Pinot Noir in a cool climate just got even cooler
When winemaker Paul Mason says the 2025 vintage will go down as one of the biggest and earliest harvests on record, he's got over 20 years' experience to draw on in the Wairarapa - a small wine region that spreads far and wide but in total includes just 1,166 hectares of producing vines. Pinot Noir makes up 493.97 of these hectares* and is of paramount importance in the region.
Today, Paul is the full time winemaker at Nga Waka. He is also pioneering a new brand with his partner Amy. The couple has purchased a secluded spot at the south end of Te Muna Valley and they've named it the Hidden Vineyard. It's certainly off the beaten track.
This week, they released their 2025 Mason Pinot Noir from the Hidden Vineyard. It's the third vintage they've made from this site, which is home to 1896 vines. The latest 2025 vintage saw 1058 bottles of wine made - which equates to significantly less than one bottle per vine. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to see that this is a labour of love. Both Paul and Amy have day jobs but their brand is finding its feet and building a profile as a delicate fresh cool climate expression of Pinot Noir.
"That's what I love about our vineyard - it's a cooler site in a cooler area so we pick later than vineyard around the town (Martinborough) and that comes through in our wines which are really aromatic," says Paul Mason.
We tasted the latest of these wines two days ago and it's an impressive third vintage from the Hidden Vineyard. Vintage always begins in spring and the one leading up to the 2025 vintage was warm, settled and led to a strong fruit set (which means more grapes per vine than usual thanks to more settled weather and less intense wind that usual). It was followed by rain over summer, which saw larger berries develop, hence the high volume of grapes and larger sized grapes than typically in this vineyard.
The result is a delicious, fruit forward Pinot Noir which retains the serious structural qualities and earthy aromas that define the best Pinot Noirs from Martinborough and from the wider Wairarapa wine region.
My review - 2025 Mason Hidden Vineyard Pinot Noir RRP $54
Finely tuned Pinot Noir with a supple and silky texture leading into appealing fruit forward aromas. Think red and black cherry notes intertwine with bold youthful freshness in the form of vibrant acidity that brings depth to the mid palate and long finish. Firm but moderate tannins bring structure, framing the fruit in an impressive young wine from a long established site, which was planted a couple of decades ago by a visionary viticulturist called Bill Brink, who has since passed away. The Masons have revived the vineyard, bringing much needed TLC to the old vines, which are a mixture of Dijon clones, along with Abel clone and UCD5 clone. The Hidden Vineyard sits at southern end of Te Muna Valley, east of Martinborough village.
So, does small volume always equate to high quality?
It's the everlasting question in wine circles and one that seems to find its answer in wines such as the 2025 Mason Pinot Noir; a wine in which vibrancy, depth and complexity all hint at purity in the glass, both now and with the promise of age.
