Ata Rangi’s 2021/22 new releases and their very limited single Vineyard Pinot Noirs!
“Ata Rangi is a small, family-owned Martinborough winery with a big reputation, particularly for pinot noir.”
-Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review (2018)
“Ata Rangi is one of the founder vineyards, and arguably the most highly-regarded winery in the Martinborough (and Wairarapa district), perhaps because there have been no pompous claims about their wines – just constant, quiet attention to detail.”
Geoff Kelly
“This stunning estate makes the most revered Pinot Noir in New Zealand.”
Matthew Jukes
“…the long-serving, dedicated team behind Ata Rangi just go from strength to strength. Their Pinots have always been great and yet, even in a world where the Pinot benchmark gets higher every year, Ata Rangi is better than ever.”
Lisa Perotti-Brown MW
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a list of ‘Best NZ Pinot Noir’ that does not feature Ata Rangi at the top of the list.”
Yvonne Lorkin
Monday September 22nd
Hosted by Helen Masters, Chief Winemaker
Tasting: 6.30-8.30pm, 10 Wines with Kate Lamont Canapes, $125
The Real Review’s, Bob Campbell MW on Ata Rangi
(‘Ata Rangi Pinot Power’, 10 Dec 2018)
When Ata Rangi started making wine and wanted to get a few runs on the board, they entered some of their wines in competitions. Different vintages of Ata Rangi Pinot Noir won the IWSC London Trophy in 1995, 1996 and 2001. The ten vintages of Ata Rangi Pinot Noir from 1996 each won gold medals and netted a total of seven trophies.
Ata Rangi no longer enters wine competitions, but the accolades continue. In 2010 Ata Rangi and Felton Road were both awarded the inaugural Tipuranga Teitei o Aotearoa or ‘Grand Cru of New Zealand’ by their peers. That’s a serious pat on the back.
Ata Rangi is a small, family-owned Martinborough winery with a big reputation, particularly for pinot noir. Their grape supply is from nearly 50 hectares of organically grown grapes from 14 small, close proximity vineyards on 30cm of shallow silt-loam on top of 25-metre deep alluvial gravels. A typically cool, windy Spring limits yields to no more than four tonnes/hectare.
Ata Rangi doesn’t have a marketing department. They are very production-focused. Winemaker Helen Masters tastes a wide range of wines from all over the world. She is interested in wine trends but doesn’t make pinot noir for the market. Instead, she devotes all her attention to producing pinot noir with a strong expression of vineyard site and vintage.
Ata Rangi’s flagship pinot noir (they bottle pinot noir under three labels: entry level Crimson Pinot Noir, an elegant single vineyard McCrone Pinot Noir and the flagship) is made from the “oldest and most revered parcels of fruit.” In the 2016 vintage they used 30% whole-bunch, indigenous yeast fermentation, hand-plunging and 11 months in oak (35% new).
The flagship pinot noir is usually quite structured and can be a little closed when first released. A quietly powerful wine, it has a signature savoury element that varies from vintage to vintage but typically includes floral, hay, straw, toast and spice characters. The wine ages magnificently. Ignore the comment about the 2016 Pinot Noir on Ata Rangi’s website which reads “… it is also highly satisfying to drink now”.
They are not wrong, the wine does give great pleasure on first release, but taste it again in 5-6 years’ time you’ll slump into a deep depression when you realise what you missed.
Did I mention that Ata Rangi makes wines other than pinot noir? They’re all very good.
The Wine List and Menu
First Bracket
Ata Rangi Potiki Chardonnay 2022
Very precise chardonnay with sliced apples, lemons, lemongrass, white peaches and just a hint of flint. Medium-bodied with a tight and very defined palate that shows energy and focus. Structured for longevity, but already thoughtful to taste. Drink or hold.
95 Points — James Suckling, james.suckling.com
Ata Rangi Masters Chardonnay 2022
Pale white-gold. A flinty, pithy, reductive nose. Not giving much right now. The palate is expressed all in pale flavours; daikon, grapefruit and ginger with perfume and minerality. Etched, detailed and quietly powerful with excellent salinity and a very finely tuned acidity. Very young, but with a great future—really compact, steely and concentrated yet light on its feet and almost ethereal in delivery. A quietly sophisticated and refined wine which reflects a cooler vintage character
96 Points — Stephen Wong, The Real Review
Second Bracket
Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir 2022
The 2022 is a wonderfully red fruited and aromatic Pinot Noir. Spice notes of cardamom and ginger combine with rosehip and pomegranate. A savoury note reminiscent of manuka smoke and prosciutto mingle enticingly with the red fruits. The palate has an array of flavours ranging from raspberry compote to rhubarb and orange zest. Smooth and supple on the entry, fine tannins are buoy by freshness to a long-sustained finish. Mid ruby in colour, with an almost transparent hue, the 2022 is charming and fresh, while remaining supple and delicious. Drink now to 2030.
