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 philosophy of Oyster Bay is to produce fine, distinctly regional wines that are elegant and assertive with glorious fruit flavours.
The Hawke’s Bay wine region is arguably the most exciting find in recent times for the cultivation of Merlot in New Zealand. Ancient alluvial river terraces provide for a superb mix of soils over gravelly, free-draining sub-soils, with an abundance of pure river water for irrigation. With a temperate maritime climate, the vines are warmed by strong clear sunlight during the day and cooled at night by the sea breezes of the Pacific Ocean. This is the unique environment in which Merlot produces its vibrant, fully ripened varietal flavours. Essentially, Oyster Bay Hawke’s Bay Merlot is about elegance and intensity of fruit. The hero is always freshness of ripe fruit, spice and soft tannins on the palate.
Vibrant, alluring flavours of juicy black plum and sweet berryfruits, with an exquisite background of spice, subtle oak and fine grained tannis.
