98 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
Stunning and captivating, the wine shows dark berry, warm spice, porcini, and toasted almond characters with an elegant floral overtone. The palate is equally enticing with outstanding concentration and depth, combined with silky flow and beautifully infused fine tannins, making it wonderfully structured with finesse and sophistication. Gorgeously proportioned and harmonious with a sustained, graceful finish. At its best: 2027 to 2042

95 Points — Cam Douglas, MS
The bouquet is an immediate signature of the Wairarapa, Martinborough and Ata Rangi. Scents of clay and stony brown soils layered between scents of dark red berry scents and barrel spices, fine lees and complexity that can only come from vine age, barrel selection and attention to detail winemaking. Flavours of drying strawberries and cherry flesh, savoury spice layers of clove and vanilla then an abundance of texture from fine polished tannins and acid line that coats the palate with flavour and complexity. A delicious wine to melt your palate into.

94+ Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir is lighter than the 2020 and softer than the 2021. In 2022, the decision was made not to release any single-vineyard wines "because they didn't express the character that we were hoping for in that vintage," says Winemaker Helen Masters. On the nose, there's white strawberry, cherry, pomegranate pearls and even a hint of raspberry leaf. In the mouth, the wine is pink peppercorn, open and yet compact, open-weave without being loose. There's clarity. It's lovely. The best fruit from the three single vineyards and the older estate vineyards make up this wine, yet the overall volume of the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir remains the same. Interesting to note that in 2023, there was no Ata Rangi 2023 made; all of the fruit flowed to the Crimson cuvée, the first time in the estate's 39 years.

94 Points — James Suckling
A tight and focused Ata Rangi with sliced strawberries and hints of white pepper and minerals. It’s medium-bodied, crisp and fresh, with light wet earth and fresh mushroom undertones to the fruit. This has verve. Drink or hold.

John Saker — Te Whenua
This is a delight. Classic Ata Rangi, in its way. Quiet nose, but oh so light-stepping and elegant in the mouth. Petits fruits rouges, cherry, blood orange. Juicy acidity and a fine tannin structure enable a textural silkiness. Has energy and insistence.

99 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

This is impeccably composed and seductively expressed, showing dark cherry, clove, thyme and cedar characters on the nose with a gorgeous floral overtone. The concentrated palate is plush yet poised and refined with fleshy texture and perfectly pitched tannins. The wine exhibits stunning depth with layers of delectable flavours and meticulously structured mouthfeel, leading to a totally captivating, sensual finish.

97 Points — Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous

The 2021 PinotNoir definitely reflects vintage. Its good colour and abundance of gravelly tannins display the smaller berried, smaller vintage. Its bright fruit, intense concentration and plentiful acidity accompany primary red fruit flavour, with an impressive show of ample black tea leaf-like tannins. It’s a wine for the long haul that draws out to an extended finish.

96 Points — Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review

Deep crimson. A firm, upright nose with blackberry, violet minerality in a restricted but concentrated package. Not immediately exuberant but there is clearly a lot of innate power here. The palate is full-bodied, very structured from the start with both fruit and oak tannins giving texture and dimension to this impressively serious, mineral and very long wine. Very young currently (March 2024), it needs a few years to relax into itself but will be fantastic in time as the floral and blackberry flavours unfurl.

95 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2021 Pinot Noir is vibrant on the nose and totally precise and focused. The acid spools right from the front of the palate and has a mobile, agile way about it. The season may have had it’s challenges, but the wine is effortless, natural and shapely. It’s great. The 40% whole bunch here sits well within the red fruit and creates a capacious mid-palate without an impact of stalky flavour. Superb. A real pleasure to drink.

97 Points — James Suckling

Lively and vibrant red fruits of wild strawberries and red charries followed by rose hips, ground spices and touch of citrus zest. Medium-bodied, finely grained, velvety tannins with a delightful acid backbone. Zesty and layered wine with beautiful balance and complexity. It’s already nejoyable now but will age gracefully.

John Saker - Te Whenua

Dark crimson. Smoky nose. Dark berry, blood orange, tamarillo, earthy notes. The fruit is nicely held by finely spun tannins and a taut stay of acidity. Excellent finish and length. A pinot where extroverted, quite dense fruit meets structural finesse. 

