2021 Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir
2021 Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir

2021 Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir

96 pts
Ata Rangi |Martinborough |Pinot Noir
Just the second release of Helen Master's self-grown Pinot Noir. Extremely limited.
Price:
$179.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Only the second release of Ata Rangi’s Masters Pinot Noir, and already this single-site wine has carved out a place of real significance in the Martinborough landscape. The vineyard, planted in 2002 by winemaker Helen Masters and her family, lies just south of the Terrace on gravel mixed with clay - soils that temper Martinborough’s natural drive with added breadth and savour.

The 2021 vintage was tiny in volume but exceptional in quality. Early frosts and a cool flowering season cut yields to the bone, but the remaining fruit was concentrated, pristine and perfectly ripe. Fermented with a high proportion of whole bunches (70%) and matured in French oak (30% new), this Pinot Noir is as finely crafted as it is site-driven.

The aromatics are pure and expressive: red cherry, damson plum and violet, layered with star anise, cardamom and dried thyme. The palate is seamless, combining depth with clarity, carried on silken tannins and a long, elegant line of acidity.

This is Pinot Noir built to last, a wine that will evolve beautifully over the next 10–15 years. With so little made, it’s a rare chance to secure what is quickly becoming one of Ata Rangi’s most important collector’s wines.

Stephen Wong MW

Stephen Wong MW

The Real Review 96 Points

Light crimson. Strawberries and red peppers. Expressive with clearly exuberant fruit but not bombastic. It even smells crunchy. The palate is deeply flavoured with cola nut, black fruit, spice and sumac complexity. Less expressive than the nose, oak arrives mid-palate, contributing to a drying finish but with depth in reserve. Long, closed and very young with tight, cooler-climate acidity and linear, chalky tannins. Elegant and restrained at this stage, but with beautifully defined and detailed fruit which will reward cellaring

Lisa Cardelli

Lisa Cardelli

Wine Pilot 95 Points

A terrific, elegant wine with the right level of VA lift that reflects in the fragrant, crunchy, red-fuited and floral duality, without missing a little umami, and bramble-cinnamon-like notes to spice up things. Moreover, a smoky meatiness, like bresaola, blood orange and plum characters add to the overall complexity. The palate is both very savoury and very fruity. You get a beautiful dry extract feeling, that unmistakable tactile sensation on the palate, that culminates in a long, tantalising length. It is such a complex, refreshing, salivating wine that you’ll finish the bottle in the blink of an eye.

Mike Bennie

Mike Bennie

Halliday Wine Companion 96 Points

The vineyard was planted in 2001 and has been owned since 2015 by Helen Masters (winemaker of Ata Rangi) and her husband, Ben. It is certified organic. A large portion of whole bunches usually make the ferment. A sublime pinot noir of depth and concentration yet ethereal glide, filigree of lacy tannin, succulence of minerally acidity and a profile that stretches from dark cherry to game meat and back to alpine herbs and undergrowth. The perfume is wildly fragrant and generous, the palate lip-smacking with its fruit and savoury and mineral characters. The wine is harmonious and persistent. A kaleidoscopic pinot noir of immense satisfaction and complexity.

Cam Douglas MS

Cam Douglas MS

Cam Douglas MS 96 Points

A wine to invest in. Complex and enticing, youthful, savoury and vibrant. A bouquet of youth and pinosity with fragrances of red berries and raspberry tea, dried herb and preserved flowers. Layers of natural spices, raspberry and plum then fresh dark red skinned cherry. The oak is moderate with some baking spice qualities. On the palate a dry wine with a youthful taut squeeze, core of red berry fruit flavours then spices of place with a dark clay and dry stone quality then barrel. The mouthfeel reveals an abundance of tannins with a polish as well as savoury side, medium+ acidity with an overall solid structure. Lengthy, complex, youthful and delicious. A wine for the cellar still with best drinking likely from 2026 through 2036+.

Early season frosts and cool weather during the flowering period resulted in low bunch numbers that were open and small berried. As a result, 2021 is a small yielding year in terms of quantity but concentrated and seamless in terms of weight and tannin. Weather conditions for the rest of season were kind and enabled us to harvest clean, impeccable fruit with ripe seeds and bright acid. This is the 2nd release of our Masters Pinot Noir.

A full effusive nose with aromas of cherry and damson plum, star anise and violet mingle with hints of cardamon. The aromas carry through on the palate with flavours of dried thyme, nutmeg and pink peppercorn. 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.

Owned and farmed by Ata Rangi winemaker Helen Masters and her family, this vineyard was established in 2002, four km south of the Martinborough Terrace. Here the alluvial gravels are mixed with clay, which acts to retain moisture keeping the soils cooler than the more gravel dominant sites around Martinborough village.

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type Red
Body Light Bodied
Variety Pinot Noir
Country New Zealand
Region Martinborough
Feature High Score
Women in Wine
Iconic
Reviewed By The Real Review
James Suckling
Halliday Wine Companion
Wine Pilot
The Wine Advocate
Critic Score 96
Size 14
Vintage 2021
Closure Screw Cap

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