Ata
Rangi is now one of New Zealands most celebrated wineries. But its
beginnings, back in 1980, were actually quite humble.
Clive
Paton (above) was 28 at the time, and he’d just had a
mid-life crisis. He’d been farming a bit further down the valley
from where he now is, but decided a change of scene was needed. So
he headed into Wellington to buy a wine shop. This fell through, and
he ended buying a 12 acre paddock on the edge of the village of
Martinborough. He was going to make wine.
Clive’s
choice was influenced by a map that had been produced a couple of
years earlier by Dr Derek Milne. As a soil scientist, Milne had been
commissioned by the New Zealand government to chart potential
remaining vineyard areas that had not been planted, and
Martinborough was one of them.
One of the original vineyard blocks
Clive
came looking with three foolscap pages of this map and also
correlations between the temperatures in Martinborough and those in
Burgundy. ‘People thought I was mad,’ he said, ‘but I never
contemplated failing.’ It wasn’t easy. He started with nothing,
and was bringing up his five year old daughter on his own.
Martinborough
was uncharted territory, but it had three things going for it.
First, the free-draining gravel terraces; second, the lowest
rainfall in North Island; and third, it was just an hour away from
Wellington. ‘It was perfect for me,’ says Clive. ‘I wouldn’t
want to be further away from a city.’ He gave the new venture a
time period (10 years), but within 6 years he knew it would be a
remarkable place, even taking into account the el niño years of 81,
82 and 83 that led to big winds and dry conditions, which set things
back a couple of years.
Two
years after Clive started, his sister Alison joined forces with him,
buying a couple of adjoining hectares of land. She is now an equal
partner in the winery, along with Clive and his wife Phyll Pattie
(who joined the project in 1987).
Phyll and Clive
The
estate now has 100 acres of vineyard, most of which are trellised
using the Scott Henry method (with double canopies, one growing
downwards), which were adopted in the early 80s when they realized
the row spacing was too wide at 3 m (to suit tractors). Undervine
weeding is the difficult issue here because of the downward growing
canopy, and mechanical cultivation is tricky because of the stony
soils. Clive says he is going towards organic viticulture, but the
last hurdle is under these vines.
Clive
makes the wines along with winemaker Helen Masters.
THE
WINES
Ata
Rangi Summer Rosé 2009 Lovely bright wine with gentle strawberry and cherry fruit.
Nicely textured with real interest. 88/100
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Rangi Lismore Pinot Gris 2009 Beautfully textured with a combination of rich, grapey, spicy
notes and fresh minerality. Nice freshness and focus, yet also depth
of flavour. 92/100
Ata
Rangi Sauvignon Blanc 2009 This crops quite low here, at 3–4 tons/hectare. Lovely
combination of minerality, tropical fruit and lovely texture and
length. Balanced, restrained and gently herbal. 91/100
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Rangi Craighall Chardonnay 2008 From own-rooted 17 year old Mendoza clone vines. Lovely intense,
toasty nose with bold, rich complex fruit. The palate has vivid
fruit expression: peach, pear, fig, along with a bit of oak. 93/100
Ata
Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir 2008 Fresh, pure and elegant with aromatic red cherry fruit on the
nose. The palate has real focus and purity. Fresh with bright cherry
fruit and a touch of herbiness. Lovely wine. 91/100
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Rangi Pinot Noir 2008 From 17–30 year old vines of a range of clones, this is made
for drinking in the 5–10 year bracket. Beautifully fresh and
focused floral dark cherry fruit nose. The palate has a hint of
meatiness and some nice spicy structure. Textured and complex but
still has freshness: real potential for development. (This has been
screwcapped since 2002.) 93/100
Ata
Rangi Pinot Noir 2003 Some evolution on the nose, which shows herbs, cherries and a
hint of cola character. The palate shows sweet bright fruit but also
some undergrowth and earthy notes, as well as meatiness. Juicy,
drinkable and nicely complex. 92/100
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Rangi Célèbre 2007 A blend of 40% Merlot, 30% Syrah and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon,
with a dash of Malbec. Wonderfully perfumed aromatics of
blackcurrant, spice and a bit of gravel. The palate is rich but
fresh with nice minerality and a gravelly edge. Focused and
delicious with nice tannins. 93/100
See
a short film of the visit:
Older
notes, From 2007:
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Rangi 'Craighall' Chardonnay 2005 Martinborough Quite focused. Very bold and fresh fruit with well integrated
oak. It's concentrated, classy, bright, minerally and lemony with
some spiciness. A sophisticated Chardonnay. 92/100 (RRP £21.95)
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Rangi 'Crimson' Pinot Noir 2005 Martinborough Lovely fresh, focused cherry fruit nose with some earthy, spicy
complexity. The palate has lovely expressive fruit with a bit of
sweetness and a nice earthy edge. Brilliant balance here: it's
nicely elegant. 92/100 (RRP £14.95)
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Rangi Pinot Noir 2005 Marlborough Complex, elegant, meaty and spicy with dark cherry fruit on the
nose. There's some earthy depth here. The palate is concentrated and
classy with meaty, spicy complexity and some nice firm, refined
tannic structure. A brilliant wine. 94/100 (£27.95)
Ata Rangi 'Célèbre' Merlot/Cabernet
Sauvignon/Syrah 2004 Martinborough
The nose is minerally, gravelly and smooth, with some subtlety. The
palate is expressive. Not big, but showing smooth, sweet fruit. Good
complexity here: lovely balance is the key. 92/100
From
November 2004:
Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay 2002 Martinborough The top Chardonnay from a single vineyard of 2.8 hectares. Ripe
intense fruit on the nose. The palate is showy with ripe, expressive
herby, nutty fruit. Very intense with notes of caramel and figs.
Fruit driven and intense with good acidity. Very good/excellent
90/100
Ata Rangi Célèbre 2001 Martinborough A red wine that’s a blend of Syrah, Merlot and Cabernets. Deep
coloured. There’s a bit of a herbal edge to the rich, intense
blackcurrant fruit. Bold. Good acidity on the wonderfully fruity
palate, with a blackcurrant essence character. Very tasty. Very
good/excellent 90/00
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2001 Martinborough This has a reputation as being consistently one of New
Zealand’s best Pinots, and I can understand why. Perfumed,
herb-tinged undergrowthy nose is varietally true. The midweight
palate is quite complex with a distinctive herbal undergrowthy edge
and some meatiness. Tasty and quite elegant. Very good/excellent
91/100
Part
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