97 Points – James Suckling
Perfumed with ripe strawberries and fresh flowers, like pink roses, as well as some of their stems and leaves. Black mushrooms and hints of mulch. Medium- to full-bodied with polished and refined tannins that give a fine velvety texture and a long and flavorful finish. Stony undertone at the end. Hard not to drink if you like crunchy, young and serious pinot, but try to be patient.  

97 Points — Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion
This is the second release from the Kotinga vineyard, a site on the edge of the river terrace of Martinborough. Produced in a large (2280L) foudre barrel. It's a striking wine for its tension, Italianate tannin profile, gossamer flow of dark cherry fruit, cranberry lift, pleasing earthiness and alpine herb detail. A gentle seasoning of hazelnut savouriness, too. There's a sense of inward concentration, brooding and dark fruit and spice drive with intent through the wine. All of this flecked with crushed quartz and limestone-like minerality; a crispness through the finish for pleasure. Magnificent, multidimensional and so darn satisfying. 

95 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2021 Kotinga Pinot Noir leads with clove and ferrous, star anise and pomegranate. The mid-palate is sapid and intense and walks a tightrope of fleshy and tense. It has an energy that sits on the precipice of pleasure and pain, or an intensity akin to the focus required right in that second before you catch a ball. It's an utterly engaging wine. This is the best part about Pinot—intrigue and satisfaction.

John Saker – Te Whenua
This is an absolute treat. Beautiful floral scents, plus a touch of straw. The palate is so impressive – fine-boned, shapely, gently paced, with a dark fruit profile. A well-made, open-hearted wine you will remember for a long time after tasting.

95 Points — Cam Douglas MS
A wonderful sense of place and variety with a bouquet of fresh flowers and soil, a savoury complexity then scents of cherries and plums, some raspberry compote and perfumes from lees and site. A dry wine touches the palate first, with a tautness and youthful energy, firm-ish yet ripe polished tannins. The palate takes a while to dissolve the tannins leaving behind a complex and engaging wines led by fruit, structure and poise. Acidity sets the backbone of the structure in place, along with tannins, then flavours of cherries and plums, then savoury spice layers return. Delicious, textured, velvety and long, a wine for the cellar with best drinking likely from 2027 through 2037+.

95 Points — Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review
Mid-crimson. A ripe nose with a sweet core of red and black fruit coulis framed by crunchy cocoa nib and incense-like whole-bunch aromas. Quite structured with tamarillo savoury fruit underneath. Closed, young and un-evolved. Innately complex with concentrated, submerged flavours of violet and purple fruit. The palate closes down with tannins on the back, resulting in a reserved but classical structure. This needs a few years to relax and unfurl but I suspect it will always be on the firm side.

96+ Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2021 Masters Pinot Noir is thrilling. It nestles as comfortably on the tongue as the 2020. The 70% whole bunch is almost invisible, save for its impact on the structure (the air and room it creates in the mouth equals space). It's a cooler site with gravel in the clay soil, and it ripens later; so, the hang time may contribute to the width. The rollout of flavor in this wine is persistent from front to back. It's a ripper. It was my preferred single-vineyard wine in the lineup. There's redcurrant, pink peppercorn, pomegranate, juniper, dried thyme, rosemary and hints of sumac.

John Saker – Te Whenua
Dark crimson. Smoky nose. Dark berry, blood orange, tamarillo, earthy notes. The fruit is nicely held by finely spun tannins and a taut stay of acidity. Excellent finish and length. A pinot where extroverted, quite dense fruit meets structural finesse. 

96 Points — Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion
The vineyard was planted in 2001 and has been owned since 2015 by Helen Masters (winemaker of Ata Rangi) and her husband, Ben. It is certified organic. A large portion of whole bunches usually make the ferment. A sublime pinot noir of depth and concentration yet ethereal glide, filigree of lacy tannin, succulence of minerally acidity and a profile that stretches from dark cherry to game meat and back to alpine herbs and undergrowth. The perfume is wildly fragrant and generous, the palate lip-smacking with its fruit and savoury and mineral characters. The wine is harmonious and persistent. A kaleidoscopic pinot noir of immense satisfaction and complexity.

96 Points— Cam Douglas MS
A wine to invest in. Complex and enticing, youthful, savoury and vibrant. A bouquet of youth and pinosity with fragrances of red berries and raspberry tea, dried herb and preserved flowers. Layers of natural spices, raspberry and plum then fresh dark red skinned cherry. The oak is moderate with some baking spice qualities. On the palate a dry wine with a youthful taut squeeze, core of red berry fruit flavours then spices of place with a dark clay and dry stone quality then barrel. The mouthfeel reveals an abundance of tannins with a polish as well as savoury side, medium+ acidity with an overall solid structure. Lengthy, complex, youthful and delicious. A wine for the cellar still with best drinking likely from 2026 through 2036+.

