Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Pinot Noir 2022

Description

Hazelnut, Oak, Plum

"This is one of North Canterbury's greatest Pinot Noirs, typically very rich in body and flavour. Many of the vines are over 25 years old and the wine is matured for 15 months in French oak barriques. Full, bright ruby, the youthful 2022 vintage is invitingly perfumed. Already highly approachable, it is generous and silky-textured, with strong cherry, plum and spice flavours, seasoned with nutty oak, and gentle acidity. Deliciously savoury, harmonious and smooth" Michael Cooper, Oct 2024

"The 2022 Pinot Noir leads with a gently reductive nose of gunflint and woodsmoke, curry leaves and black olive tapenade. In the mouth, the wine has a profusion of redberry fruits and exotic spices, with tannins that are sandy and gritty and provide shape and chew through the finish. Speaking of the finish, the wine moves toward arnica and medicinal herbs as it fades—like wisps of smoke or the carriage of sound. It's very attractive, lean, spicy and detailed" Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Dec 2024

"I've long loved the pinot noirs from Pegasus Bay. There's a minerally vibe that always draws me in. Complex and meaty with herbal and floral nuance that keeps shifting in the glass, keeping the old schnozz on its toes. The interplay of fruit, acidity and tannin is fascinating; kinetic and sinewy with a gentle struck-flint reduction lending added complexity as the wine slowly trails off" Dave Brooks, Halliday Wine Companion, May 2025

It has a deep ruby hue. Fragrant and earthy, the nose unravels with layers of cherry, dark plum and pomegranate, complimented with savoury nuances of mushroom, tanned leather, hazelnut, spicy oak, and a hint of violet. The mouthfeel is finely textured and silky smooth, with brisk acidity and ripe, integrated tannins providing the framework for the fruit. Refined and full of finesse, the wine builds across the palate, offering a sense of precision and focus on the long, rewarding close.

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 beenwashed 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.

Average weather over flowering resulted in a balanced crop, meaning no further fruit thinning was carried out. This was followed by a cooler than average summer which delayed ripening. Fortunately, a warm dry autumn allowed the grapes to be left on the vines till later in the season, where they were able to achieve the desired level of ripeness.

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 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 (30% new) from selected artisan Burgundian coopers. In the summer after harvest, when the weather warmed, the wine underwent a natural malo-lactic (secondary) fermentation. After maturing for 15mths 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.