Producer
Ata Rangi
Ata Rangi celebrated their 40 year birthday in 2021. This small family-owned winery has a big reputation for world-class Pinot and in 2010 this cuvee was granted the New Zealand equivalent of Grand Cru: Tipuranga Teitei o Aotearoa. This site has everything. In the late 1970s Dr Derek Milne’s seminal soil and climate report compared it directly to Burgundy. Clive Paton and his family have been making world-beating wines on it ever since. Now head winemaker, Helen Masters, is taking it to ever greater heights. In 2019 she was awarded New Zealand Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine, a superb recognition of her 16 years’ work at Ata Rangi.
The original vines are between 25 and 40 years old and impart a wonderful depth of complexity to the beautifully perfumed fruit. The fabled Abel clone, allegedly smuggled in a wellington boot from Burgundy in the mid-70s, makes up 40% of the blend. No-one is absolutely sure which estate it came from, but two renowned Burgundy vineyard sites are frequently mentioned… DRC being one!