 96 Points — Stephen Wong, The Real Review
Light crimson. Strawberries and red peppers. Expressive with clearly exuberant fruit but not bombastic. It even smells crunchy. The palate is deeply flavoured with cola nut, black fruit, spice and sumac complexity. Less expressive than the nose, oak arrives mid-palate, contributing to a drying finish but with depth in reserve. Long, closed and very young with tight, cooler-climate acidity and linear, chalky tannins. Elegant and restrained at this stage, but with beautifully defined and detailed fruit which will reward cellaring 

98 Points

Wine of the Year, Top 100 NZ Wines for 2022

— James Suckling, James.Suckling.com

A beautiful nose of sliced strawberries, crushed cherries, violets, grated nutmeg and a hint of white pepper. Some hibiscus, too. Supremely vibrant and perfumed with fine tannins that run the length of the medium-bodied palate. Textural. Ground spice and fresh fruit are intertwined, providing wonderful depth and complexity. So long as well. Seamless balance. Superb. Sustainable. Drink or hold.

98 Points — Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review

Concentrated, complex pinot noir with cassis, blackberry, dark cherry, violet, wood smoke and savoury/dried herb flavours. Accessible now but with a proven history of ageing gracefully. Elegant wine with impressive power.

95 Points — Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast

This is a classic expression of this renowned winery's estate vines, now over 40 years old, on alluvial gravels. It opens with a rich bouquet of heady spices, dried florals, cherry cola and cinnamon bark, and there's some vanillin oak influence, too. There's density and concentration to the palate. It walks a tightrope of power and elegance, with chiseled, distinctly textured tannins and finely tuned oak. Drink now with protein and until 2033, at least

96 points — Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous

The 2020 Pinot Noir reminds me of walking into a cathedral - that quiet, cool hush that falls as you walk through its doors. This is harmonious, supple, unshowy and unforced. Hailing from old vines and delicately textured despite the abundance of fruit concentration. Refined tannins with the finest of gravelly textures, akin to licking a stone. Scented yet restrained, with a fragrance of sweet red fruit, tea leaf and cedar spices with persistent acidity that carries it. Very complete and already approachable.

94 Points — Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

Most of the fruit comes off free-draining Terrace soils and older vine sites. Oldest vine age core, let’s say. This wine is 40% whole bunch.

Bold, full and concentrated style, albeit finds structure and levity from frisky acidity and fine, lacy tannin profile. Richness and density in perfume from hello. Dark cherry, mocha notes, liquorice, sweet tobacco and white pepper. Palate and bouquet in synch on characters. Feels fine, trim, a little tough but pulled very long. Great expression.

93 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2020 Pinot Noir leads with cherry and sumac, layers of graphite and dehydrated blood orange rind. The wine is fine-boned and savory, powered by a fine spool of acidity through the fruit. There are lovely, chalky tannins through the finish.

96 Points — Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review

This vineyard was planted in 2000 in free-draining alluvial gravels. Ripe and moderately concentrated wine that is distinctively different to the other single-vineyard pinots with less savoury influence and more pronounced fruit with a backbone of sweet, soft tannins. Brilliant wine .

96 Points — James Suckling, James.Suckling.com

Perfumed aromas of sliced strawberries, grated nutmeg, milk chocolate, wild thyme, violet and orange peel. Some mushroom. Medium- to full-bodied with silky, textured tannins that are soaked in beautifully fresh red fruit and berries. Floral and nuanced on the palate with subtle concentration and length. A beautiful wine. New single vineyard bottling. Best after 2024.

96 Points — Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

Tannin profile marked here, for quality. A vineyard planted in 2000 to Dijon clones (no Abel). Gravel soil. Includes 40% whole bunch. Aged in used foudre. The idea is to retain the sappy, crunchiness of the inherent personality of the site. A first time release out of foudre for Ata Rangi. Interesting, the reduction and tannin in this wine from previous owners was overt, while farmed conventionally, and organic conversion (and now certification) has reduced or eliminated this now. Higher toned perfume, game meat, dried rose petal, red cherry, a bit more of a savoury lead in. The palate supports this, powdery tannins in a web cinching red cherry, game meat, white pepper and dusty, rose petal characters too. Trim, structured, a bit autumnal and very good. The tannins almost Italianate a highlight. Super stuff.

94+ Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2020 Kotinga Pinot Noir is savory, gravelly and spiced. The wine has a gentle bone broth persuasion through the middle palate, with star anise and sumac, hints of ginger root, clove, cherry pip and salted red licorice, and there's a gentle walnut character, with red apple acidity at the core. This is a wonderful complex and layered wine. Quite exciting. There is a lovely undulating flow of flavor through the long finish

93 points — Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast

2020 is the first vintage of Kotinga as a single vineyard wine. Ata Rangi took it over in 2017 and converted to organics in '18. It's aromatic and lucid, with heady notes of licorice, savory herbs, ground pepper, plump cherry and red currant. There's a mineral, gravelly thread throughout. Tannins are almost surprisingly powerful and sinewy, cinching elegant fruit and spice. This is an austere but honest expression of site, with many years ahead of it.

97 Points — James Suckling, James.Suckling.com

Inviting aromas of green strawberry, hibiscus tea, milk chocolate and rosemary stem. Medium-bodied with velvety tannins and silky texture. Slightly chewy. Beautiful on the palate with lovely ground spice detailing the fresh red fruit and berries. Layered and dynamic. White pepper and coriander come through. Spicy, but pretty as well. An exciting wine. New single vineyard bottling. Sustainable. Drink or hold.

96 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2020 Masters Pinot Noir is immediately aromatically distinct from the other wines here. It leads with a floral/orange blossom character on the nose, with blood, graphite, cherry, sumac and cracked cumin seeds. It's one thing for Pinot to taste good, but it's a whole other level of experience for it to smell good; and I feel I could smell this all day. On the palate, the wine is weighty and wide, blanketing the tongue and feeling cohesive and harmonious. The whole bunch character here works structurally, without leaving any distinct whole bunch characters. It's really great, pleasurable, distinct and exciting. It's a full 360-degree experience, with weight, aroma, flavor, spool of acid, saliva, etc. Kirsch is through the finish.

96 Points — Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review

Youthful, supple pinot noir with an initial hint of fruit sweetness that is balanced by fine, peppery tannins that suggest cellaring potential. Floral/rose petal, cherry, plum and crushed grape stem flavours. Elegant pinot noir with power that's delivered with consummate subtlety. 

96 Points — Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

The 2001 planting. Owned by Helen and Ben Masters since 2015. Certified organic. Tannins strict and firm, dry and minerally, very beautiful. Clay soils. Around 70% whole bunch.

Ebullient, evocactive scents of rose hip tea, cranberry, raspberry and fennel. The palate somewhat juicy, but for a stretch of fine, silty, Italianate tannins keeping things in check. Flavours re dry and savoury, dried cranberry, rose hip tea, bergamot, vermouth and crushed rocks. The finish puckering, minerally and stony. Love it.

93 points — Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast

This is the first release of this wine, from winemaker Helen Masters's home block of vines, all in clay. There's ample fruit concentration (think blueberry and strawberry jam) underpinned by cloves, black pepper, dried herbs, spices and florals. The mid-weight palate has a juicy tang of acidity. There's a powerful grip to the chalky tannins. The juicy fruit lingers long on the finish. This is an expressive Pinot fast on its way becoming a shining star in the Ata Rangi stable.

97 Points — Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review

Quite a fragrant/floral aroma with more plum, dark cherry, wood smoke, liquorice and nutty oak evident on the palate. Seamless, silken texture that is appealing now but promises to get even better with bottle age. The wine opened up as it sat in the glass and deserves to be aerated. Cellar 2023 — 2025

97 Points — James Suckling, James.Suckling.com

A lovely nose of sliced strawberry, grated nutmeg, suede and rose. Negroni. Orange. Medium- to full-bodied with silky, fine tannins. Nuanced and concentrated with an array of subtle spice and herbs decorating the beautifully fresh red berries. Spice. Iron. Rust. Savory undertones provide depth and complexity on the palate and evolve and oscillate as time goes on. Open grain tannins at the end. New single vineyard bottling. Sustainable. Best after 2025.

