A public tasting in Auckland’s leafy suburbs last night offered a real treat – a chance to taste through the Ata Rangi individual vineyard selection Pinot Noirs – that have only been released together as a box set of four wines – the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2020 and the three individual vineyard wines that make up the ‘master blend’. The box is a treat – beautifully packaged (as you’d expect) with crafty maps of each vineyard and notes – an absolute delight for the Pinot buff.
I honestly hadn’t thought that I’d get to taste through the wines without cracking open the box and contents; so to be able to try all of these in the company of Helen Masters, Ben Trinick and Ali Paton for titbits of information is a bit of a thrill. I decided to start with the Ata Rangi, and only then try tasting through the other three – so get a sense of ‘the whole’ and then ‘the parts’. Each wine is absolutely worth having in itself – of course – but after I’d done the exercise, I did see the worthiness, value and intricacy of the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir in, and of itself. And whilst that’s not the point – it kind of is a point, of sorts.
Before I even arrived at this tongue-twister of a conclusion, I started with four other wines that all deserve a mention too. Ata Rangi Craighall Riesling 2017 is made in a dry style, but juicy and intensely concentrated. Prickly acidity drives through the palate, leaving notes of lemon peel, cardamom and red apple in its wake. Good weight and texture – expect this to age gracefully. Ata Rangi Te Wā Sauvignon Blanc 2021 has elements of barrel fermentation and skin-contact and is a subtle, complex wine – nothing like our typical kiwi style. There’s bags of citrus, minerality and oatmeal. A terrific, textural, and again, age-worthy white. Ata Rangi Pōtiki Chardonnay 2021 is quite light on its feet, with a nimble balance of freshness, spice, saline acidity and ripe fruit. Both modern and youthful, this hipster does have hidden depths and a really lengthy, salivating finish. I was quite taken by the Ata Rangi Masters Chardonnay on release, and this 2021 second edition is equally enthralling. Elegant, tight and pure, with a focussed drive of acid, but clean, quartzy fruit flavours and enough phenolic astringency to offer layers of interest and coiled energy.
Onto the Pinot Noirs! Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2020 has aromatics of red cherry, strawberry, toasted fruit bread, pepper and baking spices. Medium-bodied and well-articulated, with complexity and coltish verve in equal quantities. A wisp of oak and a swell of lush, spicy fruit are balanced by an peaty minerality and mellow, chalky tannin. Ata Rangi Kotinga Pinot Noir 2020 is the next in line – made from all Dijon clones (no Abel). A spikier fruit profile of cranberry, juniper, damson and blood orange. Really zesty and primed with a racy acidity, it shows a lot of jazzy energy and drinks very well right now.
After the release of the Chardonnay from 2020, there is now also the Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir 2020, from Helen’s own vineyard, planted in 2002. A flush of red fruits on the nose with redcurrant, pepper, pomegranate, cherry and rose petal. Darker and richer into the palate showing a firm tannin that balances the zesty acidity. The final piece in the puzzle is Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir 2020 – a wine that I have tried before, and has a perfume that is (as usual) very floral, with violets and lilac accompanying the bloody fruit and cinnamon spice notes. Savoury, with rounded tannins and vibrant acidity. A very complete, power-packed and energetic wine already.
