Taste history… Ata Rangi with Helen Masters
What: A tasting
What for: Join us to taste the fascinating flavours, history and mystery of Martinborough’s top Pinot Noir producer, Ata Rangi
When: Thursday 19 October 2017, 6pm to 8pm
How: Book your spot now – this will book out swiftly.
Bookings: The cost is $50 per person and bookings are essential.
Book by calling Regional Wines, phone 04 385 6952 or hook onto the website here to book at Regional Wines…
I've always had a soft spot for Ata Rangi winery in Martinborough because it was one of the first and was pioneered by one of a man who knows how to follow his heart. Clive Paton. He's at least as dedicated to environmental work these days as he is to wine because he has something of a penchant for replanting native trees all over the country in his role as advisor, fount of wisdom and passionate lover of nature for Project Crimson, but that's another story.
Back when he founded Ata Rangi Wines, Clive was a single dad and a shear farmer with a love of red wine in a country awash with Lion Brown. Not that there’s anything wrong with a good beer, if you’re that way inclined, but Clive wasn’t. He lived in the Southern Wairarapa and had heard of a few fledgling wineries in Martinborough, so, one Saturday, he decided to go and take a look for himself, his young daughter Ness was along for the ride. He looked at a piece of land and instantly decided to buy it and grow vines to make wine. If you know
Clive – or met him for the first time – you probably wouldn’t call him rash. He is quietly spoken and seems to be extremely considered, but that instant decision to follow his heart into wine was one that was not only spur of the moment, but changed his life for the better. His young daughter is now married with children of her own, which she shares with her husband who is another great winemaker – John Kavanagh of Te Kairanga Wines. And Clive also has a long term partner in life and in wine in the fellow winemaker Phyll Pattie (who rarely talks of her days in winemaking since she manages marketing and pretty everything else at Ata Rangi).
The winemaker today is Helen Masters, who will present a stellar line up of the Ata Rangi wines at a tasting at Regional Wines & Spirits in Wellington on Thursday 19 October from 6pm to 8pm.
The cost is $50 per person and bookings are essential.
The line-up on the night
2017 Ata Rangi Lismore Pinot Gris
2011 Ata Rangi Lismore Pinot Gris
2016 Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay
2012 Ata Rangi Craighall Chardonnay
2016 Ata Rangi Crimson Ata Rangi Crimson (vintage TBC)
2014 Ata Rangi McCrone Vineyard Pinot Noir
2013 Ata Rangi McCrone Vineyard Pinot Noir
2015 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir
2010 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir
2008 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir
2014 Ata Rangi Célèbre
Blog by Joelle Thomson,
writer and wine programme director at Regional Wines & Spirits