97 points — Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast

The McCrone Vineyard, with is combo of clay and alluvial gravel soils, brings distinct personality and minerality to this beautifully expressive wine. It starts with a heady nose you could fall straight into. Dried spices and herbs, vanilla pod, tree bark and cracked black pepper are in the fore, weaving through cherry, redcurrant cordial and orange rind. There's an ethereal lightness to the palate, but a tight structure to the fine tannins. Silky, freshly fruity and spicy, it's elegant, approachable and age-worthy

94 Points — Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

A hotter site, per se. Clay soils. Certified organic site. Around 40% whole bunch, which seems to be a major part of the identity of the wine, showing more here. Very floral perfume, violets, rose petal, lots of raspberry and sweeter fruit and spice characters to sniff on. Juicy and bright in the palate, fresh-feeling and loaded with primary fruit, albeit gossamer textured, glossy and vibrant too. Tannins squeaky, bouncy, crisp in a way. Fine and frisky expression.

93+ Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2020 McCrone Vineyard Pinot Noir is great. This leads with salted tomato, cherry and caper brine. This is mineral as hell, tight, expansive and spicy and gray in color spectrum; it's not all ribald cherry/berry fruit. There is drama here—floral and rocky with ferruginous tannins. I like it.

2024 NZ Wine Show in London

Perfect acidic tension and equally easy to drink. As for the Wairarapa in the North Island, it’s always tough to look past the incredible wines from Ata Rangi in Martinborough. The Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir 2020 showcases the quality that earned the iconic Helen Masters such well-deserved international accolades.

97 Points — James Suckling
A firm and linear red with polished and tight tannins that are well-formed giving this serious focus. It’s medium-bodied with a racy sensitivity and length. Chewy classic way. Long and framed. Just a baby. Just like it was on release. Drink or hold.  

96+ Points — Cam Douglas MS
Complex, new, vibrant and developing, a bouquet filled with scents of red cherry and plum, a mineral rich clay soil quality, bracken and roses. Delicious on the palate with a firm fine tannins texture, an abundance of acidity and taut mouthfeel. A wine still in the throws of youth with a quiver of texture and vibrato. As the wine opens out on the palate the flavours remain persistent and constant, the mouthfeel becomes a little chalkier and textured as the structure builds. Core fruit flavours of red berries and plum, a lovely example that will age gracefully. Best drinking likely from 2027 through 2039. Fantastic value. 

95 Points —Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion
The McCrone Vineyard is a mere 400m from the Ata Rangi winery, and has been designated as a single-vineyard wine for over a decade. It's typically a fuller-flavoured profile from this site, and no disappointment from this 2019 release. Deep, dark cherry, cola and choc-truffles, gingery spice and cedar with salted licorice, sage leaf and bay leaf in tow. Potent in the palate, it rumbles along, rich and round with a pleasing, cinching tug of dusty, sinewy tannin finishing dry, savoury and herbal. Bold, rambunctious and yet balanced beautifully. Enjoy the power and grace.

95 Points — Stephen Wong, The Real Review
A little closed and woody presently but there is a perfumed, layered and almost lacy character within this red and black berried, floral and actually quite pretty wine. Mid-weight flavours on a light-weight frame, it is elegant, flowing and driven on the palate before concentrated flavours of savoury tomato and dried herb emerge and the wine expands and firms up towards the back. Very fine, detailed and persistently structural tannins provide scaffolding for the floral and berry notes to evolve into something deeper, more coffee-ish and mushroomy. Not an immediate blockbuster style but quietly powerful  

94 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
The 2019 McCrone Vineyard Pinot Noir leads with coffee grounds and star anise, hints of bone broth and black cherry. In the mouth, the wine is really starting to hit straps. At four years of age, it is still emerging from its inchoate youth, but it is already showing such expressive vibrancy. The 40% whole bunch is sitting so nicely within the structure and profile now. What a wine to finish the 2021 lineup with. There was no 2021 McCrone made due to an unfortunate frost.

97 Points — Jane Skilton, Gourmet Traveller

Beautifully aromatic with fresh red berry fruit and floral dried petal notes. The palate is a little reticent at first, but with time, reveals concentrated flavours wrapped up in exquisite, finely grained and carefully judged tannins. Terrific drive and length. Cellar for 2 - 9 years.

96 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Sophisticated and gorgeously complex, the wine shows dark cherry, dried herb, warm mushroom, almond and game nuances on the nose, leading to a refined palate offering excellent focus and flow. It's finely textured with grainy tannins, offering superb structure and length. At its best: now to 2035. $75.00. www.atarangi.co.nz. Oct 2021.

