“The 2023 Riesling Aria Late Picked is a sweet, fragrant Riesling … a juicy style … A gentle spritz and mouthwatering refreshment imbue the wine with a lovely, lively character …”
The Donaldson Family have been seriously involved in viticulture and winemaking for over 40 years. Founder Ivan Donaldson planted the first Canterbury vineyard in 1976 and went on to establish Pegasus Bay in 1986 with his wife Christine. It is a true family business with all four of their sons now 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 December provided optimal conditions for flowering. A very hot summer then enabled the grapes to ripen beautifully. Free draining stony soil helped mitigate the effects of some late summer rain, and the ensuing dry autumn meant the fruit was able to be picked in excellent condition with a portion of noble botrytis.
The grapes were picked in mid-May selecting bunches with between 30-50% botrytis. The grapes were then gently pressed and the juice fermented slowly at cool temperatures to help the wine retain its vibrant fruit characters and varietal purity. At all stages, from fermentation to bottling, it 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.
Upon release the colour is bright lemon. The bouquet is a tantalising patchwork of apricot, marmalade, honey and orange zest, interwoven with floral notes and a lick of ginger. The botrytis has added concentration and richness, yet there is a refreshing zestiness backed with bright acidity that teases the palate, ensuring the wine remains lively and well balanced, with a prolonged finish.
“The 2023 Riesling Aria Late Picked is a sweet, fragrant Riesling … a juicy style … A gentle spritz and mouthwatering refreshment imbue the wine with a lovely, lively character …”
“ A dense and sweet riesling with plenty of flint ..."
“… This late-picked Riesling is packed with succulent fruit and floral details, built on layers and length….”
“… It's so, so pretty, so complex and very long through the finish. A superb wine …”
“… Full-bodied and sweet with dried apricot and candied lemons that follow through to a sweet finish of Turkish delight”
“… The palate delivers outstanding weight and richness, wonderfully complemented by lush texture and gorgeous sweetness. Brilliantly balanced by vibrant acidity, it’s deliciously satisfying and hugely appealing”
“… A complete wine with a lengthy delicious finish ….”
“North Canterbury’s Glasnevin Gravels are an ideal spot for Riesling grapes to develop great depths of citrusy concentration over the long dry autumns … Aria is an outstanding sweet wine …”
“… A lovely mouthful … A wine of strong presence, it is medium-bodied and concentrated …”
“… lemon, apricot in syrup, honey, honeysuckle and flint. The flavours are fresh, youthful, and dancing on the palate, reflecting invigorating acidity balancing with sweetness ….”
“Fabulous aromas … A delicious wine, perfect as an aperitif and some less sweeter dessert .”
“Gorgeous perfumed nose with aromas of lemon, grapefruit, magnolia and struck match/gunflint sulphide complexity… lively, invigorating, fruity-style with good drive and phenolics to balance the sweetness.”
“… A luscious dessert wine … Sweetness is perfectly balanced by crisp acidity … ”
“Luscious and sumptuous … richly textured palate that’s dazzling and delectable. Gorgeously sweet with excellent balance and harmony, offering terrific drinking”
“The seductive and shapely 2020 Riesling Aria Late Picked may have generous sweetness (70g/L) but a prickle of retained CO2 combined with the naturally vibrant acidity of Riesling and lightly phenolic character provide the structured framework for this wine to remain focused and clean…. It's excellently balanced …”
“… This harmonious late-picked Riesling with luscious fruit, honey and spice shine with vibrant acidity, complexity and a moreish, long finish.”
“… Full-bodied and sweet, yet fresh, with sharp acidity and bright, zesty character. Excellent balance”
“Decadently luscious Riesling"
“This is one of New Zealand’s great white wines each year… It’s a stunning balance between luscious, textual richness and the refreshing delicious succulence provided by the acidity.”
“… A luscious, opulent, viscous, full-bodied botrytis style with enough acid to balance the richness. Well done.”
“… The wine is refreshing and uncloying, supported by mouthwatering acidity, carry this flavoursome nectar through the palate with ease … refreshing palate with the usual complexity”
“Offering opulence as well as sophistication … delicious sweetness and refreshing acidity”
“… notable depth and harmony. It should be long-lived, but is already a lovely mouthful.”
“Off-dry and very impressive … The palate has immensely fleshy appeal and a neat resolve and balance”
“Pure, fresh, fruity and alluring bouquet … Long and delicious finish. A lovely wine ….”
