Ata Rangi Martinborough McCrone Block Pinot Noir 2008

Clive had tried his hand as a grave-digger and a milkman before finally getting lucky in his third career choice – a winemaker. Ata Rangi is a Maori word for “dawning sky” or “new beginning” which is apt considering that when Clive Paton bought the property in 1980 he had never run a vineyard or made wine in his life. Back then Clive traded the promise of a steady income for a bare, scruffy sheep paddock on the outskirts of Martinborough.

He was one of a handful of winemaking pioneers in Martinborough, then a forgotten rural settlement, who were attracted to the area by two key features - the localised, free-draining shingle terrace some 20 metres deep and the lowest rainfall records of anywhere on the North Island of New Zealand.

Today Martinborough is a thriving wine appellation with an international reputation, particularly for premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Today Ata Rangi concentrates on hand making world class wines, namely pinot noir, sauvignon blanc and their Celebre (a cabernet blend). Yields are very low, typically 2 tonnes per acre and all grapes are hand-picked. Vines are now 20 years old, a factor in the wines ascending quality. Winemaking is very traditional using small, closed fermenters with wide top manholes which allow hand plunging. 20 hectares of vines are managed from which around 80 tonnes are crushed annually.