of the country’s best Chardonnays … “
- Michael Cooper, Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide, NZ
94/100
“Intense, richly textured … A generously-proportioned and complex chardonnay”.
- Bob Campbell MW, www.bobcampbell.nz, NZ
95/100
“… a wonderfully weighted palate that offers outstanding depth and richness gloriously satisfying” .
- Sam Kim – Wine Writer, www.wineorbit.co.nz, NZ

2017

17/20
“… Masterfully, this speaks the language of Burgundy with all of its familiar inflections; flint, restraint, the phenolics of a delayed whole-bunch press An intellectual rendition and very well done.”
- Stephen Wong MW
GOLD
“…Great intensity and concentration.  Complex and rich; long finish with grapefruit citrus … “
- The Six Nations Wine Challenge
“This powerful, North Canterbury wine has a definite ‘wow’ factor.  … Full of personality, ... weighty but elegant palate, … lovely depth.”
- Winestate magazine, AUS
96/100
“Impressive, vibrant and flinty …Great wine that is packed with interest
- Nick Stock, jamessuckling.com, USA
96/100
“Superbly fruited and impressively lifted …. Seductively flinty complexity. … The palate is equally engaging with excellent weight and concentration … finishing extremely long and expansive
- Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, wineorbit.co.nz, NZ
95/100
“Bold, complex and flavoursome Chardonnay … A rich, weighty, textural wine that ‘feels’ as good as it tastes
- Bob Campbell MW, NZ

2016

19-/20
“ … the wine posses underlying power carrying the palate to a long finish. … a rich and luscious chardonnay …”
- Raymond Chan, raymondchanwinereivews.co.nz, NZ
95/100
“... satisfylingly complex wine with a great texture and very lengthy finish.  A bright high energy wine …”
- Bob Campbell MW, NZ
EXCELLENT
“…Right out of the blocks …drinking superbly”
- Mark Henderson, Otago Daily Times, NZ
94/100
“...Quite complex … tasty and very moreish.   Lengthy finish, balanced and well-made
- Cameron Douglas MS
94/100
“...Excellent … a walk on the wild side …”
- Gary Walsh, The Winefront, AUS
93/100
“Handy concentration and integration of some very complex traits … long smooth finish
- Nick Stock, jamessuckling.com, USA

2015

95/100
Very complex, very concentrated and very good.  This has a big hit of grapefruit and lemon citrus.  Quite pithy and flinty.  The palate has layers and layers of fruit, delivering flavors that follow in the stone fruit and citrus threads seen on the nose. Spicy oak warms up through the finish”
- Nick Stock, jamessuckling.com, USA
“ …. The bouquet is fragrant and youthful; the palate weighty … a very finely balanced, long, savoury finish. Already delicious ….” 
- Winestate Magazine, AUS
18.5+/20
“ … the palate is elegantly concentrated with an intense heart … The mouthfeel has fine textures guiding the fruit, and the acidity is refined and refreshingly crisp … to a long, lingering finish of stonefruits and nuts.  This is an intense and complex flavoured Chardonnay” .
- Raymond Chan, raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz, NZ
18.5/20
“It’s not often you find Chardonnay as good as this one,…a complex, dry and richly flavoursome white…super delicious…” 
- Joelle Thomson, Drinksbiz Magazine, NZ
“Strapping yet delicate, richly flavoured yet subtle, this sophisticated North Canterbury wine is one of the country's best Chardonnays. …. Weighty, sweet-fruited and smooth, it has very generous, peachy, mealy, slightly buttery and spicy flavours, and a long, dry, savoury, seamless finish” 
- Michael Copper, michaelcooper.co.nz, NZ

2013

19.5/20
“ …. punchy and bold in expression.  Full-bodied and with immense presence and power …. This is a very powerful, flavour-packed, complex-layered Chardonnay …”
- Raymond Chan, raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz, NZ
92/100
“ … a rich, intense Chardonnay that has plenty of power …A wine that shows class"
- Rebecca Gibb MW, rebeccagibb.com, NZ
95/100
“...Bold, powerful wine with a lingering finish.” .
- Bob Campbell MW, bobcampbell.nz, NZ
“   This is an outstanding white wine, year on year; modelled on the great Burgundian whites … An exceptional South Island Chardonnay that says ‘drink me now’ but also clearly has the staying power to age and evolve beautifully …” .
- Joelle Thomson, Drinksbiz Magazine, NZ
“..complexity builds as the wine rests on the palate; specific use of oak adds texture and length.A great wine that teases the palate in all the right ways..”
- Cameron Douglas MS, NZ

2012

19/20
“…The wine has a linear core following a fine, textural thread, unveiling layers of savoury stonefruit and nutty detail with subtle oak and minerally nuances as it carries to a long, softly refreshing finish. This is a complex-flavoured savoury, stonefruit and nutty Chardonnay with excellent vitality and fresh acidity . . .”.
- Raymond Chan, raymondchanwinereviews.co.nz, NZ
This Chardonnay comes from North Canterbury’s best known winery, Pegasus Bay, whose reputation has been forged on making great whites – particularly full bodied Rieslings but also exceptional good Chardonnays, which can age well. This is due to the cool climate delivering grapes with vibrant acidity, which preserves these lovely fleshy whites.
- Joelle Thompson, Drinksbiz, NZ

2011

One of the best NZ Chardonnays I’ve tasted this year. This youthful Chardonnay is taut and linear, focused and elegant. It gives attractive flinty sulphide-derived characters, as well as white stone fruit. New French oak adds a hazelnutty layer. High level of concentration in mouth suggests low yields, and combined with a long finish, this Chardonnay exudes quality.
- Rebecca Gibb, rebeccagibb.com, NZ
90/100
“…Reticent, pure aromas of lemon peel, lime, minerals and white pepper. Densely packed and subtly complex, with citrus and nectarine flavors complemented by spicy oak and a captivating leesy quality that contributes texture as well as another flavor element. More Burgundy than New World in style in spite of its mid-palate sweetness….” .
- Steve Tanzer, internationalwinecellar.com, USA
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Pegasus Bay

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Off Licence.
Licence Holder:Donaldson Family Limited T/A:Pegasus Bay Winery.
Licence no:57/OFF/458/2022 Exp:16/3/2025