mailme@joellethomson.com

Joelle Thomson

Wine writer and award winning wine author

What I am drinking, reading and savouring each week

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Wine of the week - A surprise style

April 1, 2025

Aria is one of the great whites made in New Zealand at Pegasus Bay winery in North Canterbury.

This wine of the week is a sneak preview of the new 2024 Aria, which will have its official release in late April/ early May this year.

It is a stellar wine from a vintage that was slightly short on botrytis in a region renowned for it - from selected vineyard sites. This wine strikes a sublime balance of climate, botrytis influence and piercing zesty acidity which brings freshness to every sip.

Wine of the week

2024 Pegasus Bay Aria RRP $45

OMG is not a classic wine descriptive but it kind of fits here perfectly - this wine's bold acidity, broad mouthfeel, honeyed botrytis notes, zingy length and intense lusciousness all suggest the warm days and cool nights that bring depth and layers of flavour to great Riesling. This wine is characterised by the long ripening season it comes from in the Waipara Valley, North Canterbury. Flavours of ripe tangelo and mandarin shine now and will gain layers of tropical fruit as the wine evolves over time.

This is a keeper - history shows that Pegasus Bay Aria ages superbly for up to and beyond a decade in the bottle.

Contact Joelle

Get in touch, book a tasting or find out more by email:

mailme@joellethomson.com

Submit wines for review

Send wines for review, analysis and professional views to me. I taste all wines that are sent in and publish as many as possible on this site and in the independent publications that I write for. These include Drinksbiz magazine, NZ Winegrower magazine, Good magazine and others. If you would like to send wines in for review, let me know by email or phone 021 376 786.

I look forward to hearing from you.