PEGASUS BAY MERLOT / CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2021

Pegasus Bay Merlot Cabernet is a wine that is an exception and exceptionally good! It is a wine that defies its cool climate origins and delivers rich, deep, earthy, dark fruited flavours on a strong grounded palate. We absolutely love it!

Winery notes (2021 Vintage)
"It has a dense, inky, and brooding appearance. Creeping stealthily from the glass is a convoy of wild and savoury aromas. Wood smoke, leather, tobacco, and roast game, melded with grilled plum and spiced berries, an herbaceous drive, and curious mineral undertones. Tightly packed tannins and a concentrated mouthfeel give the wine a powerful, muscular presence. A seam of vigorous acidity creates the perfect partnership, rippling through the palate to deliver a sustained and gratifying finish.

This wine is made in the same style as the celebrated Claret from Bordeaux, using traditional methods. After being picked over several weeks in April, the grapes began fermentation naturally in stainless steel tanks. During this process the juice was regularly pumped over the cap of floating grape skins (rather than plunging), to ensure a perfect tannin balance was extracted from the fruit. The wine was then gently pressed off and put into French oak barriques (20% new). The following summer, when the weather warmed, it underwent a natural malo-lactic (secondary) fermentation. After maturing in oak for 18 months, the various batches were then carefully blended in varying portions to produce the most complex and balanced wine possible. The finished product is predominately Merlot, with the remainder comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, and a small amount of Cabernet Franc."

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, July 2024 (2021 Vintage)
"Richly coloured core of dark purples and reds with stains in the tears lead to a bouquet and palate youth, power and concentration. As the wine touches the palate there’s a distinctive flinty and reductive quality, this will dissipate as the wine ages in your cellar. Flavours of dark berries and plums, violets and blue fruits then layers of wood spices and smoke. Excellent tannin and acid line surround the core fruit flavours. There are many natural synergies between the fruit and wine maker’s touch. A wine that simply needs time to settle and begin to age, the integration is underway. Best drinking from 2028 through 2038+."

5 Stars & 94/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, July 2024 (2021 Vintage)
"Richly fruited and fragrant, the bouquet shows blackcurrant, blueberry, rich floral, toasty oak and dried herb notes, followed by a superbly weighted palate delivering silky texture and layers of polished tannins. Mouthfilling and deliciously long on the finish. At its best: now to 2036."

93/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, August 2024 (2021 Vintage)
"Inky red with a seductive velvet texture and flavours that resemble Christmas cake, vanilla, chocolate, coffee and mixed spices. Remarkably ripe and attractive wine that promises to age well but is drinking well now."