Pale to medium ruby in color, the 2008 McCrone Vineyard Pinot Noir is made with fruit from the recently acquired six-hectare McCrone Vineyard, which is 13 years old and has clay in the soil profile that other sites don’t have. It shows off a pretty core of black cherry, red currant and warm cranberry accented by hints of spice, anise, some yeast extract, soy and meat. Medium-bodied with low to medium levels of grainy tannins, it is elegant, concentrated and long through the finish. Drink it now 2018. A winery that really needs no introduction for NZ Pinot lovers, there’s not much for me to add about the long-serving, dedicated team behind Ata Rangi – they just go from strength to strength. The Pinots have always been great, and yet even in a world where the Pinot benchmark gets higher every year, Ata Rangi is better than ever. (Almost equally impressive though are Petrie and Craighall Chardonnays, clearly getting a lot of love in the cellar from highly skilled winemaker Helen Masters.)