Pegasus Bay Waipara Chardonnay 2015

Description

"Very complex, very concentrated and very good. This has a big hit of grapefruit and lemon citrus. Quite pithy and flinty. The palate has layers and layers of fruit, delivering flavors that follow in the stone fruit and citrus threads seen on the nose. Spicy oak warms up through the finish" James Suckling, Nov 2017

"This distinguished wine is from 30 year-old vines at Waipara. The bouquet is fragrant and youthful; the palate weighty, sweet-fruited and smooth, with deep, peachy, mealy, slightly spicy and buttery flavours and a very finely balanced, long, savoury finish. Already delicious, it’s also well worth cellaring." Wine State Magazine, May/June 2017 edition

"Bright, light golden-green hued straw-yellow colour, paler on the rim. The nose is full and elegantly deep, possessing a complex amalgam of white and yellow stonefruit entwined with very fine nutty and toasty oak and subtle mineral detail and complexing suggestions of flinty and oxidative elements. The aromatics are detailed and very harmoniously integrated. Medium-full bodied, the palate is elegantly concentrated with an intense heart with flavours of white and yellow stonefruits interwoven with nutty oak and creamy barrel-ferment elements, unfolding mineral and oxidative detail. The mouthfeel has fine textures guiding the fruit, and the acidity is refined and refreshingly crisp. The wine carries to a long, lingering finish of stonefruits and nuts. This is an intense and complex flavoured Chardonnay with stonefruits and nutty, oxidative flavours on a fine-textured, refreshing palate. Serve with roasted and grilled seafood, poultry and pork over the next 4-5 years. Fruit from the original ungrafted vines, 30 y.o., hand-picked and indigenous yeast fermented in 30% new puncheons to 13.5% alc., the wine aged 18 months on lees with 50% MLF" Raymond Chan, March 2017

"Strapping yet delicate, richly flavoured yet subtle, this sophisticated North Canterbury wine is one of the country's best Chardonnays grown south of Marlborough.  Muscular and taut, it typically offers a seamless array of fresh, crisp, citrusy, biscuity, complex flavours and great concentration and length. Estate-grown at Waipara, it is based on ungrafted, Mendoza-clone vines (about 30 years old) and given lengthy oak aging.  The outstanding 2015 vintage is light lemon/green, with a fragrant, youthful bouquet.  Weighty, sweet-fruited and smooth, it has very generous, peachy, mealy, slightly buttery and spicy flavours, and a long, dry, savoury, seamless finish" Michael Cooper, June 2017

"This outstanding North Canterbury wine has a fragrant, smoky bouquet. Weighty (13.5% alc/vol), it is sweet-fruited, with intense, peachy, mealy, slightly spicy and buttery flavours, a subtle oak influence and a long, savoury finish" The Listener, June 2017

"More restrained than normal with mineral, white peach, grapefruit, hazelnut and spicy oak flavours. The wine has a fine, peppery texture and lingering finish. An elegant rather than (usual) blockbuster style.  Drink 2017 to 2022" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, April 2017

"A powerful bouquet led by aromas of oak with caramel and burnt butter, oak spices of vanilla and clove, a brazil nut toastiness then stone fruits of peach and nectarine, overall quite complex, but also quite loud. On the palate - quite intense, creamy, fruity and nutty, peach and nectarine flavours, loads of spicy butterscotch and raw brown sugar oak, fine oak tannins, medium+ acidity, full-bodied and quite 'full-on'. A powerhouse wine that will feed the enthusiasm of many chardonnay fans. Drink now and through 2025" Cameron Douglas, Master Somilier, June 2017

Light lemon/straw colour with aromas and flavours that suggest citrus fruits, apricot, yellow fleshed peach and mango with complexing savoury overtones of oatmeal, toast, grilled mushrooms and vanilla pod. It is powerful and creamy on the palate but an underlying spine of natural minerality and acidity keep it tight and focused and help draw out the lingering after flavours.

The vines, which are almost 30 years old, grow on their own roots in well-drained stony soil on a series of north facing, gradually descending terraces. The site is warm during the day but cool at night, resulting in good ripening while retaining the grape’s natural acids. The 2015 vintage was an ideal grape growing season with a warm summer and a long lingering dry autumn. Low crop levels have given this wine extra concentration.

Pegasus Bay used traditional Burgundian winemaking methods, with the fruit being hand-picked in stages during April and then gently pressed. The non-clarified juice was put into large French oak barrels (puncheons), 70% of which were old in order to limit pickup of oak flavour. In these it underwent primary fermentation by the grapes indigenous yeasts. The wine was then matured in the puncheons on its natural yeast deposit (sur lie). In the summer after harvest it started to go through spontaneous secondary (malolactic) fermentation. It was regularly tasted during this time and the fermentation was stopped when the ideal balance was obtained. It had almost 18 months maturation prior to bottling.