Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2022

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.

96 POINTS

Emma Jenkins MW - Decanter

Dark, spicy nose, layered with blueberry, damson plum, raspberry, borage, forest floor and sweet hay, plus slightly smoky cinnamon, clove and cumin. Silky and flowing, with good energy and very fine, slightly sinewy tannins. Good depth and build. Supple and savoury with a nice sense of density at its core, though it’s a very elegant rather than ‘big’ wine. Youthful, with a promising future.

95 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

Tasted alongside the 2021, and I like this a little better. Raspberry, red cherry, almond, dried rose with a sprinkle of herb perfume and peppery spice. It’s medium-bodied, has a cool and steely quality, a fine emery board grip to tannin, a juicy blood orange tang, plenty of sap and energy on a bright finish of excellent length. Delicious. Strawberry and wet paperbark grip, and there’s just a bit of extra energy and life to this wine that gets me in. Excellent.

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.

94 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker 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. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.