Will the presence of MICHELIN rankings in New Zealand set a new tone for wine in our restaurants? Joelle Thomson has some thoughts...
How many restaurants across the motu have a wine cellar from which to offer their customers outstanding older bottles? And will the inaugural MICHELIN Guide New Zealand 2026 awards spur restaurant owners on to invest more courageously in great wines for future drinking? If so, it’s an opportune moment to do so.
This year marks the release of wines from 2024, which is shaping up to be one of the best vintages in this country. And whether a restaurant was awarded a MICHELIN Star or not, the global awards have been helpful for business in the food and wine trade.
As Steve Logan of Logan Brown in Wellington (awarded one MICHELIN Star this year) says, the win brings confidence to the restaurant trade by increasing consumer interest, which has a trickle-down impact on the range of food and wine able to be offered.
“In an era where immediacy is often valued more than patience, these wines remind us why cellaring is one of the most rewarding rituals that great wines offer us. ”
Case in point: the 2024 Ata Rangi Pinot Noirs released by winemaker Helen Masters, who celebrates 20 years of winemaking with these wines.
The Ata Rangi Pinot Noirs include three single vineyard wines from the McCrone Vineyard, Kotinga Vineyard and Masters Vineyard as well as the winery’s flagship Ata Rangi Pinot Noir (a blend of vineyards). These wines are listed by the glass in Auckland at Onslow and The French Café, while Gilt Brasserie was pouring the 2024 Ata Rangi Kotinga from magnum on Fridays.
This is the third year all four Pinot Noirs have been made and Masters says she has been waiting to get these wines in the right spot to release them. “We like them to be in bottle for a year before release and these were bottled in September 2025,” she explains.
So it’s early days. But since the Ata Rangi team bravely chose not to make any Ata Rangi Pinot Noir from the challenging 2023 vintage, new Ata Rangi Pinot Noirs are a welcome release.
In an era where immediacy is often valued more than patience, these wines remind us why cellaring is one of the most rewarding rituals that great wines offer us. Masters has long believed that Pinot Noir reveals its best slowly and gradually and her decision to hold wines in bottle prior to release is part of that philosophy.
The 2024 growing season in Martinborough produced smaller bunches of grapes, which bring concentration and a beautiful architectural framework to these new Pinot Noirs. They drink well now but these wines are built for cellaring and will reward anyone doing so.
In the same vein, the recently announced 2024 Gimblett Gravels Annual Vintage Selection is a list of wines that remind us of the virtues of patient ageing.
This is the 17th year of this annual selection and the wines I’ve tasted from it so far bode well for the long haul. Time to make room in the cellar – check out two from this year’s Selection below.
Try these:
2024 Trinity Hill The Gimblett
RRP $45
Hancocks
An exceptional red blend at the best of times and even more impressive in this outstanding year; 2024 follows on from two challenging vintages by expressing the concentration and balance with great wine. This is a fine drop now, modelled on the best of Bordeaux. It has poise, structure and complexity and will be even more superb in a decade.
2024 Villa Maria Cellar Selection Syrah
RRP $24.99
EuroVintage
Great value for money and with plenty of depth. Spicy, ripe layers of dried plum with excellent structural framework thanks to nicely balanced tannins. Superb now and can age for five to six years, potentially longer.
Joelle Thomson is a journalist, wine writer and author.
