Description
Pegasus Bay is one of New Zealand’s most esteemed family-owned wineries, located in the Waipara Valley of North Canterbury. Founded in 1986 by Ivan and Christine Donaldson, who were among the pioneers of viticulture in the region, the estate has remained a true family affair, with all four of their sons actively involved in its operation today.
The vineyard is situated on north-facing, free-draining terraces in the lee of the Teviotdale Range, which offers natural shelter from coastal winds and creates a unique mesoclimate ideal for grape growing. The soils, known as the Glasnevin Gravels, are a blend of greywacke stones, silt, and loam, washed down over millennia, and are naturally low in fertility. This encourages deep root growth and low yields, resulting in fruit of exceptional concentration and character. The climate, with warm days and cool nights, ensures extended ripening and excellent natural acidity.
Pegasus Bay is renowned for producing complex, age-worthy wines, particularly Pinot Noir and Riesling, along with richly textured Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Their wines are widely acclaimed both domestically and internationally for their balance, depth, and strong sense of place.
Traditional Burgundian winemaking methods were used to make this wine. We picked the various blocks at different stages, depending on their maturity, aiming for a range of red and dark fruit flavours. Approximately 40% the grapes were put at the bottom of the fermentation vats as whole bunches, with the balance being destemmed on top, retaining as many whole berries as possible. The vats were kept cool over the next few days to help extract the soft, silky tannins from the pinot noir skins. After approximately a week, the must started to ferment naturally. During fermentation,n the skins of the grapes were gently plunged twice daily. When the fermentation finished, the grape remnants were left to steep in the wine for up to a week to help extract a different range of tannins that add structure and depth. The exact duration of this period was determined by daily tasting. Subsequently, the wine was gently pressed off and put into oak barriques (40% new) from selected artisan Burgundian coopers. In the summer after harvest, when the weather warmed, the wine underwent a natural malolactic (secondary) fermentation. After maturing for 15 months in these barriques, the batches made from the many different plots and clones of pinot were carefully blended in varying portions to produce the most complex and balanced wine possible.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.