Ata Rangi, Pinot Noir, Martinborough 2019 - 75cl

If one bottle explains why Martinborough matters for Pinot Noir, this is it. Ata Rangi's 2019 has the perfume and the poise that made the estate a reference point long before New Zealand Pinot was fashionable.

Clive and Phyll Paton planted here in 1980, on a windy patch of free-draining alluvial gravel on the Wairarapa side of the hills north of Wellington. Much of the fruit comes from the Abel clone — the so-called "gumboot" clone, smuggled into the country in a wellington boot and now the backbone of the estate's oldest vines. Helen Masters has made the wines for years, and the house style is consistency itself: this bottling has long been the standard bearer for the region. The 2019 spent around eleven months in French oak, roughly a third of it new, kept deliberately low in toast so the fruit leads.

The nose is the giveaway — rose petal and dark cherry, then warm spice, cardamom, a twist of juniper and dried herb. The palate is where Ata Rangi separates itself: concentrated but never heavy, with bright acidity holding the line and tannins so fine they almost disappear into the texture. It finishes long, savoury, faintly earthy. Drinking beautifully now, though a well-kept bottle will hold and deepen over the next five to eight years.

This is a wine for a proper dinner rather than a casual glass — something you open when you want the table to notice.

How to Serve

Serve at 14-16°C in a wide Burgundy bowl. A 30-minute decant lifts the aromatics; no need to labour it.

Where to Drink It

Noble Rot, where a smart Pinot list and honest cooking suit it perfectly. Brat, for the way its smoke and char flatter that savoury red-fruit core.

Food Pairings

Roast duck is the classic call and I won't argue with it — the spice on the nose meets crisp skin and cherry sauce head-on. Mushroom-heavy dishes work just as well if you're going meat-free.