Curious, diverse, confident: Mike Bennie on Wairarapa

Ata Rangi just released a chenin blanc. That’s a sentence that wasn’t on my vinous bingo card for 2026. And it’s scintillating. Pure, energetic, hazy in texture, with pristine, saline-charged minerality and some chalkiness lending pucker and freshness. A region where pinot noir DNA is baked into its identity, rounding out a landmark, world-beating suite of 2024 releases of that variety, and all I want to do is shout from the rooftops about the diversity emerging from Wairarapa. Mea culpa. 

A recent tasting set off this head spin. The modern story of the Wairarapa, and Martinborough in particular, has long been tethered to pinot noir, with chardonnay playing an eloquent but secondary role. Yet beneath the gravitational pull of these benchmark varieties lies a quietly radical undercurrent. 

Producers across the region are exploring alternate grapes to the mainstay duo, creating idiosyncratic blends and looser, more expressive approaches to their winemaking. A quiet revolution under the prestige. The cool, windswept climate, gravelly soils and thoughtful farming regimes also lend themselves to aromatic whites, savoury medium-weight reds and textural skin-contact wines. The small scale of the region seems to have evolved to encourage experimentation and a sense of creative freedom. A boon for the next phase of the wine-growing area.

Ata Rangi is known for its exceptional pinot noirs, but has just released its first chenin blanc.

What emerged from my recent deep dive into the region is a cohort of wines that feel exciting and, well, a story in themselves. A new currency in experimentation that is being rewarded through tenacity and proof-in-the-pudding through the exacting wines that are emerging. As a generalisation, the new motif shows off whites with a saline thread running through, a herbal, ferrous edge to medium weight, gulpable reds, and an embracing of a sum-of-parts mentality in blends that give the region’s lesser-sung wines a sense of authenticity rather than novelty.

One of the revelations of the visit to the region was the new-ish impact of the Grava vineyard. A site planted to pinot noir, riesling and sauvignon blanc which supports Grava’s own wine releases alongside a group of smaller-scale producers who source fruit from the vineyard. The husband-and-wife duo also make wine in Spain, perhaps lending a different colour palette to their wines, and there’s more left-of-centre expressions to come.

Grava themselves produce an outstanding range of familiar and less-so wines of merit, with Carbonica 2023 a guzzle-worthy, crunchy textured alt-take on pinot noir destined for drinking cold. Frisky as. Grava Riesling 2023 is all crystalline precision, lime zest and green apple threaded through chalky minerality with dashes of cumquat and grassy herbs. It’s a wine of clarity and tensile energy, high refreshment factor and textural nuance. 

The husband-and-wife team behind Grava Vineyard also make wine in Spain.

Another revelation was Halite wines, who also source fruit from Grava. Haidee Johnson is the winemaker behind the project, founded in 2021, and a tour de force of considered experimentation and resulting serious wines. Indeed, the first wine I tasted on arrival in the region was Halite Sel de Terre 2025 – a beautifully poised, saline and textural sauvignon blanc. Its quiet power and mineral drive recalling fine (shades of Cotat?!) Loire expressions while remaining distinctly Wairarapa in feel. We shook the last drops out of the bottle between a cohort of winemakers.

Likewise impressive was the energetic and thirst-quenching Halite Light Dry Red 2025. The medium-weight wine offers a shimmering, tannin-shaped mesh of pinot noir and sangiovese, all tart cherry, dried rose and bright acidity, vitality front and centre. This is a producer to firmly put on the watch list. 

Another wine that made the discovery ledger was Alexia The Weaver White Blend 2024. This supple white weaves gewürztraminer, pinot gris and riesling into a gently aromatic and fresh-feeling wine of lychee, brown pear, tonic water and lemon curd characters offset by a pleasing, chalky tug to texture. Nicely played and something a little out of the Martinborough playbook. 

Jannine Rickards of Huntress is a formidable talent.

Huntress wines are increasingly familiar to many, and winemaker Jannine Rickards is a formidable talent alongside being a sensitive custodian of local lore and wisdom. A first look at Huntress Matiti Pét Nat 2024 was through the lens of informal drinking, but on the tasting bench the naturally sparkling riesling held its own. A neat and tidy pét-nat, it’s all energy and savoury fizz – cloudy, brisk and vivacious, with citrus pith, green herbs and a gentle yeasty complexity. 

Lance Redgwell is a true personality and produces some of Martinborough’s most interesting and idiosyncratic wines. His smaller scale operation sees intuitive, organic grape growing as an underpinning, and (very) minimal intervention winemaking as the overlay. Cambridge Road Stone Flower Field Blend 2023 leans into quixotic territory, a marsanne, roussanne and viognier co-ferment that feels wild-edged and herbal, stone fruits and meadow flowers layered with savoury, nutty grip. Cambridge Road Dovetail 2021, marrying pinot noir and syrah, is meaty, dark fruited and deeply expressive. Its earthy spice and dark cherry fruit unfolds with distinct savouriness. It felt best with a chill, though those seeking rusticity and grunt will be well served with this autumnal red. 

Again, a wine producer who has mostly escaped my radar, Moy Hall, drew gaze with their Millie Riesling 2024. This is a juicy and summery, citrus-laden riesling, vividly fresh, fine boned and pure feeling. A clean and crisp iteration of the variety built for youthful drinking. Tasted the same day Groves Saint Vincent 2024 held court with its curious blend of pinot noir, St Laurent and lagrein. On paper, compelling, in the glass, highly perfumed and intriguingly Italianate with a dose of brambly, red berry fruits dashed with alpine herbs, woody spice and a shimmy of fine, suede tannin lending a hand. 

Ata Rangi winemaker Helen Masters.

Maturity also plays a hand in some of the releases of note – Margrain Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2018 stands as a tour de force of texture and graceful ageing, slippery textured and mineral dashed with a concentrated stone fruit, green mango and mushroom-savoury undertow that speaks to both vine age and patient cellaring. A much younger release, but with some of the mettle to go a modest cellaring distance, Margrain Grüner Veltliner 2024 delivers with exotic spice, nashi pear and tonic water notes; classic markers delivered with playful charm.

Rounding things out, and a return to the stalwart producer, Ata Rangi Italian Block Syrah 2024 sat me back in my seat. Syrah from Martinborough a lurking presence but generally not broadly seen, this release carries a distinctly, well, Italianate inflection; the name of the vineyard plot inspired in that respect. Perfumed and flavoured with sage leaf and bay leaf herbs, red berry fruits, blood orange and game meat dusted with white pepper, this is a fine, succulent red of great energy, tannin tension and finesse. It’s a fitting exclamation mark and a reminder that even one of the region’s most established producers continues to explore the edges.

Together, these wines sketch a portrait of Wairarapa as a region far more multifaceted than its headline acts suggest. They speak to curiosity, diversity and the confidence of producers willing to wander beyond off the well-established train tracks. In doing so, they offer some of the most thrilling drinking and range for New Zealand wine right now.