This column was first published in the Martinborough Star, November 2025
Robin Williams once said that spring is nature’s way of saying ‘let’s party’, which is a nice idea until a spring like this year’s one comes along and closes bridges, roads, cuts power and wreaks the kind of havoc that doesn’t feel like a party.
Fortunately, spring is also the season for new wine releases to hit shop shelves and wine lover’s glasses. And that’s a party.
The first wines of the year are usually whites, usually from Marlborough, while the best reds from the previous year trickle out, such as this month’s trio from Te Muna Valley, which now accounts for a sizeable chunk of producing vineyard land in the Wairarapa with approximately 340 hectares of the region’s total 1122 hectares. Te Muna is home to a handful of wineries that pack a powerful punch in quality. The list includes Big Sky, Escarpment Vineyard, Equilibrium, Moy Hall (formerly Butterworth and Julicher), Te Hera and, at the far end of the valley, Blue Earth and Mason.
Previews of 2024 Big Sky Pinot Noirs. The wines will be available in December this year.
18.5/20
2024 Big Sky Te Muna Pinot Noir RRP $50
This young Pinot Noir has a taut structure with lifted red fruit, subtle earthy notes and a graceful long finish. The wine is made from clone 115 Pinot Noir grown on the low vigour alluvial soils of Te Muna Road, which deliver restrained fruit expression and structure. Hand picked grapes were harvested between 30 March and 6 April 2024 at 22.5 brix, wild yeast fermented and given 18 days on skins before being pressed to barriques to age for 18 months with a modest, restrained 10% new oak, which allows the purity of fruit to shine. It drinks well now and can evolve favourably for five to six years.
18.5/20
2024 Big Sky Provenance Pinot Noir RRP $70
A confident, layered Pinot Noir, made from hand picked clone 115 fruit picked between 7 and 11 April 2024 at 23–24.5 brix. This ripe style favours a predominance of whole berries and the wild yeast fermentation with 22 days of skin contact builds texture and complexity. Maturation in French oak barriques for 18 months brings a softness. The result is a Pinot Noir of depth and ripeness. It drinks well now and is worth investing in. Watch it evolve.
18.5/20
2024 Celestia Pinot Noir RRP $110
Celestia is the pinnacle of Big Sky’s Pinot Noirs — a bold, 100% whole-cluster ferment that captures the essence of Te Muna Road with bright cherry aromas held in a framework of bright acidity. Complex aromas come from each incremental quality step, including hand picked grapes (harvested at 23.5 brix on 2 April 2024), wild yeast fermentation and 24 days of skin contact with 18 months in 500 litre oak puncheons, all new. The wine was bottled unfiltered and unfined to preserve its integrity of flavour from vineyard to glass.
