Aroha is Craggy Range's top Pinot Noir, from vines over 25 years old on Te Muna Road in Martinborough. The 2024 is perfumed and fine-boned rather than heavy: lavender, cherry and red and blue fruits, with sweet stem tannin giving it a framework. Two critics have it at 97 POINTS. Drinking now, better from 2029.
Part of this wine was fermented in sandstone amphora. That is not a gimmick, and it is not something you see often in New Zealand Pinot Noir. Clay and stone vessels let a wine breathe without giving it any oak flavour, so what you taste is fruit and texture rather than barrel.
We stock Aroha because it is the most Burgundian wine that Craggy Range produce, and because 2024 gave Martinborough the kind of year that rewards patience. This is a wine for a long dinner with people who will notice it, or for the cellar; it is not a Tuesday afternoon Pinot. Craggy Range released the 2024 to its Prestige Wine Club members rather than to the trade, our allocation was small!
If you want a Martinborough Pinot to open this week, ask us and we will find you one that is ready.
What separates Aroha from the other serious Martinborough Pinot on the shelf is how it was made, and the detail is unusual. The fruit is two clones picked days apart: clone 667 on 26 March, fermented with 85% whole clusters in French oak, and clone 114 off the Prestige Block on 31 March, fermented across a combination of sandstone amphora and French oak with varying whole-cluster inclusion. All of it hand-picked, all of it on indigenous yeast, fermented gently over an average of 17 days. Whole-cluster means the stems go into the ferment along with the berries, which adds perfume, savoury spice and that fine grippy tannin you feel on the sides of your tongue. It then went through full malolactic fermentation in French oak barriques and stayed there 14 months, racked once before blending, and was bottled unfined and unfiltered. The vineyard itself is a narrow band of clay over stone, which is what Craggy Range credit for the balance between power and prettiness.
What it tastes like
It opens with lavender, which is the first thing you notice and not a common note in New Zealand Pinot. Behind it there is a chocolate-cherry character, then red and blue fruits arriving in sequence rather than all at once. Cameron Douglas MS finds dark cherries and boysenberry with wood smoke, spice and what he calls a silty fragrant soil quality. The stem tannins are ripe and sweet rather than green, so the wine has a frame without being firm, and the length is the point: it keeps going after you have swallowed it.
It is taut and young now. Everything is there, but it is holding itself in ... for now.
Style at a glance
- Body: medium
- Sweetness: dry
- Acidity: fresh, and it carries the wine
- Tannin: fine, from whole clusters as much as from oak. Present but not firm
- Oak: French oak barriques for 14 months, plus part of the blend in sandstone amphora, which adds texture and no oak flavour
- Style: perfumed, ethereal, savoury, whole-bunch, long
Food
Duck is the classic answer and the right one, whether that is a roast breast with cherries or a confit leg. Beyond that: rare venison, a rack of lamb with herbs, mushrooms on toast with plenty of butter, or a whole roast chicken. Pinot Noir this perfumed also handles a good charcuterie board better than most reds. The one worth trying is grilled salmon with a soy and mirin glaze, where the sweetness in the glaze picks up the cherry fruit and the wine's acidity cuts the oiliness of the fish.
Who makes it
Craggy Range was established in 1998 by Terry and Mary Peabody and is still run by the family across three generations, with the estate held in a thousand-year family trust. Alongside their Hawke's Bay vineyards they farm Te Muna Road in Martinborough, which is where Aroha comes from. Aroha is the Maori word for love.
About the vintage
2024 was a very good year for New Zealand, and James Suckling went as far as asking whether it was the country's greatest, describing a dry but fresh season that gave wines of striking intensity and precision. Martinborough's version of that season was a small one. Cool temperatures at flowering cut the crop to something like 15 to 20% below long-term averages, cooler nights through late February held onto freshness and acidity, and north-west winds thickened the grape skins, which means more colour and more tannin for the same amount of juice.
Picking started early, from around 8 to 10 March across the region, and Craggy Range brought the Aroha fruit in on 26 and 31 March. Wilco Lam, chair of the Wairarapa wine region, said the vintage felt very much like 2016 and 2020, years with great power and concentration in the wines. That is a useful comparison if you know those vintages: this is not a light, early-drinking year.
