PEGASUS BAY ENCORE NOBLE RIESLING 2025 375ml

Producer of the Year – Susie & Peter New Zealand Wines of the Year 2026

Pegasus Bay are no strangers to glowing praise, but they are particularly chuffed about a recent accolade they received being named PRODUCER OF THE YEAR in Susie & Peters NZ WINES OF THE YEAR 2026.

For those of you that don’t know Susie & Peter, they are both UK based MW’s and have a very popular podcast called Wine Blast. They tasted through over 200 wines from NZ’s best producers to assemble the list. See the list here.

The wine has intense aromas and flavours of ripe peaches, nectarines and apricots. Behind these lie hints of tropical fruits, such as pineapples, guavas and lychees. It has a core of citrus fruit characters with impressions of lemons, limes and grape-fruit, that flow through the palate and linger as a tingling minerality, perfectly balancing its lusciously, honeyed structure.

Winery notes (2025 Vintage)
“With an alluring pale gold hue, Encore 2025 presents a delightfully fragranced nose, replete with lychee, apricot, honeyed pear and chocolate orange. Nestled within there are also suggestions of linden blossom, sweet spices and a whisp of cut hay. On the generous and engaging palate your senses are fully occupied. Succulent fruit intensity is complemented by charming sweetness and a whip of lively acidity, setting the stage for a long and luscious finish.

Encore is part of our reserve series and is dependent on specific conditions at the end of the season leading to noble rot. This wine is made in the style of an Alsatian Selection des Grains Nobles, or a German Trockenbeerenauslësen. Riesling grapes were left to hang until late autumn, and then hand-picked, choosing the most beautifully botrytic fruit. Further hand selection was carried out in the winery, retaining only the best berries. These were gently pressed, and a small amount of very rich juice obtained. This was transferred into tank, where it was left to gradually ferment at low temperatures, to preserve varietal purity and help the wine express the unique characters of our region.”

Rated Outstanding & 96/100 Cameron Douglas MS, February 2026 (2025 Vintage)
“A powerful honeyed fruits bouquet, spices and treacle, tart apples and citrus peel. On the palate, a completely delicious wine, seductive and fruity, very sweet and piquant with a backbone of acidity for contrast and saline salivating appeal. Long, fruitful and delicious. This is medicine for the soul. Best fron day of purchase through 2036+.”​​​​​​​

Reviews for the previous release below…

5 Stars & 96/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, December 2022 (2017 Vintage)
“Deep, yellow/gold colour. Very intense, exotic wine with bush honey, musk, honeycomb, passionfruit, mango and even a hint of durian. It’s not at all cloying despite its intensity, thanks to a mouth-watering thread of fine acidity. Delicious now but no rush.”

5 Stars Michael Cooper, May 2022 (2017 Vintage)
“Grown at Waipara, in North Canterbury, this beauty is from hand-selected, botrytised bunches and berries, harvested late in the season in multiple passes through the vineyard. The 2017 vintage is golden, with a rich bouquet of apricots and honey. A wine of great depth, beauty and harmony, it has rich, oily peach, apricot and honey flavours, abundant sweetness (266 grams/litre of residual sugar), good acid spine and an enduring finish.”

Rated Outstanding, Mark Henderson, Otago Daily Times, June 2023 (2017 Vintage)
“The nose oozes richness. Barley sugar, musk, smoky botrytis, honey, beeswax, mandarin, super complex. Lush, intensely viscous, coats the palate, yet for all its power and sweetness there’s lovely balance, with a core of acidity that keeps this fresh. Incredibly intense, dessert in a glass, the flavours linger & linger. Pair with blue cheese perhaps.”

5 Stars & 19.5/20 (98) Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Reviews, December 2022 (2017 Vintage)
“Bright, medium-gold colour, even colour throughout. This has an intense, voluminous bouquet packed with honey, bubble gum, spice, beeswax, marmalade and baked apple. Medium-bodied, luscious to taste, aromas of clementine, lime marmalade and baked apple melded with honey, ginger, beeswax and floral perfume. The mouthfeel is unctuous and voluminous; brilliant acidity attacks with freshness and tension provide a refreshing, extremely long finish. This Noble Riesling shows impressive arrays of flavour, strength and balance, lending an incredibly moreish, pleasing finish. Only produced in exceptional vintages, best berries selected in the winery from late-picked, noble botrytized fruit, gently pressed, fermented in tank over many months at low temperatures. 10.5% alc, 266 g/l RS.”