Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir (screw cap) 2018

Visionary grape-growers Don and Carole McCrone own a four hectare pinot noir vineyard in Yamhill, Oregon. Ata Rangi owners Clive and Phyll Paton first met them at the International Pinot Celebration in Oregon in 1996. Don and Carole confided that they’d dreamt of replicating the single vineyard concept in the southern hemisphere. With the McCrones quickly becoming firm friends of the Ata Rangi family – and the whole team’s enthusiasm for the project – Don and Carole found and eventually purchased an ideal four hectare block on the stony, free-draining Martinborough Terrace, just across the road from Ata Rangi to the east of the home block.

A compact seam of clay, 800mm deep, gives this vineyard’s soils a unique water-holding ability and cooling effect on the roots. In 2001 Clive chose what he believed to be the most suitable clones for premium pinot noir to plant on this site; Ata Rangi Abel clone, naturally, plus Dijon selections (115 and 777) and Clone 5, with optimal trellising and recommended vine spacings for low yields and quality.