PEGASUS BAY CHARDONNAY 2022

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

Winery notes (2022 Vintage)
"Pale yellow in colour, the nose is complex and inviting, with concentrated citrus and bright tropical notes. Suggestions of grapefruit, melon, pineapple and vanilla, wrapped in a smoky mantle, interwoven with toasty barrel spice and savoury nuances of grilled mushroom. The mouthfeel is vigorous and vibrantly fruity, displaying excellent weight and a fleshy texture. A skewer of rousing acidity slices through the core of the wine, adding persistency and structure on the long, salivating finish.

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."

5 Stars & 95/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, March 2025 (2022 Vintage)
"Richly styled with gorgeous complexity, showing grilled pineapple, mango, grapefruit, roasted hazelnut, and flinty characters on the nose. The palate delivers terrific weight and fleshy texture, wonderfully supported by beautifully pitched acidity, finishing impressively long and expansive. At its best: now to 2034."

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, March 2025 (2022 Vintage)
"A fabulous wine with classic Pegasus Bay signatures of power and complexity, oak and and myriad fruit ideas. Aromas and flavours of stone and citrus fruits, especially peach and grapefruit, some melon and baked pineapple. Full-bodied on the palate with fruit, alcohol and tannins all contributing to mouthfeel and style. Delicious, flavourful and very moor-ish. Best drinking from day of purchase through 2030."

5 Stars Michael Cooper (2022 Vintage)
"Strapping yet delicate, richly flavoured yet subtle, this sophisticated 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 … Bright, light yellow/green, the 2022 is a powerful wine with a fragrant, smoky bouquet. Full of youthful drive, it is mouthfilling and very savoury, with generous, ripe stonefruit flavours, leesy, mealy, biscuity notes adding complexity, finely balanced acidity and a long finish."