Ranked #1 of 39 2011 Pinot Noir from Martinborough
97/100
5 Stars
Bob Campbell
Elegant and quite complex Pinot Noir with tight, powerful cherry/berry fruit flavours and an underlying sappy, savoury mineral character that lifts the wine into another quality realm. I was reminded how well these wines develop while enjoying a bottle of 2009 the previous evening. In an ideal world this wine would be released in another two years time. A classic Ata Rangi Pinot from a good vintage.
Tasted: 12/04/2013
Drink: N/A
96 Points James Halliday
As always, the lesser seasons define the greatest estates. While many in New Zealand struggled in the warm 2011 vintage, Ata Rangi shone. Early seed ripening produced impressive structure, emphasised with 20 percent whole bunch fermentation, more than usual for Ata Rangi. The definition of black cherries, blackberries and violets is exemplary, framed in a tightly-honed and well-defined structure, with a coiled spring of tannin tension and refined mineral definition. Notes of liquorice and coal make this an intense Ata Rangi, though lacking nothing in poise and magnificence. Drink 2018 - 2026.
Source: James Halliday.
95 Points James Halliday
This is a beautifully textured, structured and focused Ata Rangi of red berry and cherry fruits and dried herb notes. It''s a vintage of rustic style and considerable grip, more masculine in structure than usual, built for the long-haul. An Ata Rangi of great length, drive and focus, worthy of the lineage of Martinborough''s first grand cru. Drink 2021 - 2031.
Source: James Halliday.
96 Points Tyson Stelzer
As always, the lesser seasons define the greatest estates. While many in New Zealand struggled in the warm 2011 vintage, Ata Rangi shone. Early seed ripening produced impressive structure, emphasised with 20 percent whole bunch fermentation, more than usual for Ata Rangi. The definition of black cherries, blackberries and violets is exemplary, framed in a tightly-honed and well-defined structure, with a coiled spring of tannin tension and refined mineral definition. Notes of liquorice and coal make this an intense Ata Rangi, though lacking nothing in poise and magnificence. Drink 2018 - 2026.
Source: Tyson Stelzer.
95 Points Tyson Stelzer
This is a beautifully textured, structured and focused Ata Rangi of red berry and cherry fruits and dried herb notes. It''s a vintage of rustic style and considerable grip, more masculine in structure than usual, built for the long-haul. An Ata Rangi of great length, drive and focus, worthy of the lineage of Martinborough''s first grand cru. Drink 2021 - 2031.
Source: Tyson Stelzer.