Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Waipara Valley Dry Riesling 2024

Description

Dry, Floral, Pineapple

"Complex and enticing, the bouquet shows ripe apricot, pineapple, rockmelon, lemon cured, and warm spice aromas. The fabulously expressed palate displays excellent weight and finely textured mouthfeel, brilliantly structured by mouthwatering acidity, finishing superbly long and satisfying" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jun 2025

"Very perfumed with lemon peel, lime zest and orange blossom, this is a powerful, flavoursome off-dry riesling with classical proportions. There is a grainy phenolic grip and pithiness to balance the tingling acidity and touch of sweetness, all tightly wound around each other on the long finish. This can be enjoyed now but will easily age for a decade or more" Stephen Wong, The Real Review, Dec 2025

"Bel Canto means 'Beautiful Singing'. Based on the estate's mature vines at Waipara, in North Canterbury, the 2024 vintage was hand-picked at an advanced level of ripeness and tank fermented. Bright, light lemon/green, it is an invitingly scented wine with a powerful presence. Mouthfilling, it has rich yet delicate, very energetic flavours of peaches, lemons and lychees, and a very long, slightly off-dry finish. Already highly approachable, it's full of personality and likely to be long lived" Michael Cooper, Jul 2025

"A fragrant and delicious wine with aromas of orange blossom and lime-flower, lime and grapefruit then red apple. Complex and classic PB style, youthful and captivating. A dry wine on the palate with a backbone of acidity fand mineral framing flavours of citrus and apple reflecting the bouquet. Delicious, lengthy and very tasty" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Jun 2025

"This is very pure and focused with precise citrus fruit, some mandarin and orange zest, and then some fresh melony fruit. So pure and zesty with a crystalline citrus character and nice texture, finishing with a hint of white pepper and spice. Complex and pure" Jamie Goode, Wine Anorak, Feb 2026

"Bright, even, pale yellow gold. The nose is full, with aromas of stonefruit, lychee, underlying citrus, zest, jasmine and orange blossom. Full-bodied, dry to taste, aromas of apricot, lychee and grapefruit intertwined with grapefruit peels, jasmine and orange blossom. The fruit is lush and shows good weight; invigorating acidity carries zesty spice and floral fragrance to an extended, layered finish. A consistent, complex and intriguing Riesling" Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Reviews, Jun 2025

"Orange blossoms, sliced oranges and lemon peel as well as pears. Full-bodied, creamy and layered with ginseng and lemon at the end. This is harvested very late, giving it some botrytis" James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com, Dec 2024

You are greeted by a light gold colour with a shining lime hue. A full and richly scented bouquet rises from the glass, with suggestions of pineapple, quince and oyster shell, spliced with floral notes of citrus blossom and honeysuckle. The concentrated palate displays outstanding weight and a richly textured mouthfeel, perfectly structured by vibrant acidity and a sassy dash of spritzig. Bel Canto 24 is impressively complex and flavoursome, with an expansive, persistent finish.

The Donaldson Family have been seriously involved in viticulture and winemaking for almost 50 years. Founder Ivan Donaldson planted one of Canterbury’s first vineyards in 1976 and went on to establish Pegasus Bay in 1986 with his wife Christine. It is a true family business, with the second generation now actively involved.

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.

With its large diurnal range and long lingering autumns, North Canterbury is an ideal playground for Riesling, and Bel Canto is a perfect example of this. This wine is part of our reserve series, which we only make in exceptional years. After an extended hang time, the bunches were hand selected with a ripeness of approximately 25.5 Brix. The free run juice was then slowly fermented to dryness at cool temperatures to help the wine retain its vibrant fruit characters and varietal purity. At all stages, the wine was handled very carefully to help retain a little of its natural carbon dioxide. This has resulted in a small amount of spritzig, which adds extra liveliness to the wine and accentuates its freshnesss.