2020 Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir, Martinborough

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 for Wine Pilot in The Coolness of Ata Rangi

A single-site wine from the Masters vineyard of chief Ata Rangi winemaker Helen Masters and family. A glorious, seamless, supremely elegant pinot noir of precision, freshness and balance. Dark cherry, peppery spice, even an Aleppo pepper piquancy with licks of cola, cranberry, truffle and kirsch in the mix. Tannins are superb, succulent and fresh, extremely long. The finish a trail of sweet spice, too. So much beauty in a glass. Drink 2035.

97 points Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, December 2024

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.

97 points James Suckling, September 2022

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. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. This has similar clay soils to the McCrone Vineyard. There's 70% whole bunch in the ferment. Drink to 2035.

96 Points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, December 2023

An incredibly classy wine. There’s an exotic-ness radiating from it as well as fragrance and supreme structure. This is sourced from Helen Masters' own vineyard, some 4 km south of the Martinborough Terrace, on alluvial gravels with a high clay content. It was planted in 2001 and purchased by Helen and her family in 2015. There’s 70% whole bunch delivering some exotic, bunchy wildness as well as dark fruits, spice and bramble. The tannins are textured and granular and the length is hugely impressive. Benchmark gear. Drink to 2033.

96 points Aaron Brasher for The Real Review, October 2023

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. Drink to 2035.

96 points Bob Campbell for The Real Review, January 2023

More about this wine

The Masters Vineyard is the home property of Ata Rangi winemaker Helen Masters and her husband Ben. Planted in 2001 by Di Beatson and Carolyn O’Conner, the vines stand in deep layers of clay and gravel. It is a late ripening site located on the south side of the town of Martinborough, with 2.5 hectares planted to the Mendoza clone of Chardonnay and Pinot Noirs Abel, Pommard, 115, 667 and 777. 

The 2024 vintage is described by winemaker Helen Masters as the best she has seen in her 22 years at Ata Rangi. The vines had great canopy balance, and a cool dry March allowed for exceptional phenolic ripeness combined with bright acidity.

The fruit was handpicked and fermented with indigenous yeasts and a 70% whole bunch inclusion. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.

About Ata Rangi

Ata Rangi was founded by Clive Paton in 1980 in Martinborough, Wairarapa, at the southern end of New Zealand’s North Island. Today, Alison Paton heads up day-to-day running of the business, with Helen Masters leading the work at the winery while Ian Ewart’s team looks after the vineyards.

Fruit is sourced from three estate sites within a few kilometres of one another within the Martinborough Terrace area on the northside of the town of Martinborough. All share general soil profile is 300–600mm of silt-loam over 25–30 metres of free-draining alluvial gravel. Additional fruit is sourced from The Masters vineyard on the southside of the town.