Martinborough Pinot Noir shines in World Top 100 listings

Martinborough Pinot Noir shines in World Top 100 listings

Three of the English speaking world’s most influential wine magazines have recognised the quality of Martinborough Pinot Noir.

Larry McKenna of Escarpment Vineyard will attend the Wine Spectators New York Wine Experience in late October to present their 2013 Kupe Pinot Noir to 1000 US wine enthusiasts. The wine has been voted #7 in the 2015 list of the world’s top 100 wines. The highest rating for any NZ wine and the first red wine to be recognised in the top 10. As part of the top 10 the Martinborough wine will be presented by McKenna at a Gala weekend event where the top 10 will be tasted by all participants.

"It really is an amazing opportunity for NZ Pinot noir to be recognised at such a prestigious event. If you can make it in New York....."McKenna went on to say.

Alongside this success Ata Rangi’s 2013 Pinot Noir has also been recognised by Wine Enthusiast and James Suckling’s reviews, #5 in James Suckling’s Top 100 and #73 in Wine Enthusiasts Top 100.

The overall quality of an amazing vintage and the ongoing district commitment over 35 years to Pinot Noir has certainly been acknowledged.

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Martinborough Pinot Noir shines in World Top 100 listings

Martinborough Pinot Noir producers Escarpment and Ata Rangi have found themselves featuring strongly in some of the most highly-regarded world Top 100 listings for 2015.

Top 100 listings are an annual assessment of the world’s most influential wine writers and publications. These are not competition-based ratings. Ata Rangi, for example, stopped entering wine competitions many years ago. Rather, they are a summation of the many thousands of wines sampled each year by Masters of Wine (MWs), wine writers and professional tasters as they travel the world experiencing new wines and vintages.

Three of the most influential listings are those of James Suckling, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast. This year, Martinborough Pinot Noir has achieved unprecedented success:

Background on each:

• All wines are tasted blind, so as not to influence the objectivity of the tasters.

• From all tastings, an elite group is selected, from which to whittle down to a top 100.

• The lists’ compilers look for the most exciting wines of the year, or the best all-round demonstration of quality, irrespective of price.

• In this context, an $80 wine is able to be appraised on a fair footing with wines priced at several hundred dollars per bottle.

James Suckling; Ata Rangi

• Highest ever placing for a New Zealand wine

• Top-ranking Pinot Noir in the world for 2015 (1-4 are different varietals)

• In all, five New Zealand wines made the list, with: Neudorf 2014 Moutere Chardonnay (11), Te Mata 2013 Coleraine (48), Trinity Hill 2013 Homage Syrah (69), La Collina 2013 Bilancia Syrah (80)

• From around 9,000 wines tasted during the year

Wine Spectator; Escarpment

• Highest ever placing for a New Zealand wine

• From around 20,000 wines tasted during the year

• Only three other New Zealand wines made the list, with: Cloudy Bay 2014 Sauvignon Blanc (21), Felton Road 2013 Pinot Noir (49), Kumeu River 2012 Chardonnay (54)

Wine Enthusiast; Ata Rangi

• Annual pick of the Top 100 wines in the world with excellent cellaring potential

• Ata Rangi was the first ever New Zealand wine to make this list, in 2014, with its Pinot Noir 2012

• Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2013 has jumped up this year to 73, again the only New Zealand wine on this list

International Wine Industry Context:

New Zealand produces only around 0.5% of the world’s wines each year. Martinborough produces only around 1.0% of New Zealand’s wines.

The strength of representation of Martinborough, not only in the top 100, but in the top 10 of those, is an outstanding achievement for a small wine village only 35 years young.

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