Cloudy Bay Pelorus Sparkling is a fresh, aperitif style sparkling wine with apple crisp flavours, underpinned by nutty yeast complexity derived from two years bottle maturation on lees.
A fresh combination of Chardonnay led citrus and pear fruits underpinned by savoury tones from the Pinot Noir component and characters reminiscent of grilled bread and brioche.
Deliciously crisp with toasty, creamy complexity, enhanced by a lingering nutty finish. Richly textured yet with a dry sophistication.
"Savoury, appealing perfume, ripe apples, nougat, toast, cookies and cream, just lovely, righteous even.
Complex and interesting. Palate has refreshment and complexity hand in hand, and great energy. Flavours of apple, spice, nougat again – bubbles super bright and coursing through the wine. Real good."
92 Points - Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, June 2018, Drink: 2018 - 2020
Reviews
"Insightful Cloudy Bay winemaker Nick Lane admits that Marlborough has fruit in spades, so his challenge is to create tension in this wine.
He’s nailed it here more confidently than I remember in Pelorus, uniting the layered, biscuity complexity of a little old barrel fermentation, up to two years on lees and a deep resource of reserve wines, with a core of lemon, pear and golden delicious apple fruit and a taut tail of tense acidity.
A low dosage of 7.5g/L of sweetness is perfectly gauged to keep the finish refreshing. Pelorus is now one of New Zealand’s best value sparklings."
92 Points- Wine Taste Edition - Tyson Stelzer
"This is a fresh, lively sparkler, with airy, white flower notes offset by alluring stone fruit characters. Firm acidity and impressive length complete the picture." 4 Stars Christelle Guibert & Mark O’Halleron; Decanter
"This chardonnay-dominant, traditional-method sparkling wine spends two years on lees before being disgorged. Although pinot noir occupies a minority role in the blend, it asserts itself with rich chocolate-like flavours and added palate weight.
A portion of the base wine is held in large oak vats and small French oak barriques to give added complexity from the decomposing yeast lees and the oak. The wine is crisp and fresh with apple-like chardonnay flavours evident.
They've got the dosage perfectly right - it's dry, but not searing dry."
93 Points Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine, Bob Campbell
