2025 Pegasus Bay Aria Late Picked Riesling, Waipara

This is a sweeter style of Riesling offering fragrant aromas of citrus, white flowers and tropical fruit. Richly textured and mouth filling, the rich and concentrated palate is kept taut and balanced by a strong line of acidity. Delicious now, but even better after a few years in the bottle and with potential to develop for more than a decade under good conditions.

In Germanic cultures, these ‘Auslese’ style of wines were traditionally searingly high in acidity and served with some bottle age in small quantities to dishes featuring intense and deep sour, salt and umami components such as roast goose with braised sweet and sour red cabbage or salt-cured and heavily smoked, seared pork Kassler chops with mustard sauces.

The style is also an excellent alternative to more unctuous wines like Sauternes for a classic pairing with liver pates or blue cheese.

More about this wine

Aria is the sweet sibling of Pegasus Bay’s premium Bel Canto Riesling. The warm and wet conditions set the stage for the 2025 season for the noble botrytis development sought for this wine, with the extended, cool Autumn sealing the deal.

The handpicked bunches selected for this wine had partial noble botrytis shrivel, the gentle press was followed by a long, cool fermentation. The wine was handled carefully from press to bottle in order to retain the naturally dissolved carbon dioxide which gives the wine an extra liveliness on opening (spritz).

The 2025 Aria is presented with 84g/L residual sugar, balanced by a total acidity of 8.3g/L.

About this producer

Planted from 1985 onwards, the Pegasus Bay vineyard sits in Waipara Valley, a 45-minute drive north of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island. It enjoys protection from the Pacific’s easterly breezes, a prolonged ripening period with substantial diurnal temperature variations. The alluvial Glasnevin gravel soils here are free draining and low in fertility, resulting in naturally reduced vine vigour.

The Donaldson family, viticultural pioneers in the region, remain the owner-operators of Pegasus Bay. Minimal intervention at all stages from vine to bottle typifies the winemaking approach: sustainable viticultural management, low crop levels, minimal handling of fruit, natural malolactic fermentation and clarification by settling, without the use of fining agents. All wines are made from estate grown fruit.