Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir 2020

Reviews

James Suckling (JamesSuckling.com): 97/100. Inviting aromas of green strawberry, hibiscus tea, milk chocolate and rosemary stem. Medium-bodied with velvety tannins and silky texture. Slightly chewy. Beautiful on the palate with lovely ground spice detailing the fresh red fruit and berries. Layered and dynamic. White pepper and coriander come through. Spicy, but pretty as well. An exciting wine. New single vineyard bottling. Sustainable. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: 96/100.The 2020 Masters Pinot Noir is immediately aromatically distinct from the other wines here. It leads with a floral/orange blossom character on the nose, with blood, graphite, cherry, sumac and cracked cumin seeds. It's one thing for Pinot to taste good, but it's a whole other level of experience for it to smell good; and I feel I could smell this all day. On the palate, the wine is weighty and wide, blanketing the tongue and feeling cohesive and harmonious. The whole bunch character here works structurally, without leaving any distinct whole bunch characters. It's really great, pleasurable, distinct and exciting. It's a full 360-degree experience, with weight, aroma, flavor, spool of acid, saliva, etc. Kirsch is through the finish.

Cameron Douglas MS: 96/100.  Complex, individual, a fine positive reductive quality accentuating soil and site, then ripe cherry, strawberry fruit and plum. Dry, very complex, a fine savoury quality, fabulous tannins and acid line. Complex, excellent mouthfeel, a mix of dried herb and ripe fruits, judicious oak program and long defined finish.

Bob Campbell, MW (The Real Review): 96/100. Youthful, supple pinot noir with an initial hint of fruit sweetness that is balanced by fine, peppery tannins that suggest cellaring potential. Floral/rose petal, cherry, plum and crushed grape stem flavours. Elegant pinot noir with power that's delivered with consummate subtlety.

Mike Bennie, The Wine Front: 96/100. The 2001 planting. Owned by Helen and Ben Masters since 2015. ... Tannins strict and firm, dry and minerally, very beautiful. Clay soils. Around 70% whole bunch. Ebullient, evocactive scents of rose hip tea, cranberry, raspberry and fennel. The palate somewhat juicy, but for a stretch of fine, silty, Italianate tannins keeping things in check. Flavours re dry and savoury, dried cranberry, rose hip tea, bergamot, vermouth and crushed rocks. The finish puckering, minerally and stony. Love it.

Decanter: 95/100. Tasted by: Emma Jenkins MW (at Martinborough, New Zealand, 17 Nov 2022) Part of Ata Rangi: The Pinot Noir pioneer of Martinborough. Very upfront with lots of spice and florals (this wine is Helen’s 'negroni') but there’s a savoury, quite brooding presence beneath it all – forest floor and bloody meat. The palate is wonderfully complete and consistent from start to finish; this is not a big wine, but it has plenty of presence. Very fine tannins, quite silty by comparison to the Estate’s silkiness. Dry, structured finish, very long. 65% whole bunch. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2035.

Tasting Note

A full effusive nose with aromas of mulberry, baking spices, star anise and rosewater mingle with blood orange. The aromas carry through on the palate with flavours of pomegranate, nutmeg and rosmary. The clay brings a deeper timbre to this single site Pinot Noir, with the expanse of texture being a central theme in this wine. Fine tannins buoyed by supple acidity spread the full length of the palate, fresh and elegant, this wine has a clear and unique voice of place.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: red wine

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Alcohol: 13.5% vol

Residual sugar: <1 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Food match: Match with duck, pork, beef and lamb dishes

Notice: contains sulfite

Vineyard: McCrone Vineyard, Martinborough, New Zealand. Ata Rangi's McCrone Vineyard was planted in 2001 using a mix of clones that have become part of the Ata Rangi fabric: Abel or 'Gumboot' clone, Dijon selections (115 and 777) and Clone 5. Although just around the corner from our home block, the soils are remarkably different. Whilst the Martinborough Terrace is predominantly alluvial gravels, there is a compact seam of clay which threads its way across a section of the terrace, fanning out over the gravels and creating a cooling effect on the roots in the soil. The McCrone site catches this seam and delivers a distinctively different aroma and flavour profile than that of the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir.

Winemaking: 4 to 6 days pre-fermentation maceration. With 70% whole bunch. Malolactic fermentation in barrel. 11 months in French oak barriques (30% new oak).

Cellaring potential: 2030+

Closure: Screw cap

Serving: Serve Pinot Noir at 16 - 18°C, that is slightly cooler than a typical room temperature, to best enjoy the layers of aroma and flavour as the wine slowly warms in the glass. Decanting an hour or so before serving is worthwhile, especially for young and/or more structured wines.

Produced and bottled: Ata Rangi Vineyard, PO Box 43, Martinborough 5741, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany