Ata Rangi Martinborough Célèbre 2022

Description

Oak, Plum, Smoke

"Offering fabulous fruit purity with elegant complexity, the wine shows Black Doris plum, sweet cherry, dried herb, rich floral and toasted almond characters on the nose. The palate is concentrated and refined with silky flow, backed by chalky tannins, making it superbly structured and robust. Wonderfully harmonious with a lingering, sophisticated finish. At its best: 2026 to 2037" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Sep 2024

"What a lovely wine with a lifted perfume of red berries and pressed violets, scents of dark plum and raspberry, bitter chocolate, a touch of kalamata olive and fine peppery dried herb qualities. A youthful, firm and dry wine touches the palate first then a flourish of dark berries, plums and smoky spices emerge, core flavours of fruit and violets reflect the bouquet. Polished tannins, medium+ acid line and a lengthy complex finish. A wine that simply needs more time in bottle to develop even more qualities. Best drinking from 2028 through 2035+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Sep 2024

Perfumed and youthful, this wine has beautiful aromas of rose petal, black cardamon, lavender and boysenberry. The palate is vibrant and supple. Flavours of fresh time, pomegranate and cranberry meld together. The cooler season has made for a lighter style than the dense 2021, this wine is fresh, with a smooth midpalate and ready for enjoying now.

The 2022 Célèbre is a blend of Merlot 47%, Syrah 37% and small portions of Cabernet Franc 9% and Malbec 7%. This is a wonderful vintage of Célèbre is a soulful and comforting wine.

The 2022 season was in the La Niña cycle, cooler, wetter conditions were the main feature of the summer months. The end of April saw a shift to clear days and cool nights, this enabled us to harvest these later ripening varieties that make up Célèbre.

The Merlot and Malbec were fermented together, with a preferment maceration of around 4-6 days until indigenous yeasts completed the fermentation over ten to twelve days. The fermenters are then closed up and the wine is left to slowly macerate with the skins for a further 10 days. The Syrah which ripens earlier is fermented separately with a shorter fermentation period to keep it bright and floral. Pristine Cabernet Franc was whole bunch fermented and adds an exotic high note to the blend. Aged in French oak for 22 months prior to bottling to soften the tannins and allow the wine to slowly open and evolve.