Pinot Noir devotees are living in good times in New Zealand today, especially if they happen to enjoy the best wines from Martinborough, Central Otago, North Canterbury and Marlborough.
The wider Wairarapa region also has some stand out Pinot Noirs but Martinborough is the heart and soul of it with nearly half of the Wairarapa’s 1,166 hectares of producing vineyard land.
And excitingly, quality and diversity are growing which became clear last month when I had the pleasure of tasting a wide range of Pinots for stories I’ve been writing for the NZ Herald and Drinksbiz (a trade magazine). These tastings show that winemakers are diversifying with new vineyards, offering an insight into the potential of Pinot to reflect where it’s grown by offering enormous variety of taste in the glass.
Winemakers are diversifying with new vineyards, offering an insight into the potential of Pinot to reflect where it’s grown by offering enormous variety of taste in the glass.
The best wines are too numerous to name in this column but here are three top wines from Ata Rangi, Escarpment and Mason.
Five years ago, Paul and Amy Mason bought and revived a secluded vineyard at the south end of Te Muna Valley. The site has just 1896 vines and has been a labour of love for Paul and Amy Mason, who have moved on site, adding living quarters and travelling back to Martinborough for work so that they have more of their own time on the site they call ‘Hidden Valley’. This year, they released their third Pinot Noir from the vineyard, producing 1058 bottles from the 2025 vintage. This equates to way less than one bottle per vine. And that’s from a year that Paul says will be remembered as one of the biggest on record. It’s a beautiful vibrant expression of cool climate Pinot Noir (see my tasting note below).
Ata Rangi winemaker Helen Masters also released new Pinot Noirs over the past month with four great wines, which will be covered in more depth in next month’s column. The wines are new releases and come from the 2024 vintage. It’s tricky to choose a ‘best’ but I’ve selected one of them below.
Escarpment winemaker Tim Bourne also released new wines mid year, with a trio of single vineyard Pinot Noirs from the 2023 vintage; one of the most challenging years on record.
Escarpment’s wines have long been known for their structure with tannins that feel carved from the cool landscape in Te Muna Valley. The 2023 releases shift towards a lighter expression while retaining the house’s signature weight. I’ll write about them in more detail an upcoming wine column here in the Star.
Small volume doesn’t always equate to high quality but intention does and these wines all show what’s possible with intentionality in choices, philosophy and place.
TRY THESE TOP MARTINBOROUGH PINOT NOIRS
2024 Ata Rangi Masters Pinot Noir RRP $125
Masters Vineyard is south of Martinborough village and was initially planted in 2000 and 2001. This exceptional new release has 70% whole bunch fermentation, which lifts this wine’s aromatic intensity, bringing floral freshness and silky textures to its impressively dense but smooth tannin profile. Weighty, dry and fleshy, it has layers of spice, red and dark fruit notes.
2025 Mason Hidden Vineyard Pinot Noir RRP $54
Finely tuned Pinot Noir with a supple and silky texture leading into appealing fruit forward aromas, which remind me of red and black cherries, intertwined with bold youthful freshness.
2023 Escarpment Pahi RRP $85
Pahi is one of Escarpment Vineyard’s four single vineyard Pinot Noirs and is a broad, powerful, wine with red fruit aromas, spice and firm smooth tannins as the defining features. They stand as a reminder that delicacy can be found alongside structure in Pinot Noir.
Joelle Thomson is the wine columnist for the NZ Herald’s Canvas magazine. Read more at www.joellethomson.com
