Pinot Noir in a cool climate
When winemaker Paul Mason says the 2025 vintage will go down as one of the biggest and earliest harvests on record, he's drawing on over 20 years of experience in one of the coolest parts of a cool climate wine region - the south end of Te Muna Valley in Martinborough, in the Wairarapa wine region. The entire region is home to 1,166 hectares of producing vines. Pinot Noir makes up 493.97 of these hectares* and is considered the flagship variety in the region.
Today, Paul is the full time winemaker at Nga Waka but he's also pioneering a new brand with his partner Amy. The couple purchased a secluded spot at the south end of Te Muna Valley in 2021 and have since moved on site and named it pretty apt moniker of 'the Hidden Vineyard'. It is certainly off the beaten track.
This week, they released their third Pinot Noir from the Hidden Vineyard - the 2025 Mason Pinot Noir. The site 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, which remind me of red and black cherries, intertwined bold youthful freshness with vibrant acidity bringing depth to the mid palate and a long finish. Firm but moderate tannins frame the fruit in this impressive young wine. The Hidden Vineyard site was originally 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 an evergreen question in wine circles and seems to find its answer in wines such as the 2025 Mason Pinot Noir. Wines like this one bring vibrancy, depth and complexity to the glass, hinting at purity and expression of place, both now and with the promise of age.
