"Virtuoso" - This Reserve Chardonnay is bold and powerful with a striking energy across the palate thanks to the estate's spectacular fruit.

Accolades

"Immensely complex and seductive, the bouquet shows mango, apricot, baked fig, and roasted hazelnut aromas with a lovely flinty nuance. The concentrated palate displays outstanding weight and depth, wonderfully supported by creamy mouthfeel and brilliantly pitched acidity. Multi-layered and engaging with a prolonged, gratifying finish." 97 Points, Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, www.wineorbit.co.nz

“Powerful chardonnay with intense aromas of flinty reduction … It's full-bodied with rich, toasty and tropical fruit, with an underlying smokiness and savoury saltiness. Muscular and compact, with punchy acidity. Intense.” 96 Points, James Suckling

"A fantastic bouquet with power in and intensity, with a core of roasted stone fruits and oak, baked apple and layers of wood spice and wood smoke. As the wine opens out in the glass these ideas intensity and develop. Full bodied, dry, and very intense, flavours mirror the bouquet with stone fruits and lemon, some quince and wood spices all vying for attention on the palate. Medium+ acidity, fine wood tannins frame the wine beautifully. Balanced and well made, a wine that is ready enjoy from today" 96 Points, Cameron Douglas MS, www.camdouglasms.com

"The 2020 Virtuoso Chardonnay leads with salty cheese rind and intense acidity in the mouth; this is potently powerful, with poached orchard fruit, toasted pineapple, Keen's curry powder, toasted cheese and pastry, mustard seeds and loads of nuts. It is a complex beast, and it's not easy to pin down in its flavor profile. This is a tremendously powerful wine here— positively saturated in flavor. Everything is dialed up to the maximum. This has all the ordered chaos of a layered fugue: the climax of Mozart's Symphony 41, Jupiter, comes to mind with this wine." 93 Points, Erin Larkin, www.robertparker.com

"Bright, even, pale yellow gold. The nose is striking and full, with aromas of gunflint, lemon, grapefruit, pineapple, spice and cornbread. Full-bodied, aromas of lemon, grapefruit and charred pineapple intertwined with gunflint, vanilla, spice and popcorn. The invigorating acidity lifts the rich palate and expands in length and breadth. Reductive gunflint nuance is compatible and contributes to opulence and complexity. This rich, reductive Chardonnay is seductive and well-balanced." 19/20 Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Wine Reviews

"Signature PB powerful struck match & bonfire embers lead, parting to reveal ripe peach, spices and honeyed brioche, grilled nuts later. Undoubted power, intensity and creaminess once it sheds some of those reductive notes, picking up orange zest, toffee and spice. Tasted over several hours the palate was simply superb later in the day, so perhaps decant this and let it breathe." Excellent, Mark Henderson, Otago Daily Times, www.odt.co.nz

"Blended from the 'best barrels', this wine is estate-grown and hand-harvested from vines over 30 years old at Waipara, in North Canterbury. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, it is matured on its yeast lees for 10 months to a year in French oak puncheons, and bottle-aged prior to its release. The 2020 vintage is bright, light yellow/green, with a fragrant, complex, slightly smoky and 'funky' bouquet. Weighty and savoury, it has rich, vigorous, stonefruit flavours, finely integrated oak, and a dry, tightly structured finish. An elegant, distinctly cool-climate style, it's well worth cellaring…" 5 STARS, Michael Cooper, Wine Writer 

"The 2020 Chardonnay Virtuoso is Pegasus Bay's top-of-the-shop white curvée, and it is far from shy in its infancy. Subtle it ain’t, it bobs you on the nose with lime, toast, smoke and grilled nuts, but there’s depth, concentration and a firm seriousness that will reward patience. If you can’t wait that long, this estate Chardonnay represents excellent value for the quality." 93 Points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous