Pegasus Bay Aria Waipara Valley Late Picked Riesling 2024

Description

Floral, Honey, Medium-sweet

"A lovely mouthful, … Bright, light yellow/green, it is a lush style of Riesling, full-bodied, with peachy, sweet flavours … good acid spine, and lovely delicacy, poise and richness. Already delicious, it should be long-lived" Michael Cooper, May 2025

"This 2024 ‘Late Picked’ Riesling has a shining straw gold colour with a bright glow. On the alluring aroma you have ripe cumquats, white peaches, green melon, morning meadow and fresh honeysuckle notes. The palate is pleasingly engaging, with a luscious landing on the dancefloor, and proudly showcases juicy pineapple, orange skin and freshly squeezed lime juice flavours. The generous amount of retained residual fruit sweetness gives this wine a big-hearted nature and a balanced splash of varietal acidity resulting in a boldly elegant wine with a memorable finish" Gavin Hubble, Grape-to-Glass, Mar 2025

"This is immediately appealing on the nose with orange peel, grilled pineapple, Manuka Honey, and warm spice aromas, followed by a plush palate that's richly textured with delectable sweetness, wonderfully balanced by juicy acidity. Opulent with excellent harmony and structure, making it hugely appealing" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2025

"Bright, even, pale yellow gold. The nose is elegant and fragrant, with aromas of stonefruit, citrus, frangipani, jasmine, honey and spice. Medium-bodied, sweet to taste, with aromas of apricot, ripe peach and mandarin entwined with honey, jasmine, frangipani and ginger. The flavour is detailed and vivid, complex yet elegant, with a creamy mouthfeel and impeccable tension and balance. This Riesling is engaging, expressive and refined" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Mar 2025

"Taut, youthful, fresh, and new, with aromas of apple and lemon, ginger, and lees. An off-dry expression with sweetness and acidity in balance. Flavours of apples and lemons, apple tarte Tatin, and lime flower all flow onto the palate. Taut and very new still, this is a wine that needs time to settle and develop properly in your cellar. Lovely length and potential" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Mar 2025

With its bright golden hue, the bouquet is gorgeously fragrant and enticing, revealing a treasure trove of stone fruit, floral and citrus. White peach, apricot, honeysuckle and orange blossom, are melded with the refreshing zing of lemon curd and lime sherbet. The palate is wonderfully expressed, offering delightful sweetness, creamy texture and vivid acidity. This season has delivered a finely tuned rendition of Aria that is intense, yet finally poised, with a long, honeyed finish.

The vineyard is located within the Waipara Valley of North Canterbury, on free draining, north facing terraces. It benefits from being in the lee of the Teviotdale Range, giving maximum protection from the Pacific’s easterly breezes and thus creating a unique mesoclimate. The vines are over 30 years old, with a large proportion planted on their own roots. They are located on the “Glasnevin Gravels” where greywacke stones, silt and loam have been washed down from the mountains over the millennia. The soil is of low fertility, resulting in naturally reduced vine vigour. This produces low yields of optimally ripened, high quality, flavourful grapes, which fully express the qualities of this unique terroir. The vineyard has warm days, but the nights are amongst the coolest in the Waipara Valley, drawing out the ripening period of the grapes, while still retaining good natural acidity.

Cooler and windier conditions during Spring meant lower crop levels, keeping fruit thinning to a minimum. The weather gods then handed us the opposite during Summer, with a warm and settled state prevailing, so this smaller crop was able to mature beautifully. Autumn was similarly favourable, allowing each variety to be picked at its optimum ripeness. Our 2024 harvest saw smaller yields across the board, but as a result we were blessed with intense fruit flavour and concentration, delivering some outstanding wines.

Aria is part of Pegasus Bay’s reserve series and is the sister wine to our Bel Canto dry riesling. Both are only made in exceptional years. After an extended hang time, the bunches were hand selected with a ripeness of approximately 28 Brix. The grapes were then gently pressed, and the juice fermented slowly at cool temperatures to help the wine retain its vibrant fruit characters and varietal purity. At all stages, from fermentation to bottling, it was handled very carefully to help retain a little of its naturally dissolved carbon dioxide. This has resulted in a small amount of spritzig, which adds extra liveliness to the wine and accentuates its freshness.