2002 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Martinborough

Wet and wetter through the growing season with triffid-like canopies that refused to stop growing. The vineyard team made many extra passes to leaf-pluck and top the growth, important for exposing the fruiting zone to sunlight and drying winds. The vintage was saved only by Martinborough’s amazingly free-draining gravels, the three weeks of fine, settled March weather and the dry spell throughout the April harvest. Crop-thinning, a rare event in Martinborough, was employed in some blocks to ensure fuII ripeness. GDD 1,100. This was the year they changed from cork to screwcap. Mid to light ruby with brick tinges. Smoky and savoury and very fine savoury/sweet nose. Juicy and bright with fine dry texture. Fruit goes through to a long finish. Such fine texture. Elegantissimo. (JH)

Pale brick in color and bottled under screw cap, the 2002 Pinot Noir gives dried berry, tea and tobacco aromas fused with hints of dried herbs. Medium-bodied and crisp with a medium level of chewy tannins that are a little hard, it finishes long. Drink it now. A winery that really needs no introduction for NZ Pinot lovers, there’s not much for me to add about the long-serving, dedicated team behind Ata Rangi – they just go from strength to strength. The Pinots have always been great, and yet even in a world where the Pinot benchmark gets higher every year, Ata Rangi is better than ever. (Almost equally impressive though are Petrie and Craighall Chardonnays, clearly getting a lot of love in the cellar from highly skilled winemaker Helen Masters.)

Wet and wetter through the growing season with triffid-like canopies that refused to stop growing! The vineyard team made many extra passes to leaf pluck and top the growth, important for exposing the fruiting zone to sunlight and drying winds. The vintage was saved only by Martinborough's amazingly free-draining gravels, the three weeks of fine, settled March weather and the dry spell throughout the April harvest. Crop thinning, a rare event in Martinborough, was employed in some blocks to ensure full ripeness. Relative heat units 1160, yield 4.6 t/ha, extract 29 g/l, TA 5.5 g/l, pH 3.59 . Glowing ruby. Smells much older than any wine so far, but in a rather nice, rustic way. Bring on an old Averys burgundy! Acute sort of spot-on fruit – not graceful – but with lots of sweetness and then chew. A little awkward and perhaps starting to separate into its constituent parts. Sweet start and then slightly sour end with some pretty dry tannins in between. (JR)