Martinborough is New Zealand's most celebrated North Island wine region — a free-draining gravel terrace above the Huangarua River south of Wellington, producing New Zealand's most structured and age-worthy Pinot Noir. The region's unique terroir of ancient alluvial gravel over limestone and clay, combined with the Wairarapa's continental climate (warm days, cool nights from the Remutaka Range, and very low rainfall), produces Pinot Noir of a character quite different from Central Otago: more structured, mineral, and Burgundian rather than Central Otago's fruit-forward exuberance. Ata Rangi's wines are considered New Zealand's finest Pinot Noir by many international critics.
| Year | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 89 | Balanced season with well-timed rainfall. Fresh, structured Pinot with classic Martinborough mineral and graphite character. Good 8-12 year aging. |
| 2020 | 92 | Excellent La Niña season — cool, long ripening with outstanding acid retention. Mineral, precise Pinot of great elegance and aging potential. |
| 2018 | 86 | Warm vintage with some heat stress. Generous, ripe Pinot; Ata Rangi's careful vineyard management produced wines with characteristic freshness. |
| 2017 | 94 | Martinborough's finest recent vintage — perfect ripening conditions with excellent acid. Extraordinary Pinot Noir of Burgundy-level complexity and longevity. |
| 2015 | 88 | Good season with balanced conditions. Fresh, elegant Pinot with good acid retention. Classic Martinborough mineral and structural character. |