Some producers are hard to beat. Waipara-based Pegasus Bay is one of them.
Its premium wines are among the country's best, like the Virtuoso chardonnay reviewed here, but its Main Divide wines offer some of the best value - three and a half or four star wines at two and a half to three star prices. Look out for them.
BEST VALUE
$20
Four stars (out of five)
Good value
With floral aromas and hints of almonds, this wine is stylish and complex with mouth-filling ripe fruit, a suggestion of nuts, texture and a lively, well balanced finish.
Delicious.
$25
Three stars
Below average value
Hints of nectarine and toasty oak, suggestions of citrus and creamy nuts with a lingering finish.
$25
Three and a half stars
Average value
Almost golden in colour, mouth-filling with firm, slightly toasty oak and nuts underlying the stone and tropical fruit, and a long, lively finish.
$39
Four stars
Average value
A complex, well-structured, intense young wine suggesting nectarine and citrus, with underlying toasty, almost smoky oak, a hint of mineral, a lively finish and lingering aftertaste.
Give it more time to show its best.
$35
Four and a half stars
Good value
Fragrant with hints of citrus blossom, this young wine is tightly structured with underlying suggestions of oak, lively hints of grapefruit and rich, creamy undertones. It's concentrated with an intense, long, well balanced finish. It will integrate further with a year or two's bottle age.
$49
Five stars
Good value
Pungent with suggestions of herbs, nectarines and citrus, smoky undertones, a slight nuttiness, a silky texture and a lively hint of grapefruit on the finish. At four years old this is stylish, complex and harmonious, but not for the faint-hearted. It will continue to develop with another few years bottle age.
ANOTHER GLASS
Highfield Marlborough Chardonnay 2011
$33
Four stars
Average value
A dry, textural wine with hints of mineral, juicy grapefruit and a suggestion of nuttiness. This is focused and lively with a backbone of crisp acidity. Delicious when first opened, but with exposure to air a hint of volatile acidity developed. Drinking well now.