“ stunning delicious wine … bright and mouthwatering … lingering finish”
“Luscious Riesling … a delicious wine …”
“ one of New Zealand’s most seductively succulent Rieslings. … full body and powerful lingering finish”
“Offering up pronounced notes of lemon marmalade, acacia honey… offers a fair bit off rich, unctuous sweetness. Marked by a racy acid backbone, which cuts through the appealing viscosity …, the refreshing finish goes on and on.”
“Bold and rich scents of honey, syrup, sweet citrus, apple tart tatin and poached orchard fruits. On the palate - lush and juicy with significant acidity and weight …. A delicious wine!“
“... It’s cleansing yet indulgent at the same time. Gorgeous stuff.“
“…A sweet, powerful and intense wine … layers of flavour: textural and richly creamy: sweetness yet with zingy acidity keeping it fresh. Delicious.”
“…. excellent acidity and tension to match the unctuousness, … carries with brightness and energy to a very long moderately sweet and luscious finish …. This is a beautifully elegant and harmoniously entwined late-pick Riesling”
“. . Exotic fruits and spices offer a delicious package of flavours. Full-flavoured wine with a smooth texture and lingering finish. Very classy sticky . “
This has an elegant, fresh and tightly bound nose with excellent presence and depth of exotic floral fragrances and lime fruit aromas intermixed with wild honey and marmalade botrytis. The integrity of the fruit shows in floral and lime clarity and the detail of nuance is beautiful….The fruit is underlined by subtle phenolic textures that emerge to balance the richness and lusciousness. This has great weight, depth and presence, with lively acidity providing the palate energy and drive. The wine flows positively to a full blossoming, sustained finish with florals, honey and musk notes.This is a beautifully fragrant and exotic sweet Riesling with a rich, finely textured palate of great presence and line.
Made from a selection of bunches with shrivelled berries for greater concentration. A delicious vintage for Aria with tree fruit and bush honey flavours. Moderately sweet Riesling but not so sweet that it can’t be enjoyed as a delicious aperitif. A successful vintage for an iconic New Zealand dessert wine style.
"The cool 2012 season has given this sweet and rich Riesling precision and drive. It has dense concentration of fruit suggesting low yields in the vineyard….. While sweet, it is clean and precise, and would suit spicy food although I'm happy to drink glass after glass of it without any accompaniment.
This is a beautifully elegant and refined sweet Riesling with a balance between decadence and freshness.
“wonderfully honeyed/musky character on the nose … rich and generously fruited in the mouth, it has a good backbone of refreshing acidity and a very long finish.”
“A very classy wine … It should flourish for many years.”
“It’s stunning on the nose … the palate is concentrated and generous with rich texture and lovely sweetness which is superbly balanced by the refreshing acidity.”
“Peach, honey and mandarines with a mineral delicacy. Lovely freshness on the finish balanced by residual sugar. Delicious.”
“Stunning – THE wine of the tasting and a sure fire GOLD in any tasting it enters. The flavours just go on and on and the mouthfeel is oily and opulent. You MUST try this.”
“Just one of the many strings in the bow of top-notch New Zealand producer Pegasus Bay, this is a wonderfully refreshing yet intensely sweet wine. Immediately identifiable as Riesling, it has a lemony, zesty freshness and superb balance. It’s hard to imagine anyone not loving this wine.”
“… is a classy, very elegant Waipara wine, … fresh, pure, late harvest fruit flavours, showing excellent richness. Finely focused, with a luscious sweetness … coupled with mouth-watering acidity, it’s a beauty.”
“Deep lemon with lots of evolution on the nose. Honeyed wine with lots of acidity and lots of sugar - probably very difficult to make and much more complex and ambitious than most. Bravo! A real product of the vineyard. Very zesty. Hovers between medium dry and medium sweet”
“…This wine underscores the multi-talented nature of Riesling. Poised, balanced and far from sugar dominated…”
“Pegasus Bay, in the Waipara region near Christchurch, makes some of New Zealand's most exotic wines. This magnificent sweet wine, perfumed beautifully and beguiling. Pristine fruit flavours and perfect balance in the mouth.”
“The 2007 Vintage is an elegant, slightly honeyed Waipara wine with lovely ripeness and richness...great harmony.”
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