PEGASUS BAY CHARDONNAY 2020

Pegasus Bay is consistently one of this country's top Chardonnays and given a few years in bottle will become spectacular.

Winery notes (2020 Vintage)
"On release the colour is bright lemon. A rich tapestry of aromas rises to satiate the nose, rock melon, nectarine, and mandarin spray at the fore, interwoven with hints of buttered popcorn, flinty gun smoke, vanilla pod, and a whisper of vegemite. The palate is full bodied yet precise, with a creamy textured mouthfeel balanced by a shaft of invigorating acidity that gives focus and drive. Elegant with underlying power and structure, building towards a long, beguiling close.

We use traditional Burgundian winemaking methods. The fruit was hand-picked in stages during late March and early April, and then gently trodden underfoot to increase complexity and phenolic structure. The free-run, non-clarified juice was then put into large French oak barrels (puncheons), 70% of which were old to limit pickup of oak flavour. In these it underwent primary fermentation by the grapes indigenous yeasts. The wine was then matured in the puncheons on its natural deposits of yeast lees (sur lie). In the summer after harvest, it started to go through spontaneous secondary (malolactic) fermentation. It was regularly tasted during this time and the fermentation was stopped when the ideal balance was obtained. It had approximately 12 months maturation prior to bottling."

Joelle Thomson, drinksbiz Magazine, April/May 2024 (2020 Vintage)
"A great, complex, layered South Island Chardonnay; one of New Zealand’s best. This is a commanding wine with depth of flavour: flinty, zesty, full of citrus purity and smooth, ripe peachy notes captured in a full-bodied dry and lingeringly flavoursome wine."

5 Stars & 95/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, June 2023 (2020 Vintage)
"Bright, fresh chardonnay with grapefruit, oyster shell, sizzled butter, struck flint and spicy oak flavours. Impressive wine with power and purity together with a lengthy finish. Should develop well with bottle age."

5 Stars & 95/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, June 2023 (2020 Vintage)
"Impressively complex and engaging, the bouquet shows ripe stone fruit, gun smoke, lemon peel, cedar and oatmeal aromas, leading to a powerfully expressed palate offering awesome weight and persistency. The wine is wonderfully textured and mouthfilling with a lengthy creamy finish. At its best: now to 2032."

5 Stars Michael Cooper (2020 Vintage)
Strapping yet delicate, richly flavoured yet subtle, this sophisticated North Canterbury wine is one of the country's best Chardonnays grown south of Marlborough. Muscular and taut, it typically offers a seamless array of fresh, crisp, citrusy, biscuity, complex flavours and great concentration and length. Estate-grown at Waipara, it is based on ungrafted, Mendoza-clone vines (over 30 years old), hand-picked and given lengthy oak aging (the 2020 vintage was fermented and lees-aged for a year in French oak puncheons, 30 per cent new). Still very youthful, the vigorous 2020 vintage is bright, light yellow/green, with a fragrant, slightly smoky bouquet. Tightly structured, it has intense, peachy, citrusy, mealy flavours, gently seasoned with biscuity oak, vibrant acidity and a sustained finish. Best drinking 2025+.

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, July 2023 (2020 Vintage)
"Classic Peg-Bay bouquet of power and richness, no mistaking the intensity of style as well as nutty oak and ripeness of stone fruits, cashew and Brazil-nut some burnt butter and baking spices, roasted stone fruits, pineapple and a whisper of butterscotch. Full-bodied, rich in flavours with a creamy satin texture. A mix of sweet oak and medium+ alcohol, plenty of acidity leading to a complete, lengthy finish. Best drinking from 2024 through 2030+."

92+/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, October 2024 (2020 Vintage)
"Struck match, roast pumpkin, grapefruit, peach, sizzled sage in butter. There’s a lot of wheaty and cheesy flavour here, bright acidity, apricot jelly, a fair bit of flint and citrus zest, with a slightly greasy texture to close, but also, a lively lemon zest tang. A whole lot of Chardonnay, assertive and uncompromising. This one goes to eleven, which is OK by me, but gee, it’s every much an ‘experience’ wine."