Busy, busy transition months for local wineries

By Joelle Thomson

July and August are busy months on the Martinborough wine scene with launches, tastings, a new brand (Mason) and new releases, including Marie Zelie Pinot Noir and new single vineyard Pinot Noirs from Escarpment. 

Not to mention a private group’s Italian tasting that I was the happy recipient of left overs from, thanks to a thoughtful member of the group. This month’s wine news has an unashamed focus on Pinot Noir; the leading grape and wine of both Martinborough and the Wairarapa Wine Region.

First Mason rosé on shop shelves:

The Hidden Vineyard is a sunny gem at the southern end of Te Muna Valley and the new home of Paul and Amy Mason’s new Mason Rosé and, soon, a Pinot Noir. The one-hectare site was planted by the late Bill Brink in 2002 in six different clones of Pinot Noir and has had patchy production till now. The Masons plan to build their brand as a go-to wine in this region.

“Te Muna Valley typically gets 10% fewer crops than vineyards around Martinborough village,”

says Paul Mason, who attributes this to stronger winds in Te Muna. 

The first Mason wine is the 2024 Mason Hidden Valley Rosé, RRP $36. It’s dry, medium ruby pink, zesty and medium bodied.

Pinot pioneer retires:

If anyone has worked as many consecutive vintages as Roger Parkinson at one winery in Martinborough, let me know. This year marked Parkinson’s 32^nd _ and final _ year at Nga Waka, the

winery he founded and subsequently sold to Jay Short and Peggy Dupey, who announced his

successor this month as Paul Mason, long-term head winemaker for Martinborough Vineyard.

Pinot pioneer Marie Zelie’s sixth vintage:

Who was the first pioneer of Pinot Noir in the Wairarapa? The most likely answer is a relatively

unknown woman planted the first vines in the region, Marie Zelie Hermance Frere, a French

settler who planted vines near to Masterton in the late 1800s. This year, the sixth vintage of Martinborough Vineyards Marie Zelie Pinot Noir was released in her honour at a tasting and dinner at The Runholder in late July. 

The 2019 Marie Zelie Reserve Pinot Noir is the first vintage made since 2013. It is produced only in outstanding years and made by viticulturist Dave Shepherd and winemaker Paul Mason from some of New Zealand’s oldest Pinot Noir vines. A century after Marie Zelie’s plantings, the co-founder of Martinborough Vineyard, Derek Milne, married Marie Zelie’s great-great-niece, Margaret.

Escarpment unveils 2022 Pinot Noirs:

Four of New Zealand’s iconic Pinot Noirs were released by winemaker Tim Bourne at Escarpment Vineyard in late June. The wines are Kupe, Pahi, Kiwa and Te Rehua and they represent the pinnacle of Pinot Noir at Escarpment Vineyard. 

They have been made every year since 2006. This is the third vintage that Bourne has made these wines at Escarpment’s new winery and the first in which three of the four single vineyard wines have been made from vineyards in Te Muna Valley. The 2022 wines are very good quality, particularly the Pahi, despite a tough vintage.

Try this:

2022 Escarpment Pahi RRP $85

The third vintage of Pahi from the outstanding vineyard opposite Escarpment winery. Lifted

spice and red berry aromas combine with complex savoury notes.

The wines featured in this column are available Martinborough Wine Merchants.