New Zealand Pegassus

Located in the Waipara Valley, South Island of New Zealand, the vineyard gets maximum protection from the Pacific's easterly breezes by being tucked up under the lee of the Teviotdale Range. The Donaldson family responsible for Pegassys Bay are firm believers in sustainable viticulture and are accredited members of the NZWG program. The Sauvignon blanc is stainless steel fermented, semillon in oak then both undergo natural fermentation by their indigenous yeasts and have prolonged maturation (5 months) on their yeast lees.

Pegassus Bay – Sauvignon Semillion 2006

Served from the bottle right out of the fridge the appearance doesn't zing out of the glass. Its not cloudy by any means, at all, its clear but there is certainly some depth to it, a lemon golden tint with firm legs left on the glass. The nose shows ripe, overripe almost fizzy prickly pineapple with its skin, citrus, elderflower and an almost reductive (Screw cap? 2006…..im not going to go there!) sweat component, actually this is really quite present in this wine. Its fairly dry on the palate with lively zingy citrus acidity balanced with a medium tannin structure and good minerality. A little floral with some round palate softness and good fresh passion fruit melon, a lemon and lime play and that prickly pineapple making an appearance again. One thing to note is the firm grip on your palate from the acidity, this cuts the front of your tongue like a razor followed by a punch to the back of your throat with astringency and heat. Its rated at 13% but this heat quickly diminishes to a fruity spice component. The wine is good but maybe the balance is slightly too acidic for my palate. Revisiting the wine accompanied with food works a lot better than on its own. I actually prefer it not quite so chilled also. Again revisiting this wine the next day takes the spike and prickliness of some of that fruit. At £9.95 on sale at the moment at Wine Direct this is a great value wine for the complexity it brings to the table. 90+/100

Find this wine at Wine Direct