La Nina weather conditions produced a beautifully warm summer. Fermentation was by indigenous yeasts, followed by ageing sur lie, the semillon component being in old French oak barriques. French traditionally blend a portion semillon into sauvignon blanc to help subdue the latter's pungency, add richness and complexity and ensure longevity. This wine has aromas and flavours of passionfruit, pawpaw, Turkish musk and tropical spices intermingled with a splash of freshly crushed thyme and mint. In the mouth it is full-bodied and concentrated but muscular rather than opulent. The finish is firm, dry and lingering. While ready to drink on release it should develop additional layers of complexity with careful cellaring over several years. - See more at: http://www.pegasusbay.com/tasting-notes-sauvignon-semillon#sthash.G3JHSDDD.dpuf
French traditionally blend a portion semillon into sauvignon blanc to help subdue the latter's pungency, add richness and complexity and ensure longevity. This wine has aromas and flavours of passionfruit, pawpaw, Turkish musk and tropical spices intermingled with a splash of freshly crushed thyme and mint. In the mouth it is full-bodied and concentrated but muscular rather than opulent. The finish is firm, dry and lingering. While ready to drink on release it should develop additional layers of complexity with careful cellaring over several years. - See more at: http://www.pegasusbay.com/tasting-notes-sauvignon-semillon-2011#attachments
French traditionally blend a portion semillon into sauvignon blanc to help subdue the latter's pungency, add richness and complexity and ensure longevity. This wine has aromas and flavours of passionfruit, pawpaw, Turkish musk and tropical spices intermingled with a splash of freshly crushed thyme and mint. In the mouth it is full-bodied and concentrated but muscular rather than opulent. The finish is firm, dry and lingering. While ready to drink on release it should develop additional layers of complexity with careful cellaring over several years. - See more at: http://www.pegasusbay.com/tasting-notes-sauvignon-semillon-2011#attachments
French traditionally blend a portion semillon into sauvignon blanc to help subdue the latter's pungency, add richness and complexity and ensure longevity. This wine has aromas and flavours of passionfruit, pawpaw, Turkish musk and tropical spices intermingled with a splash of freshly crushed thyme and mint. In the mouth it is full-bodied and concentrated but muscular rather than opulent. The finish is firm, dry and lingering. While ready to drink on release it should develop additional layers of complexity with careful cellaring over several years. - See more at: http://www.pegasusbay.com/tasting-notes-sauvignon-semillon-2011#attachments
We only make Prima Donna in the best years and 2009 was certainly one of these. This was a splendid vintage in general and an exceptional one for pinot noir with perfect weather throughout the season. Modest crops have given the wine excellent fruit expression. This wine was made naturally using traditional Burgundian methods, with no added micro-organisms. It was produced by blending the barriques which we felt best expressed our vineyard and the season. Typically these come from vines over a quarter of a century old, which are on their own roots.
On release the wine has a vibrant crimson hue. The unfolding aroma is multi-layered and complex, suggesting bright red fruits, blackberries, raspberries, black cherries and purple plums. There are also savoury nuances reminiscent of roast meats and grilled mushrooms, intermingled with whiffs of wood-smoke. The palate entry is seductively light but the wine seems to expand in the mouth to become rich and muscular, while retaining an even flow of velvety, but tangy, tannins. These at the same time excite but soothe the taste buds and draw out the wine’s long lingering finish. Although it will be enjoyed on release, with careful cellaring it should develop other fascinating nuances over the next decade and live well beyond this. - See more at: http://www.pegasusbay.com/tasting-notes-prima-donna#sthash.jGLACwii.dpuf
This was a splendid vintage in general and an exceptional one for pinot noir with perfect weather throughout the season. Modest crops have given the wine excellent fruit expression. This wine was made naturally using traditional Burgundian methods, with no added micro-organisms.
On release the wine has a bright crimson hue. Its vibrant aromas and flavours suggest black cherries, blackberries, raspberries and mulberries. These impressions of fruit are underlain with savoury notes hinting of grilled mushrooms, barbequed meats and wood-smoke. It initially seems soft in the mouth but rapidly expands to become powerful, while at the same time remaining refined and elegant. A spine of ripe tannins flows through the wine and helps draw out its lingering after-taste. While ready to drink on release, with careful cellaring it should become more expressive and multifaceted over the next 6-8 years and live well beyond.
- See more at: http://www.pegasusbay.com/tasting-notes-pinot-noir#sthash.Kt7YssXA.dpuf
The superb 2013 vintage has yielded a beautifully balanced, fragrant example of Crimson with loads of very fine velvety tannin contributing to the full, plush texture and long, soft finish.
The nose is both complex and complete, with its cranberry-like aromas and hints of fresh, ripe raspberry. Spice and red licorice nuances also mingle with the earthier, typical pinot 'forest floor' characters. Though a serious pinot which will age at least 5 years, it is 'classic Crimson' in style; still very approachable as a young wine.
It is produced from fruit off 12 to 22 year-old vines, compared to 30 years plus for our oldest pinot noir vines. These younger plantings tend to express more lifted aromatics at an earlier stage of the wine's development compared to the main Ata Rangi Pinot Noir, which naturally takes a little longer to open up and reach its full potential.
Why Crimson?The name Crimson was inspired by the work of a major NZ Charitable Conservation Trust known as "Project Crimson". A portion of proceeds from the sale of this wine helps to fund the Trust which aims to protect and renew our spectacular red-flowering rata and pohutukawa - New Zealand's iconic native 'Christmas trees'. The naming idea evolved from Ata Rangi founder Clive Paton's approach to the Trust in 2003 for advice in our mission to re-establish rata trees across the lower North Island of NZ. The contribution from sales of 'Crimson' now funds restoration projects in 34 areas across NZ, providing trees and cash for worthy projects. On top of this, the wine itself helps to spread the word, educating and encouraging people to protect these iconic trees, and to help out at the annual planting days.