94 Points — Cam Douglas, Master Sommelier

There’s no mistaking the purity of fruit at the center of the bouquet - red cherries and ripe sweet plum, some raspberry and baked strawberry suggestions. Oak layers in some complexity and spice and the varietal signature is enhanced by a fine layer of mineral silty soil scents. Taut and youthful on the palate with a core of red berry fruit flavours, plums and tart strawberry. Tannins and acidity accentuate the youthful mouthfeel adding foundation structure and power. While drinkable today I suggest you cellar this wine till late 2023 and try again. Excellent drinking from early 2024 through 2030+.

96 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Offering fabulous fruit purity with elegant complexity, the wine shows Black Doris plum, sweet cherry, dried herb, rich floral and toasted almond characters on the nose. The palate is concentrated and refined with silky flow, backed by chalky tannins, making it superbly structured and robust. Wonderfully harmonious with a lingering, sophisticated finish.

95 Points — Cam Douglas MS, MindFood Magazine

What a lovely wine with a lifted perfume of red berries and pressed violets, scents of dark plum and raspberry, bitter chocolate, a touch of kalamata olive and fine peppery dried herb qualities. A youthful, firm and dry wine touches the palate first then a flourish of dark berries, plums and smoky spices emerge, core flavours of fruit and violets reflect the bouquet. Polished tannins, medium+ acid line and a lengthy complex finish. A wine that simply needs more time in bottle to develop even more qualities.

95 points — Cam Douglas, Master Sommelier

Fabulous bouquet and palate, true to style of Célèbre with aromas and textures, flavours and impact of core red berry fruits, plums and spiced cherry flavours, some tart raspberry and mild peppery blackcurrant flavours. Firm tannins and a back bone of acidity ensure this wines longevity as well laying the foundation for the fruit and wood flavours. A lengthy primary fruited finish with textures of tannins and acidity, minerality and power. Excellent drink from 2025 through 2035+. Decant for service.

95 points — Bob Campbell, MW, The Real Review

A blend of merlot, syrah and malbec gives a medley of dark berry, plum, floral and black pepper flavours. A bold, concentrated and youthful wine that is underpinned with ripe, drying tannins. Can be enjoyed now but will reward cellaring.

96 points — Bob Campbell, MW, The Real Review

Attractively perfumed wine with red rose and violet floral notes together with pronounced spice on the palate. A beautifully structured wine with a silken texture and a core of sweet, ripe fruit. Deliciously drinkable but with obvious cellaring potential. Serious syrah.

94 points — Cam Douglas, Master Sommelier

An enticing, rather complex bouquet with aromas that swing between a core of red berry fruits and silty mineral qualities, layers of barrel spices and French oak qualities. Complex, youthful and very enticing with a touch of peppery spice. Delicious, but very new, textured with plenty of palate impacts from tannins and acidity then a core of cherry and tart raspberry, plum and mangosteen berries. An abundance of polished tannins and back bone of acidity, varietal flavours and lengthy finish. Great drinking from late 2023 through 2030+

92+ Points — Cam Douglas MS, camdouglasms.com

A sparkling wine from Ata Rangi is rare indeed, in fact this is a first, and may never be repeated. After tasting it though, I do hope there might be some more made one day.

A pale salmon-orange-hued, very bright appearance with a fine persistent bead. Aromas and flavours of a fine lees autolysis, a whisper of white miso and white bread then peach and tangelo, then white flesh nectarine. There’s a very-fine to fine bubble carrying a mineral clay-earthy core. A plush and refreshing mousse texture with a back bone of acidity then flavours of peach and light yellow plum. Balanced, refreshing and ready to drink from day of purchase through 2027.

91 Points — James Suckling. james.suckling.com

A fun and fresh sparkling wine with hints of strawberries and canteloupe on the nose and palate. Light-bodied with friendly bubbles and a dry and crisp finish. Pure pinot noir aged 11 months on the lees. Drink now.

93 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Beautifully restrained and delicately expressed, the bouquet shows pomegranate, lemon peel, crunchy apple and subtle spice nuances, followed by a linear palate offering pristine fruit flavours with fine texture and bright acidity. Focused and elegant with a mouth-watering finish.

