Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir 2020

97 POINTS

Mike Bennie - Halliday Wine Companion

A single-site wine from the Masters vineyard of chief Ata Rangi winemaker Helen Masters and family. A glorious, seamless, supremely elegant pinot noir of precision, freshness and balance. Dark cherry, peppery spice, even an Aleppo pepper piquancy with licks of cola, cranberry, truffle and kirsch in the mix. Tannins are superb, succulent and fresh, extremely long. The finish a trail of sweet spice, too. So much beauty in a glass.

97 POINTS

James Suckling

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.

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.

96 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker 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. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. This has similar clay soils to the McCrone Vineyard. There's 70% whole bunch in the ferment.

95 POINTS

Emma Jenkins MW - Decanter

Very upfront with lots of spice and florals (this wine is Helen’s 'negroni') but there’s a savoury, quite brooding presence beneath it all – forest floor and bloody meat. The palate is wonderfully complete and consistent from start to finish; this is not a big wine, but it has plenty of presence. Very fine tannins, quite silty by comparison to the Estate’s silkiness. Dry, structured finish, very long. 65% whole bunch.

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.