PEGASUS BAY RIESLING 2019

Pegasus Bay Riesling is arguably the wine that put Waipara on the map. It's a classic and always delivers. Perfect at anytime of the day – it just makes you feel good.

Winery notes (2019 Vintage)
"Unsettled weather over flowering resulted in a lighter than average set, meaning that no further fruit thinning was necessary. A classic North Canterbury summer then enabled this smaller crop to mature beautifully. Accelerated ripening allowed harvest to take place slightly earlier than usual, and favourable autumn weather ensured the grapes were picked in perfect condition.

On release the colour is lemon-straw. The bouquet is a zesty fusion of quince, citrus blossom, lemon meringue and green apple, cloaked in a spicy mineral underlay. In the mouth the experience is also multi-layered, displaying both richness and precision, texture and poise. Charming sweetness is backed by refreshing acidity and a hint of spritzig that creates a vibrant tension, ensuring the wine remains perfectly balanced with a fresh and lively finish."

Rated Outstanding & 95/100 Cameron Douglas MS, July 2021 (2019 Vintage)​
"​Peaches and limes, green apples and white blossoms, honey suckle and green mandarin. Vibrant, fresh, youthful and pure. As the wine touches the palate the acidity begins to dance and tingle while the core of fruit flavours mirror the nose. No mistaking the acidity with a whisper of contrasting residual sweetness then a return to flavours of mandarin and lime flower, apple and peach. Delicious, fleshy and long. Best drinking from purchase and through 2030+."

5 Stars & 95/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, August 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"Immensely complex and enticing, the bouquet shows mango, orange peel, honey, potpourri and warm spice aromas, leading to a gorgeously flavoursome palate that's filled with succulent fruit flavours and spicy nuances. It's generous and opulent yet refined and structured with a persistent delicious finish. Style: Medium. At its best: now to 2034."

5 Stars Michael Cooper (2019 Vintage)
"Classy stuff. Estate-grown at Waipara, in North Canterbury, in top vintages it is richly fragrant and thrillingly intense, with flavours of citrus fruits and honey, complex and luscious. Based on mature vines and stop-fermented in a distinctly medium style, it breaks into full stride at about three years old and can mature well for over a decade. The 2019 vintage is full of youthful vigour. Bright, light lemon/green, it is very fresh and rich, with intense, lemony, appley flavours, a hint of honey, gentle sweetness (28 grams/litre of residual sugar), and a crisp, very harmonious finish. Likely to be long-lived, it should be at its best 2024+."

Rated Excellent to Outstanding, Mark Henderson, ODT, October 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"Volume on the nose immediately apparent. Flits from a little funk to apple, grapefruit and musk, nice complexity. Richness, filling the mouth, apple, musky botrytis, spices, off dry with super acid balance. Excellent focus to this, super texturally with winning complexity. Great length and a lovely lip-smacking close. I want to go back for more of this."

5 Stars & 19-/20 (95) Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Reviews, July 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"Bright, pale yellow with a slight green hue, lighter on the rim. The nose has concentration and poise, nuances of mandarin, green apple, lime zest entwined with lime flowers. Medium-full bodied, medium-dry to taste, a concentrated core of green apple, mandarin and zest, apricots melded with honey, lime flower enriched by pollen and a hint of ginger. The palate is vibrant and refreshing; invigorating acidity flows with light honey syrup, rounded the palate. Purity of fruit layered with charming spice and floral elements. This is a medium-dry Riesling with pure fruit, multilayered richness and precision. Match with salted cod brandade and pork rillette over the next 10 years. Handpicked ripe grapes with a portion of botrytis, cool-fermented to 12% alc, 28 g/l RS."

Rated Excellent, 5 Stars & 94/100 NZ Wine Rater, June 2022 (2019 Vintage)
"Bright, bold and punchy on the nose with aromas of mandarin, pineapple, granny-smith apple and a suggestion of ginger/honeycomb botrytis influence. Quite rich, full bodied and flavoursome with a spritz element and a zesty finish."