Bush Block — 75,000 trees
Ata Rangi founder Clive Paton has always been happiest in the bush. Even as he was planting the original vines, he was already on the lookout for a piece of land to fulfil his passion for conservation. In 2002 Ata Rangi purchased a large tract of land backing onto the Aorangi Forest Park, which we named the Bush Block.
It was thought that native rātā trees were extinct in the area but, while exploring the land, Clive discovered a copse of the flowering trees. He began to propagate from this stand of trees to plant throughout the rest of the block.
This led to a connection with Project Crimson, the charitable trust set up in 1990 to protect endemic rātā and pōhutukawa in the region. It felt right to name our younger vines pinot noir ‘Crimson’ in support of the work of this trust.