Ata Rangi McCrone Pinot Noir 2020

A lovely nose of sliced strawberry, grated nutmeg, suede and rose. Negroni. Orange. Medium- to full-bodied with silky, fine tannins. Nuanced and concentrated with an array of subtle spice and herbs decorating the beautifully fresh red berries. Spice. Iron. Rust. Savory undertones provide depth and complexity on the palate and evolve and oscillate as time goes on. Open grain tannins at the end. New single vineyard bottling. Sustainable. Best after 2025. Screw cap.

The 2020 McCrone Vineyard Pinot Noir is great. This leads with salted tomato, cherry and caper brine. This is mineral as hell, tight, expansive and spicy and gray in color spectrum; it's not all ribald cherry/berry fruit. There is drama here—floral and rocky with ferruginous tannins. I like it. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Forty percent is whole cluster in the ferment, matured in barrique (25% new). The McCrone Vineyard is clay and gravels and is about 600 meters from the winery. It holds moisture but ripens earlier than the Masters (another clay site).