Ata Rangi Célèbre 2021
A low yielding season, giving great intensity and fruit weight to the late ripening varietals that make up our Célèbre blend. 2021 finished with a long dry spell in April that enabled the merlot, malbec, cabernet franc and syrah to reach perfect ripeness.
An intense nose of dark scented aromas of aniseed, black liquorice and cardamom draws you in to a palate peppered with ripe plum and black currant. Densely structured and detailed, 2021 is a riper more profound vintage of Célèbre than the lighter more energetic 2020 . The inclement weather at flowering and late frosts of 2021 resulted in tiny bunches and small, thick-skinned berries packed with flavour and tannin. Thirty-six years on from the first release of Célèbre, this blend continues to go from strength to strength as the vines slowly mature, their roots moving deeper into the gravels of the Martinborough Terrace.
The merlot and malbec were fermented together, with a preferment maceration of around 4-6 days until indigenous yeasts completed the fermentation over ten to twelve days. The fermenters are then closed up and the wine is left to slowly macerate with the skins for a further 10 days. The syrah which ripens earlier is fermented separately with a shorter fermentation period to keep it bright and floral. Pristine cabernet franc was whole bunch fermented and adds an exotic high note to the blend. Aged in French oak for 22 months prior to bottling to soften the tannins and allow the wine to slowly open and evolve.