2024 Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir, Martinborough

A spectacular pinot noir that strikes the right balance between pure, comforting fruit and mineral tension. On the nose, forest berries, sour cherries, wild herbs and some crushed stones dominate. Medium-bodied and full of verve, offering fine-grained tannins and a velvety texture, with a succulent center palate and a long, long finish. Drink or hold.

98 points Kevin Dacy for James Suckling, March 2026

This is a ripe and concentrated pinot which opens with generous aromas of grated coconut, strawberry shortbread, wild blackberry, cinnamon and ginger snaps. The full-bodied palate is both mouth-filling and complex with the dark cherry, berry fruit held in place by long, grainy tannins, ripe, tangy acidity and smoky, almost savoury nuances. A seriously structured, muscular wine which will evolve slowly, it can be approached after another year or two in bottle. Drink to 2041.

96 points Stephen Wong MW for The Real Review, June 2026

A deeply flavoured and scented wine. Ripe, blackcurrants, black cherry, some sour plum notes, licorice, star anise, thyme, sage leaf and a little cardamom spice. Full in the palate, sleek with slinky tannins and trails long on ripe fruit and sweet spices. A serious, bolder pinot noir, with balance. Drink to 2030.

94 points Mike Bennie for Halliday Wine Companion, March 2026

The 2024 release of the McCrone Pinot stands tall with broad shoulders, and announces itself with generous, ripe black fruit, sour cherries and a touch of umboshi, then slowly showing flinty notes edged by licorice and warm Mediterranean herbs. This a complex, full-bodied wine, with deep, ripe fruit floating the palate. There is a subtle ferrous, smoky and herbal undertone to the flavours wrapped in notable tannins.

This is a substantial Pinot that will reward a further couple of years in the bottle and will provide pleasure for many thereafter. The impatient among us could approach the wine after a generous swing in the decanter, as it does need to stretch its legs. Pair with deep savory flavours, rich fats and charred or wood-fired elements on the plate: try wih charcoal-grilled lamb chops brushed with a reduction umeboshi, mirin and red shiso, or slow cooked beef shirt ribs in ancho and cocoa mole.

More about this wine

The McCrone vineyard is a four-hectare block across the road from Ata Rangi. Planted in 2001 to a mix of Pinot Noir clones that included the Abel, 5 and Dijons 115, 667 and 777, the vines stand in clay soils over gravel. The vineyard was purchased by Ata Rangi in 2012 and has been certified organic since 2014.

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.

60% of the hand-picked grapes were destemmed and the rest included in the indigenous yeast ferment as whole bunches. The wine spent a total of eleven months in French oak barrels, of which a third were new. The blended wine rested for eight months in stainless steel before it 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.