94 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

This is immediately appealing on the nose showing ripe cherry, apricot, red apple and subtle spice aromas, leading to a vibrant palate delivering terrific fruit intensity backed by fine texture and juicy acidity. Charming and deliciously appealing. At its best: now to 2023.

95 Points — Cam Douglas, MS

A complex pure bouquet defining minerality and site first then scents of white peach and overripe grapefruit peel, there’s a line pomaceous fruits then barrel spice and fine chalky lees ideas. At ambient to slightly cool temperature this wine performs best with a fine silk-cream touch, acid line and core fruit flavours all in harmony. Fine fruit and wood tannins frame the ideas of minerality as well as adding mouthfeel and length through the palate. Well made, delicious and ready to drink from day of purchase through 2030.

94 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
Offering finesse and poise, the wine shows white flesh peach, Gala apple, subtle vanilla, and almond meal characters on the nose. The palate displays excellent weight and refined texture, splendidly structured by fine acidity, finishing with a terrific line and length. Harmonious and complex, it’s beautifully proportioned with a lengthy, elegant finish.

John Saker — Te Whenua
Like its ’22 cousin, this wine’s texture is an important element. Yet it’s also so different. A racy, sherbet-like mouthfeel that raises the energy level. Lime, lemon, melon notes come through on the palate, with a little green olive at the back end. Bright acids. A compelling rendition.  

95 Points — James Suckling, james.suckling.com

Very precise chardonnay with sliced apples, lemons, lemongrass, white peaches and just a hint of flint. Medium-bodied with a tight and very defined palate that shows energy and focus. Structured for longevity, but already thoughtful to taste. Drink or hold.

94 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Charming and enticing, the bouquet shows ripe stone fruit, nougat, hazelnut and oatmeal nuances, leading to a beautifully layered palate that's succulent and creamy. Wonderfully composed and expressed with elegant complexity and persistency. At its best: now to 2030.

93 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2022 Pōtiki Chardonnay is a collation of younger vine material from around the Ata Rangi vineyards. "As a season, 2022 was tricky. It had less diurnal shifts and more rain than 2021," says Winemaker Helen Masters. The wine, however, feels a triumph in this glass. It's spicy, layered and restrained, with creamed nuts, white peach, stewed apples and shaved fennel, mandarin oil and a sprinkling of custard powder. It is pure, in its way. It went through a fully wild ferment, unsulfured until racking/bottling and full malolactic fermentation. There's a purity to the flow of flavor here. It's lovely. Helen and I discussed Chardonnay and style, and it was a fascinating conversation. This is a person who understands the importance of place, identity and expression.

John Saker - Te Whenua

Aromatically a little shy, the palate unfolds beautifully. Mirabelle plum, meal, a touch of marzipan, then a lovely, salivating, briny note to finish. The texture is terrific, lithe and soft-edged, and plays a key role. A wine that is understated, yet delivers so much.

93+ points — Mike Bennie, The Winefront

Chewy, dense and yet light on its feet. Plenty concentrated, edgy acidity holding in nougat, lemon cream, ginger and cedar notes. It’s a wine needing a touch longer to come together, though intensity and length are notable. Structure in spades. On the fresher, friskier side too.

93 points — Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review

Creamy-textured wine with peach, ginger, vanilla, struck flint and spicy oak flavours. Tangy wine with good weight and an appealing texture and a backbone of peppery phenolics. Good now but promises to develop well with bottle age.

17.5 points — Stephen Wong MW, Wine Sentience

The nose is holding some minerally reduction at this early stage of its life, laced with subtle cinnamon and currently restrained, but ripe fruit. Wilder in expression than the 2020, it has both fleshier, more generous fruit, yet also more structure. The acidity weaves its way between peppery, citrus pith and touches of fresh butter. Very young at this stage, the fruit pops across the mid-palate before being reined in by a nicely defined phenolic grip on the end, finishing with a nicely delineated back-palate with quiet power.

97 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Exquisitely elegant and sophisticated, the wine shows white flesh stone fruit, crunchy apple, white floral and oatmeal nuances on the nose, followed by a brilliantly focused palate exhibiting linear mouthfeel and seamless flow. Offering exceptional purity as well as impressive structure, this is gorgeously poised with a outstanding line and length.

