2025 Craggy Range Te Muna Road Pinot Noir, Martinborough

Craggy Range was founded by the Peabody family in 1998 and is one of New Zealand's most admired producers. Ben Tombs took over as Chief Winemaker in 2023, bringing a precision and focus to the wines that has been noted across recent vintages.

Te Muna means secret place in Māori, and an apt name for a valley outside Martinborough that few visitors would stumble on by accident. It is planted across three terraces along the Huangarua River, with conditions shaped by cool nights and high winds. Each of the ten Pinot Noir clones planted in the rocky clay soils of the upper terrace is harvested and vinified separately before blending, giving the winemaking team the flexibility to find the best expression of the vintage rather than being locked into a formula.

The 2025 was a warm, dry season that delivered an elongated harvest and fruit of exceptional aromatic intensity. Most fruit was de-stemmed, but some of the older parcels fermented with whole clusters. Gentle maceration through pumpovers and ten months in French oak barriques. Racked once and bottled unfined.

Bright scarlet in appearance, the nose is intensely perfumed with floral notes and sweet spice over dark cherry and an exotic incense like note that lingers. The palate is silky with fine tannins and a long, energetic finish.

More immediately seductive than recent vintages and very rewarding from the moment it's opened. This would be a great wine with roast or grilled fowl.