2016 Ata Rangi, McCrone Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand

Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or. Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.

Close to the southern tip of North Island, some top-class, aromatic Pinot Noir is being made in the town of Martinborough, with the best rivalling good Burgundy. Just as Cloudy Bay launched a hundred wineries in Marlborough, so Dry River Wines and Ata Rangi provided the spark that lit up Martinborough. Economically the region is suited to Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Gewürztraminer.

Ata Rangi is amongst the top ranks of New Zealand red wine producers. The name translates as "dawning sky" or "new beginning," and this is what it represented to Clive Paton, a dairy farmer who settled in Martinborough in 1980. Located at the southern end of the North Island, it is owned and managed by the family trio - Clive, his wife Phyll, and his sister Alison. The property consisted of a rather barren-looking 5-hectare paddock when he purchased it. He was attracted by the free-draining shingle terraces and the fact that Martinborough receives less rainfall than any other region in the North Island.