96 Points — Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review

Pale white-gold. A flinty, pithy, reductive nose. Not giving much right now. The palate is expressed all in pale flavours; daikon, grapefruit and ginger with perfume and minerality. Etched, detailed and quietly powerful with excellent salinity and a very finely tuned acidity. Very young, but with a great future—really compact, steely and concentrated yet light on its feet and almost ethereal in delivery. A quietly sophisticated and refined wine which reflects a cooler vintage character.

96 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2021 Masters Chardonnay is spicy and concentrated on the nose, with lashings of fruit flavor in the mouth. This has a really savory edge to it that sits so gracefully within the fruit. You get salted peach, white tea/dandelion, cracked fennel seeds, a hint of cumin, white pepper, curls of saffron and loads of crushed shells. This is sleek and polished—it moves sort of like a spearhead through the air. There is full malolactic conversion here but within a tighter frame, and it is a kaleidoscopic, balanced experience. Feels good, smells good, tastes good.

95 points —Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review

Intense, complex wine with grapefruit, cashew nut, oyster shell, ginger and nutty yeast lees flavours. Stylish wine that can be appreciated now but will respond positively to a little bottle age

94+ points — Mike Bennie, The Winefront

Lighter expression than the 2020 – a freshness here, lift, a more delicate touch let’s say. Green melon, green mango, lime juice and nougat found here. Skittish in the palate, tight and zesty with acidity and yet with delightful inward concentration. Feels compact, ready to be born later on. It’s got great mojo.

18.5 points — Stephen Wong MW, Wine Sentience

The second vintage of this to be released, and even more restrained than the 2020, this is very young, showing tightly wound fruit framed by carefully judged oak and a flinty reductive edge. The fruit is precise and detailed, poised between white peach, apple and lemon with a touch of cream, delicately floral perfume and fantastically driving acidity. This has a coiled, energetic core of citrus/apple fruit, coupled with a hint of phenolic bitterness to accentuate its chalky minerality. Crystalline and etched, this is very elegant, vibrant Chardonnay with a fine-grained, flowing texture. Focussed, tight and refreshingly pure on the finish, the quality and class is undeniable.

95 Points — Cam Douglas MS, camdouglas.com

A captivating bouquet and palate filled with flavours of lime and pacific rose apple, white blossoms and quince. Core flavours on the palate are accentuated by the acid line adding in its own ripeness and freshness, salinity and palate grab. A delicious wine, dry and lengthy with a lick of spearmint on the finish, a lovely aperitif expression and perfect with lightweight fare.

96 points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Exquisite and focused, the wine shows lime cordial, green tea and jasmine nuances on the nose, followed by a concentrated palate displaying linear flow and refined texture with a subliminal saline mouthfeel. The wine offers terrific fruit purity with outstanding tension, acidity and structure, finishing persistent and supremely elegant. Style: Dry. At its best: now to 2035

95 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The 2017 Craighall Riesling is sadly no more —it was an old block on its own roots. On the nose, this wine leads with cold buttered toast, pink grapefruit marmalade and preserved citrus rind. On the palate, the wine is as focused as the nose suggests, with a fleshy mid-palate that is built around fruit volume rather than residual sugar (only two grams per liter). Sadly, this wine is no longer around. It holds beautifully now, and it will hold for a long time into the future.

95 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Splendidly fruited and elegantly fragrant, showing Asian pear, rockmelon, lemon peel and oatmeal notes, it's gorgeously textured in the mouth displaying excellent weight and youthful fruit intensity. Offering excellent clarity and finesse with delicate complexity, finishing long and satisfying.

93 Points — Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate

The vines for this are 20 or more years old now, and the vine age counts for complexity and stature in the wine. Here, the 2023 Pinot Gris leads with salted nashi pear, a hint of mealy apple and some crushed nuts stitched together with fine strands of acid. The texture through the finish is fine and chalky. It's good! By all accounts, 2023 was challenging [for the region] to the point of unpleasant, but I have found some beautiful wines from this season, so go slow on hasty judgments.

95 Points — Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Elegantly fragrant and immensely appealing, the bouquet shows clover honey, lime sorbet, orange peel and dried flower nuances, leading to a succulent palate that’s delectably sweet with creamy texture and perfectly pitched acidity. Balanced and flavoursome with a lengthy delicious finish. At its best: now to 2030

95 Points — Bob Campbell, Master of Wine

Luscious dessert wine with honey, apricot, mandarin blossom and exotic spice flavours. A bright, fresh wine, thanks to mouth-watering acidity, that is not in the least bit cloying. Great served well-chilled as an aperitif.