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Available in cartons of six
Ata Rangi are the product of love for the land and passion for the vine. The dry windy climate consistently delivers low yields with high concentrations of flavour in the grapes. Obsessive attention to detail throughout the growing season ensures the fruit comes in at optimum flavour and balance. The care taken extends to harvesting the warmer side of individual rows and going back a few days later for the cooler side. A term of age on yeast less enhances palate weight and complexity, lovely tropical notes of guava and papaya contend for attention. From the Lismore and Waiora, Walnut Ridge, Hau Ariki Marae and Southdown Estate vineyards. Sites are all very similar, shallow silt loam over deep, free raining alluvial gravels, rainfall is very low. The naturally low yields, older vines, small canopies and judicious, labour intensive, hand picking of the entire crop, make an essential contribution to the uniquely Martinborough style of Sauvignon Blanc.Grapes are all hand picked, sorted and crushed, a portion is vinified in contact with skins and held for two months, drawing out more complex flavours, which works with the natural acidity to add a refreshing backbone. A third of the wine is fermented in neutral oak barrels for texture and richness.
TASTING NOTESLight straw colour. Notes of elderflower, lemon/ lime, tropical papaya and hints of fresh fennel are defining features. A full, creamy palate entry, lovely weight and a long and focused finish, a restraint and elegance that's all class. Aiming for a complex, satisfying, food friendly style, a small portion is fermented in older barrels to enhance mid palate weight and texture. |
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Clive Paton planted the originally bare, stony 12-acre home paddock at the edge of the Martinborough village in 1980, one of a handful of people who pioneered grape growing in Martinborough
Ata Rangi means new beginning or dawn sky. The site was a barren 5-hectare paddock when Clive Paton bought it in 1980. He was one of a handful of winemaking pioneers in Martinborough, then a forgotten rural settlement, who were attracted to the area by three key features - the localised, free-draining shingle terrace some 20 metres deep, the lowest rainfall records of anywhere in the North Island, and the proximity to the capital city of Wellington, just an hour away. Clive, who'd farmed in the area, knew the land well. He chose mainly red varieties - Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah - and set out in pursuit of world class wines. Pinot Noir's potential shone from the start - the early wines widely appreciated for their texture and for their pure fruit expression of the variety. Ata Rangi»
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