Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Waipara Valley Dry Riesling 2019

Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Waipara Valley Dry Riesling 2019Dry style Lemon & orange zest Elderflower & honeysuckle Marmalade "Late harvested with 'a good portion of noble botrytis', 2019 vintage is bright, light yellow green, with a gently honeyed bouquet. Still youthful, it is mouthfilling, with intense, ripe, grapefruit like flavours, a hint of marmalade, and a crisp, dryish, lasting finish" Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide 2021 "Bright, pale yellow with a lime hue, even colour throughout, light effervescent

• Dry style
• Lemon & orange zest
• Elderflower & honeysuckle
• Marmalade

"Late-harvested with 'a good portion of noble botrytis', 2019 vintage is bright, light yellow/green, with a gently honeyed bouquet. Still youthful, it is mouthfilling, with intense, ripe, grapefruit-like flavours, a hint of marmalade, and a crisp, dryish, lasting finish" Michael Cooper's Buyer's Guide 2021

"Bright, pale yellow with a lime hue, even colour throughout, light effervescent in the glass. The nose is elegantly soft, fragrances of orange blossom, lime flower intermix citrus and stonefruit, along with honeycomb and zesty spice. Dry to taste, full-bodied, the palate is packed with intense aromas of orange blossom and zest, citrus, Creme d'Abricot; unfolding rich nuances of ginger, honeycomb lends a flattering bitter-sweet lingering finish. Multi-layers of interest have purity and concentration; bright acidity brings focus and tension. This is a concentrated dry Riesling with intricate details on a brilliant acidity line supporting long term ageing and developments. Match with salt-baked fish and drunken chicken over the next 8+ years. Riesling picked after an extended hang time with a small portion of botrytis. Free-run juice fermented cool to 13.% alc, 6 g/l RS. Careful handling to retain its natural carbon dioxide" Candice Chow, Raymon Chan Reviews, Jan 2021

"Closed on the nose for the first minute or two - then the bouquet begins to reveal aromas of apricots and apples, preserved lemon and honey, a moment or two of orange marmalade then a quiet seam of minerality. The core of fruit suggests some residual sweetness as the wine touches the palate, but immediately turns dry with focused and intense acidity. Flavours of lemon and orange, zest and apple, citrus peel and marmalade return. There’s a spice to the fruit and an intense core revealing more mineral then honeysuckle, flowers and orchard fruits. Delicious, dry, long. Another captivating Bel Canto from the PB team" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Jan 2021

"Made from late-harvested grapes with a good portion affected by botrytis. A small amount of carbon-dioxide was captured in the bottle to promote freshness. The result is a very palatable riesling, with lively flavours that include peach, honey, apricot and wildflowers" Bob Campbell, Master of Wine, Real Review, Jan 2021

"A clean and juicy fruit expression on the nose, much less botrytis-influenced than usual. Sweet lemon and floral, apple aromas with clover honey and very subtle musk. The bouquet of fruit is counterbalanced by a sweet herbal note, like camomile or basil, with the promise of mouthwatering acidity punching through. On the palate, the palate enters with a sliver of sweetness which quickly tapers down to a pithy, phenolic dry finish. Powerful, rather than racy - there is a broadness to the mid-palate expression and the appetising bitterness in the phenolics shifts the structural focus away from fruit/sugar towards the interplay between the phenolics and the acidity. Fruit quickly gives way to a grippy, unfurling stony complexity. This is serious Riesling - it does one thing and it does it extremely well - tense, coiled power in the manner of the impressive German trockens" Stephen Wong, Master of Wine, Jun 2020

Upon release it is lemon-straw in colour. The bouquet is an enticing medley of citrus and stone fruit, interspersed with floral notes of elderflower and honeysuckle. Layered beneath there are also hints of ginger, honey and spice. The long hang time and infuence of botrytis has resulted in a wine that is rich and full bodied, with ripe phenolics that add structure and length. It is concentrated yet delicate, with invigorating acidity and a satisfyingly dry finish.

The vineyard is located within the Waipara Valley of North Canterbury, on free draining, north facing terraces carved out of New Zealand’s Southern Alps by an ice-age glacier. 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. The soil is free draining and of low fertility, resulting in naturally reduced vine vigour. This produces low yields of optimally ripened, high quality, fl avourful 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.

Variable conditions over flowering resulted in a moderate fruit set. The subsequent warm summer then allowed the grapes to ripen beautifully. Late season conditions were favourable for the development of noble botrytis, essential for the production of this wine style.

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. After an extended hang time, the grapes were picked with a portion of noble botrytis and a ripeness of around 25 Brix. The free run juice was then fermented slowly at cool temperatures to help the wine retain its vibrant fruit characters and varietal purity. Alcoholic fermentation was left to continue until a residual sugar level of around 6 g/l was achieved. 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 freshness.