Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Estate Pinot Noir 2017

Pegasus Bay Waipara Valley Estate Pinot Noir 2017Raspberry Dark plum Delicate spice Savoury, herbed underlay "It's wonderfully fruited and gorgeously styled, showing Black Doris plum, sweet cherry, vanilla, dried herb, almond and subtle spice aromas on the nose. The palate deliveres excellent weight and power, while remainging graceful and flowing, leading to a persistent velvety finish. It's mouthfilling and delectable with seductive complexity" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2020 "The 2017 vintage is

• Raspberry
• Dark plum
• Delicate spice
• Savoury, herbed underlay

"It's wonderfully fruited and gorgeously styled, showing Black Doris plum, sweet cherry, vanilla, dried herb, almond and subtle spice aromas on the nose. The palate deliveres excellent weight and power, while remainging graceful and flowing, leading to a persistent velvety finish. It's mouthfilling and delectable with seductive complexity" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2020

"The 2017 vintage is full-coloured and finely perfumed. Mouthfilling, sweet-fruited, savoury and supple, it is still very youthful, with concentrated, ripe cherry, plum and spice flavours, oak complexity and a rich, smooth finish" Michael Cooper, Dec 2019

"Rich and quite complex pinot noir with plum, wood smoke, liquorice, mixed spice and nutty oak flavours. Accessible now but with obvious cellaring potential, A robust and slightly rustic wine that's a pleasure to taste" Bob Campbell, MW, Mar 2020

"Aromas of chalk and red berries, roses and dried herb, soft brown baking spices and toasty oak. On the palate - firm youthful textures with ripe red berry fruit flavours, medium+ acidity, chalky fine grained tannins and a core of pinosity. A classic example of Peg’ Bay Pinot with a youthful energy, ripe through slightly tart red berry fruit messages. A lovely wine, well made, medium+ complexity with a long finish" Cameron Douglas, MS, Mar 2020

Upon release the wine is bright ruby in colour. There is a teasing array of vibrant red fruit on the nose including raspberry, pomegranate, cherry and plum. Spice and herbal notes, as well as a savoury underlay, add to the wine’s complexity. While the palate has generous fruit weight and velvety tannins, it is balanced with refreshing acidity and a structure that gives the wine classic North Canterbury tension and pinosity.

Variable conditions over flowering resulted in a moderate fruit set. The subsequent warm summer then allowed the grapes to ripen beautifully. Naturally smaller berry size and loose open bunches helped accelerate ripening, allowing for the fruit to be picked a little earlier this season than usual.

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, 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.

Traditional Burgundian winemaking methods were used to make this wine. Various blocks were picked at different stages, depending on their maturity, aiming for a range of red and dark fruit flavours. Approximately one third of 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 floating cap of grape skins was 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 (40% 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 18mths 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.

Food Pairing: Create the perfect wine and cheese night with a glass of this Pinot matched with mild cheeses such as goats cheese and fresh, creamy brie.