“… The delicious 2019 vintage is full-coloured, with a highly fragrant, savoury bouquet … showing excellent complexity, ripe, supple tannins and an ultra smooth, very harmonious finish”

“… A high level of fruit concentration in its light to medium-bodied frame provides power without weight.  Aeration allows what seem initially to be dry, untamed tannins to settle and integrate more fully ...”

“… A full-bodied, concentrated, engaging, flavoursome, massively structured wine with layers of mouth-coating tannins and a long savoury finish. A wine that pushes all the boundaries.”

“Fantastic bouquet, enticing, complex, varietal and savoury … A delicious and complex wine that will age well if given the chance.”

“ … A mellow, elegant wine with floral/red rose, dark cherry, plum, dried herb and spicy oak flavours. It has a reputation for ageing well.”

“Immensely complex and seductively inviting … wonderfully weighted palate that's richly textured and impressively long on the finish. It's opulent and velvety, while remaining structured and harmonious with a sustained engaging finish.”

“… good energy and vibrancy … This refined yet powerful Pinot Noir shows a range of ripe fruit, spice and floral details structured by fine-grained tannins for years to come.”

“… Medium- to full-bodied with silky, fruit-soaked tannins. A bit of modern woody spice add texture and depth to the bevy of red fruit and berries on the palate. Elegant and lingering. Delicious and will age wonderfully.”

“The flagship wine for Pegasus Bay, this is just brilliant … A sublime expression of New Zealand Pinot Noir …”

“Immensely complex and engaging … Mouthfilling and sumptuous, finishing impressively long and gratifying”

“ … Intense, elegant pinot noir … Showing the benefit of a little bottle age but with potential to develop further. A very classy wine.”

“   The wine is complex and pretty, delicate with underlying power and strength … This seductive Pinot Noir with delicate sweet fruit and floral features on a silky mouthfeel with power, charm, and a long, satisfying finish …”

“… a dense, rich and full-bodied expression … The 2017 vintage might not go down in the history books as a great one in New Zealand, but this is an impressive wine with a promising future.”

““… Full body with lively acidity … Bright and crunchy with a fleshy texture. Balanced and layered with a long, precise finish." 

“The 2017 Prima Donna Pinot Noir epitomizes what this bottling is all about: finesse, silkiness and harmony ...." 

“… A powerful, weighty red, it is notaby concentrated, … rich and complex, and finely balanced tannins. Still very youthful, it should be long-lived”

“… Immensely complex … It’s impressively concentrated and persistent … classically structured and refined”.

“… Elegant yet powerful … All the components are there for a long life ahead but it is - surprisingly - already approachable …”

“   Immediately varietal … Youthful, complex, layered. … “

“   quality and style tend to be extremely consistent; earthy flavours combined with freshness, power and elegance.”  

“… Dense, silken-textured wine … complex and appealing red”

“   The flavours are with depth and concentration. … integrated with harmony, complex and powerful yet gentle and elegant …”

“A very impressive pinot for the complexity and richness it offers … a very intense and plush feel with plenty of dark cherries and plums, wrapped in smooth and polished tannin”

“ …. vibrant cherry, plum and spice… mouthfilling … concentrated, savoury and supple, that build to a powerful finish.”

“Take a bow. An excellent Pinot Noir … dripping in elegance … generous … supple and silky smooth … One to savour”

“ …concentrated yet elegant pinot noir, … Compelling”

“This is stunningly beautiful; ..complex bouquet … sumptuous on the palate with rich texture and flowing mouthfeel, offering awesome power and well as elegance …”

“ … rich, concentrated and quite savoury pinot noir, … very complex wine.  Firmly structured but accessible …”

“Grand, majestic and complex pinot noir that has an expansive, entrancing style … deep flavoursome … expansive rising finish.  Superb! …”

“ … Complex … Fine velvet tannins supported by acidity a vibrato of textures, quite a lengthy complex finish"

The refinement and brilliance of the fruit on offer here really sets this wine apart from the regular Pegasus Bay pinot noir. Deliciously rich dark cherry aromas and flavors are presented amid silky, refined and long-form tannins. A great wine, in every respect.

"Prima Donna Pinot Noir is an elite barrel selection and in 2013 it is one of the greatest wines I have ever seen from this country. ….”

“ …. Deep, plush, rather powerful Pinot Noir with rich, ripe tannins and excellent length.” 

” …. mouth-filling red berry flavours supported by finely grained tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and earthy.”

Rated one of the best Pinot Noirs in the world (outside of Burgundy)

“…immense purity and is terrifically crunchy. There are red cherries at the core, dark spices, earth and fine chocolate at the edge. It's very long and direct. Will age magnificently”

“….rich and complex wine with impressive weight and intensity….Powerful wine with obvious cellaring potential”.

Pegasus Bay’s winemaking team uses traditional Burgundian methods, including small vat fermentation and ageing the wine in French oak barriques for 18 months. Made “in small quantities in the best vintages from the oldest vines”, this flagship pinot noir is a powerful combination of intense plum, cherry and berry flavours with haunting floral notes, Oriental spices and an intriguing savoury, forest floor, rustic character. A delicious pinot with ageing potential.

A composed, svelte and powerful pinot with terrific focus and a real sense of freshness. The complexity has been cleverly engineered into place and is all spicy, brambly and foresty. The palate has sheets of tannin tilted upright, is very linear, focused and composed, long and uncompromising, yet smooth and polished. A class act.

“… opens to reveal complex scents of raspberry, cola, musky spices and flowers. Sappy and fresh, with terrific depth and intensity to the lightly saline flavors of raspberry, bitter cherry and spices. This very firmly built wine finishes with a youthfully bitter quality and solid tannic spine for aging. Give it a double decanting if you plan to broach a bottle any time soon--or, better yet, cellar it for five years….”

“Medium-bodied, the palate is led by a solid structure of medium to firm grainy tannins and crisp acid supporting the muscular red berry and savoury flesh, finishing long.”

'Top Wine of NZ tasting (100's tasted)' “…downright Chambolle-like. Sweet and densely packed but youthfully tight, with impressive inner-mouth energy giving the intense red berry and mineral flavours terrific penetration. The superb rising finish saturates the palate with mineral-driven fruit. This is painfully backward today and may yet merit an even higher score with a few years in bottle.”

“This is crazy pure with strawberry, flowers, raspberries and licorice. Full and very dense with fabulous tannins and length. Chewy yet polished. Drink or hold.”

“... should flourish for a decade. Deep and youthful in colour, it is powerful and finely fragrant, with dense cherry, plum and slight liquorice flavours, deliciously rich and well-rounded.