Across Martinborough the 2024 Pinots are showing what Cameron Douglas MS describes as clarity and composure, with purity of fruit, fine structure and a quiet sense of ease. It has been a strong year for the district generally rather than for any one producer. In his 2024 Wairarapa selection Ata Rangi took the highest score, with Kusuda, Palliser Estate and Cambridge Road all close behind, and most of the wines he recommends are built to age into the 2030s. If you are buying Martinborough Pinot to put away, 2024 is a good year to do it, and Aroha is one of several worth the space.
Critic scores and ratings
- 97 POINTS – Stephen Wong MW – The Real Review – “This impressive, modern expression of pinot noir is going to go the distance.”
- 97 POINTS – Andrew Caillard MW – as listed by Craggy Range
When to drink it
Craggy Range says enjoy it now or cellar it 7 to 10 years from vintage. Cameron Douglas MS is more specific and later, putting the window at 2029 to 2036 and beyond. If you open one in the next couple of years, decant it for half an hour; whole-bunch Pinot tends to be closed when young and opens up with air.
Technical details
| Winery |
Craggy Range |
| Wine |
Aroha, Te Muna Road Vineyard |
| Vintage |
2024 |
| Variety |
Pinot Noir, clones 667 and 114 |
| Region |
Te Muna, Martinborough |
| Country |
New Zealand |
| Alcohol |
13.5% |
| pH / acidity |
3.73 / 4.9 g/L |
| Harvest |
100% hand-picked. Clone 667 on 26 March, clone 114 on 31 March 2024 |
| Fermentation |
Indigenous yeast, average 17 days. Clone 667 with 85% whole clusters in French oak; clone 114 across sandstone amphora and French oak |
| Oak |
100% malolactic fermentation in French oak barriques, aged 14 months, racked once before blending |
| Fining and filtration |
Bottled unfined and unfiltered |
| Closure |
Screwcap |
| Cellaring |
7–10 years from vintage (Craggy Range); 2029–2036+ (Cameron Douglas MS) |
| Serving temperature |
14–16°C |
Where to buy
For international delivery to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, the Craggy Range Aroha Te Muna Road Pinot Noir 2024 is available via our winenz.com website. For delivery in New Zealand you can purchase from thewineryonline.co.nz. If you are visiting New Zealand, you can also buy it, and taste a large range of New Zealand fine wines at our Queenstown and Arrowtown stores. This was a club release rather than a trade release, so it is not widely stocked and we do not expect to be able to replace it.
Questions we are often asked
What does Craggy Range Aroha 2024 taste like?
Lavender and chocolate-cherry on the nose, then red and blue fruits with a savoury, smoky edge. Craggy Range Aroha 2024 is a medium-bodied, dry Martinborough Pinot Noir with fine stem tannin, fresh acidity and a very long finish.
What is whole-bunch fermentation and does Aroha use it?
Whole-bunch means the grape stems go into the ferment with the berries, adding perfume, savoury spice and fine tannin. Craggy Range fermented the clone 667 portion of Aroha 2024 with 85% whole clusters, with more whole-cluster fruit in the clone 114 parcel.
Why is some of Aroha fermented in amphora?
Part of the clone 114 parcel was fermented in sandstone amphora rather than barrel. Clay and stone vessels let the wine develop texture without adding any oak flavour, so the fruit and the tannin do the talking.
What food goes with Craggy Range Aroha?
Duck in almost any form, venison, rack of lamb, roast chicken, mushrooms or charcuterie. Aroha has the perfume and acidity to handle richer dishes without needing the weight of a big red.
How long will Craggy Range Aroha 2024 keep?
Craggy Range says 7 to 10 years from vintage. Cameron Douglas MS puts the best drinking at 2029 through 2036 and beyond. It is drinkable now if decanted.
Was 2024 a good vintage in Martinborough?
Yes, and a small one. Cool flowering cut the crop 15 to 20% below long-term averages, which concentrates what is left, and the chair of the Wairarapa wine region compared the year to 2016 and 2020 for power and concentration.
Where can I buy Craggy Range Aroha 2024?
The Winery ships Craggy Range Aroha Te Muna Road Pinot Noir 2024 internationally from winenz.com to the USA, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, and delivers within New Zealand from thewineryonline.co.nz. It is also available in our Queenstown and Arrowtown stores.
