Tasting Report: Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Vertical

It’s no secret that Ata Rangi has been the source of one of the most consistently great New Zealand pinot noir wines. Its founder Clive Paton along with chief winemaker Helen Masters recently visited Melbourne with a collection of back vintages spanning from 2013 back to 2002. They were in town to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Ata Rangi since its inception, a significant milestone for a New Zealand winery.

There were just four wineries in the Martinborough region when Ata Rangi started off in 1980. There was Neil McCallum of Dry River, Stan Chifney who just wanted to make cabernet, Larry McKenna at Martinborough Vineyards and Ata Rangi. Stan Chifney passed away and with him the quest for great cabernet. Of the other three, Ata Rangi is the only one that has remained under its original ownership. 

The most compelling aspect of the 12 vintage vertical tasting was the way the wines twisted around the varying characters of vintage, delivering in some cases strikingly different characters. The concentration, tension and composure sat consistent across all wines, the power and depth building across the more recent wines as the bounty of vine age kicked into gear.

“We are trying to make a wine that has no singular overt character standing out,” says Masters. “We don’t want the whole bunches to be seen, we don’t want the oak to be seen, we want the wine to have layers and subtle complexity.” The excellent 2013 vintage saw Masters deploy a higher (30 percent) proportion of whole bunches whilst in the cooler 2012 three are none. 

There was not a single miss in the line-up, the most outstanding vintages all falling from 2006 onwards, a vintage in which the quality of the wine stepped up to a very consistently high level. 

Another interesting thread was a trio of frost-affected vintages in the middle of the tasting: 2003, 2005 and 2007. Whilst the balance was definitely swayed in the ’03 and ’05, the ’07 showed a very complete, albeit distinctly different vintage-driven character. “The lessons of 2005 were applied in 2007,” Masters explained. “We had incredibly low yields but we learned how to handle the tannins and we were much more gentle in 2007.”

The dedicated attention to detail and highly considered approach to all aspects of viticulture and vinification has really set Ata Rangi pinot noir apart from the other pinots in the region; it is a wine of greater elegance, a more silky texture and a lighter touch. Martinborough’s cool weather during flowering which arrives thanks to the prevailing southerly wind that funnels up the valley means they inevitably have very loose bunches with greater skin exposure producing tougher, more savory wines as a result.

And whilst they may well be the most elegant of the Martinborough pack, they lose nothing in terms of their ability to age, as was demonstrated in this tasting, right back to the still fresh and vibrant 2002.

Photo: Helen Masters & Clive Paton of Ata Rangi

James met with Clive Paton and Helen Masters two years ago and talked about the unique qualities of pinot noir in the region. You can watch the video below to get more insights. 

Contributing Editor Nick Stock is a renowned Australian wine writer, author, presenter and filmmaker who reports on his worldwide wine tasting experiences for JamesSuckling.com.