Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Pinot Noir 2023

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. Deep, bright ruby, the 2023 vintage is fragrant, rich, savoury and supple. Already delicious, it is a very generous, complex and harmonious red, vividly varietal, with strong, ripe fruit flavours, finely integrated oak, gentle acidity and tannins, and a well-rounded finish" Michael Cooper, Jul 2025

"Wonderfully fruited and fragrant, the bouquet presents aromas of dark plum, baking spice, smoked meat, and roasted nuts. The palate offers succulent fruit intensity with fleshy texture and plump mouthfeel, beautifully supported by layers of polished tannins. Harmonious and flavoursome with refinement and complexity" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jun 2025

"Medium crimson, even colour throughout. The nose is bright, with aromas of cherry, black raspberry, floral, dried herbs and earthy elements. Medium-full bodied, aromas of red cherry and raspberry melded with dried thyme, oregano, violet, cinnamon and undergrowth. The fruit is soft and plush with purity, supported by lacy acidity. Dusty tannins lightly structured the fruit, unfolding savoury and earthy details. It has a welcoming, gentle yet bright expression compared to its past vintages" Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Reviews, Jun 2025

"A core of dark ruby with purple hues and a pink rim lead to a bouquet of complexity, ripe red berry fruits, wood spice and earth-smoke. Dry, savoury, complex and varietal with flavours of dark plum and baked red berry fruits. There’s fresh dark skinned cherry, violet and dark rose, cinnamon and sweet bay leaf then a moderately intense wood and oak spice complexity. Taut and youthful with development poised to step in. A lovely wine with best drinking from 2026 through 2032" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Jun 2025

"A delicious, well-composed and textural pinot with forest berries, black pepper and plenty of matchstick on the nose. Medium-bodied with ripe tannins. The generous midpalate has dense fruit character and a flavorful finish" James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com, Oct 2025

"Smoky oak with a hint of reduction; this is a bold and firm pinot noir with violet, black cherry and plum fruit tightly held in a nest of chocolaty tannins. Concentrated and compact on the palate, it needs a bit more time to come together but has density in spades" Stephen Wong, The Real Review, Dec 2025

"The 2023 Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir is a complex, savoury Pinot Noir with lifted fruity aromas suggesting red plums and cherries and a slightly lighter style than the typically bold expressions of Pinot from this winery. Delicate aromas, firm smooth tannins and a lingering finish bring balance to this medium bodied wine from the Waipara Valley in North Canterbury" Joelle Thomson, June 2025

With its rich ruby hue, Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir 2023 presents a delicately fragranced nose, showcasing notes of raspberry, cherry and violet, underlain with hints of dried herbs and subtle mineral reflections of tree moss and river rock. The mouthfeel is bright and full of vitality, balancing savoury red fruit, backed by seamlessly woven tannins, and a core of frisky acidity that canters across the palate, adding clarity and definition. Effortlessly merging both freshness and a sense of refinement, it concludes with a sleek, elegantly structured dismount.

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.

Settled weather during Spring resulted in successful flowering and a healthy fruit set, meaning crop thinning was needed in some areas. Good heat concentration in early to mid-Summer then allowed the grapes to ripen beautifully. The remainder of Summer and Autumn threw up a mix of hot days interspersed with cooler spells, although rain was sufficiently spread out to ensure the bunches remained healthy and disease free.

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 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.