pegasus bay winery

waipara – neW ZEALAnd

The Donaldson family- A wine success story

When Ivan Donaldson, a successful neurologist, received a wine book as a gift from his then fiancée Christine in the early 1970s, it all began. His passion for wine was ignited and after an extensive trip through the European wine regions, he planted his first vines back home in North Canterbury. In the beginning, he vinified more as a hobby in his garage at home. A little later, in the 1980s, when Ivan and Christine were married and had four sons, they founded Pegasus Bay Winery as the first professional winery in Canterbury. From then on, the success story of this New Zealand winery took its course. Pegasus Bay was established as a beautiful estate with gardens designed by Christine and an excellent restaurant.

A family-run winery

Today, Pegasus Bay Winery, which also integrates the wines of Main Divide Wine, is one of New Zealand’s top wineries. In 2019, it was awarded the “New Zealand Pinot Noir Five Stars producer” award, which is roughly equivalent to the Burgundy Grand Cru classification. The Donaldsons are proud that the winery is still entirely family-owned despite its success. In retirement, father Ivan continues to train in overseas viticulture. Mother Christine still looks after the beautiful gardens and arranges open-air opera performances in the winery’s natural amphitheater. Eldest son Mathew, a graduate oenologist, is the winemaker and produces some of New Zealand’s finest wines. Son Edward, a trained chef, is now the winery’s marketing manager. His wife Belinda looks after the hospitality and events in the restaurant. Son Michael is now the local sales manager after returning from overseas and the youngest son Paul is the general manager of Pegasus Bay Winery with his MBA.

Great terroir and consummate cellar art

Pegasus Bay Winery and Main Divide Wine are also committed to sustainable winegrowing. The Waipara Valley is a foothill of the New Zealand Alps with north-facing terraces. Due to its location on the lee side of the Teviotdale Range, it is protected from the easterly sea winds and therefore benefits from a unique mesoclimate with warm days and cool nights. The soils are poor and well-drained. Many of the vines are over 30 years old and some are ungrafted. All this is reflected in the excellent grape material available to Pegasus Bay Winery and Main Divide Wine. This provides the basis for top-class New Zealand wines. In the wine cellar, Mathew relies primarily on traditional European winemaking methods, depending on the grape variety, mainly based on methods from Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Moselle and Alsace.