Tasting Notes, Ata Rangi
Ata Rangi Estate Pinot Noir 2022
Stunning and captivating, the wine shows dark berry, warm spice, porcini, and toasted almond characters with an elegant floral overtone. The palate is equally enticing with outstanding concentration and depth, combined with silky flow and beautifully infused fine tannins, making it wonderfully structured with finesse and sophistication. Gorgeously proportioned and harmonious with a sustained, graceful finish. At its best: 2027 to 2042
98 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
Ata Rangi Estate Pinot Noir 2021
This is impeccably composed and seductively expressed, showing dark cherry, clove, thyme and cedar characters on the nose with a gorgeous floral overtone. The concentrated palate is plush yet poised and refined with fleshy texture and perfectly pitched tannins. The wine exhibits stunning depth with layers of delectable flavours and meticulously structured mouthfeel, leading to a totally captivating, sensual finish.
99 Points - Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
Third Bracket
Ata Rangi Kotinga Pinot Noir 2021
The fruit used in this cuvée is harvested from vineyards on the eastern end of Puruatanga Road, on soils predominantly featuring free-draining gravel. This second release is screaming minerality, with a noticeable graphite-like foreword. Then cinnamon, bramble, a touch of clove, nutmeg, and cedar. Oak and whole bunches are not the only features here, as there is a noticeable amaro, Campari-like note, and aromatic herbs enriching the picture. Again, there is a seaweed-like salty element complemented by a lick of green walnut. It is a highly well-balanced wine; the palate being the exact photocopy of the nose, which, in case you ask, no, it’s not always that obvious. Light on its feet, yet bold. The precise line of acidity is caressing the palate and melting into a persistent length of flavours; having tried this wine from an open bottle from the day before, I see how much the oxygen benefited it. And if the proof is in the pudding, a wine that can stand against oxygen so well, and so effortlessly- and actually improving with air exposure- got the final word.
98 Points - Lisa Cardelli, WinePilot
Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir 2020
Quite a fragrant/floral aroma with more plum, dark cherry, wood smoke, liquorice and nutty oak evident on the palate. Seamless, silken texture that is appealing now but promises to get even better with bottle age. The wine opened up as it sat in the glass and deserves to be aerated. Cellar 2023 — 2025
97 Points — Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review
Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir 2019
A firm and linear red with polished and tight tannins that are well-formed giving this serious focus. It’s medium-bodied with a racy sensitivity and length. Chewy classic way. Long and framed. Just a baby. Just like it was on release. Drink or hold.
97 Points — James Suckling
Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir 2021
The 2021 Masters Pinot Noir is thrilling. It nestles as comfortably on the tongue as the 2020. The 70% whole bunch is almost invisible, save for its impact on the structure (the air and room it creates in the mouth equals space). It's a cooler site with gravel in the clay soil, and it ripens later; so, the hang time may contribute to the width. The rollout of flavor in this wine is persistent from front to back. It's a ripper. It was my preferred single-vineyard wine in the lineup. There's redcurrant, pink peppercorn, pomegranate, juniper, dried thyme, rosemary and hints of sumac.
96+ Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir 2020
From a vineyard site named “Seriously Nuts”, this is a seriously crazy good wine. Soils with clay mixed thoroughly with the gravel. Floral and herbal opening with lavender and dried aromatic herbs. Sandy tannins, a tactile dry extract on the palate, denote a wine of considerable presence, without being too ostentatious. It is full of purpose and life, yet has an “angelic” side, given its rather feathery nature. The red fruit characters, you can swirl your tongue around each and every one of them: the wild cherry, the raspberry, the cranberry, the blood plum. It has such an attractive, polished aromatic guise, with an aura surrounded by pure stardust, that it is impossible to not stop and stare at it.
98 Points — Lisa Cardelli, WinePilot