Martinborough’s winemakers had nearly picked all their grapes at the end of April, dodging weather bullets and nail biting rain in the process of creating vibrant new wines.
If winemakers could paint a picture of the perfect harvest, they would probably illustrate the weather in April 2026 where long, sunny and (mostly) dry days followed each other, rather than the summer of 2025/26 with its cool weather.
“The last months of vintage this year, March and April, were just sublime. Dry days meant we got the ripening we needed and that’s what makes this region so special because it brings us those unicorn autumns, which make up for sometimes tricky weather earlier on,” says Ata Rangi winemaker Helen Masters.
The season began on a relatively warm note in November but rain and cool weather over the main summer months meant that most winemakers needed the warmth and dry days of March and April.
The 2025/26 growing season in the North Island had rain storms, sunshine, cool summer days and more rain, all of which mark it out as a memorable year. “It’s not a textbook vintage but it wasn’t a wash out either because it’s been abundant and kind with cropping levels and with the perfumed qualities of the wines,” says Cambridge Road founder and winemaker Lance Redgwell. He likens it to 2010, in terms of ripeness with some cool climate conditions throughout the growing season, but notes that “no two vintages are ever really alike”. Cool weather conditions with rain can be a bonus, says Redgwell, because that brings balance to the grapes, in terms of retaining freshness and vibrant acidity.
As the crow flies, Ata Rangi and Cambridge Road wineries are situated relatively close to each other but both wineries draw on grapes from slightly further afield – around and slightly out of Martinborough, such as Helen Masters’ eponymous Masters Vineyard, a few kilometres south.
So, how are the wines tasting at this early stage?
The easy answer, says Helen, is “Fresh and vibrant”.
“It’s always easy to get a first impression of whites early on whereas reds tend to take some time to settle down and for us to discover where they’re going to be in terms of taste. They’re very good wines too with perfume and a lovely flow.”
Volume was on par with what the Ata Rangi team had predicted, which were lower crops across the board.
For Redgwell, however, some of his crop was a little higher than anticipated, but not from the small historic Benfield & Delamere Vineyard across the road from Cambridge Road winery.
He has been officially managing this small vineyard site since 2024 and says that yields vary wildly on this block so that he made a couple of hundred bottles one year but just over 100 the other year – “It’s definitely a labour of love.”
It’s also a lighter style of red wine for a Cabernet Sauvignon but the flavours are ripe, says Redgwell, which he attributes to vine age. The first vines on the site were planted in 1988 and will eventually be pulled out to be replaced mostly, Redgwell hopes, with Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
Looking back at the 2025 vintage report that I wrote for the Martinborough Star, I interviewed three winemakers, all hedging their bets but excited for the relatively high quality wines following the good 2024 vintage and two tricky ones prior.
A vintage report is always an early snapshot and differences can be extremely marked, even in a place as compact as Martinborough.
“The free draining nature of the soils, the way frost drains down the valley and different areas all makes a difference to how well grapes ripen or not,” says Masters. There’s never a perfect year but the differences in weather is what makes wine endlessly fascinating, varied and delicious.
Bravo to Martinborough’s winemakers.
