93/100 Bob Campbell (2016 vintage)

Organic

Matthew Jukes "This stunning estate makes the most revered Pinot Noir in New Zealand" 

Lisa Perrotti-Brown eRobertParker.com "Their Pinots have always been great and yet, even in a world where the Pinot benchmark gets higher every year, Ata Rangi is better than ever." 

Decanter Magazine "Crimson is supposedly the wine to introduce you to its bigger Ata Rangi estate Pinot. But perversely, you need all of the Pinot knowledge in the world to understand just how special Crimson is."

Julia Harding ~ Master of Wine "....This seems very Martinborough to me - refined and savoury character to the dark-red fruits.....Young vines, shorter vatting time and less oak. There's a dry, smoky and savoury quality to this even though the juicy fresh fruit is a little more to the fore than on the straight Pinot Noir. "

Ata Rangi, meaning "dawn sky" or "new beginning" is a small New Zealand winery with a big reputation for serious Pinot Noir. Located at the southern end of the North Island, it is owned and managed by a family trio - Clive Paton, his wife Phyll and his sister Alison.

Clive planted his first vines on a small, stony sheep paddock at the edge of the Martinborough village in 1980 as one of a handful of people who pioneered winegrowing in the area.

Crimson is a wine which was inspired by a love of New Zealand’s native ‘Christmas Trees’ the rata and pohutukawa trees. Sales of this wine support Project Crimson, a charitable conservation trust which plants and protects these trees. The Pinot Noir grapes for Crimson are produced from 10-20 year old Martinborough vines in Lismore, Waiora and Walnut Ridge blocks.The grapes were hand picked and 100% destemmed, keeping as much whole berry fruit as possible.

After four years of transition, Ata Rangi were certified in 2014 as fully organic.