Tasting of the month (October) in Wellington, New Zealand

The tasting of this month in Wellington was dedicated to a grape variety that won the mantle of Best in the World at the Judgement of London in May 2024, taking everybody by surprise to see a dry wine from a relatively small region in the South Island of New Zealand win. Yes, we are talking about Riesling, specifically Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Dry Riesling. A wine with typically about five grams of residual sugar, sometimes a little less, always full bodied in style, thanks to long hang time on the vines and, typically, a significant portion of botrytis or, in dry seasons, shrivel.

Talk about shake up the world of fine wine when it won top spot at the Judgement of London in May this year. The Judgement tasting was a four hour, modern re-enactment of the famous Judgement of Paris tasting in 1976, in which Californian wines were tasted blind alongside many of the best from Burgundy and Bordeaux. The results revealed some highly unexpected winners in the 1970s, as they did again this year. Not that it is any major surprise to long term devotees of Bel Canto Dry Riesling from Pegasus Bay. This wine has always put Riesling's best foot forward with its concentration, its balance, its palate weight and its seemingly lightness of being. An absolute stand out Riesling with everything on its side, including longevity, which is why the 2011 Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Dry Riesling was entered into the Judgement of London tasting where it scored the highest marks of all white wines entered and the highest marks overall. For more details about the Judgement of London tasting, read here - https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/judgement-of-london-celebrating-wine-not-origin-530520/

Fast forward to Wellington's Noble Rot wine bar this month where Ed Donaldson, marketing manager for Pegasus Bay Wines, showed four line ups of Riesling to an audience of wine professionals, including yours truly as the sole wine writer.

It was a privilege to be there. Bel Canto was the stand out wine; or wines, should I say, because we tasted a long line up of Rieslings in a laid back structured tasting, starting with a line up of Bel Cantos from youthful to aged, all consistently dry, intense but also with a lightness that makes them incredibly refreshing.

Ed explained that his family always loved Riesling but were advised not to plant it or to make wine from it when they first started out "Most winemakers we spoke to when we first planted grapes told us not to grow or make Riesling because most people don't understand it and it's a hard sell,.

"We decided to make it anyway because we loved it. Today Riesling makes up a third of our total production."

And the part that Ed didn't say, perhaps because is that Pegasus Bay Rieslings sell very well indeed.

Wine of the month

19.5/20

2023 Pegasus Bay Bel Canto RRP $40-ish

Youthful, dry and full bodied style of Riesling that pushes boundaries of concentration with flavours of ripe orange peel and mandarin zest coupled with notes of lime, honey and flavours that linger for ages on the palate. This is an outstandingly tasty dry Riesling that drinks beautifully now and, as history shows, will age for at least 10 years. 

Botrytis usually plays a role in about one third of the wine, although this varies on vintage conditions, which are, typically, autumns that are long and dry with cool temperatures to retain Riesling's trademark acidity. 

• Pegasus Bay winery is the only producer in New Zealand for which Riesling is the key grape variety and constitutes one third of the total production. Bel Canto is, in my view, the queen of all the Rieslings made at Pegasus Bay. Long may it remain so.