Description / Reviews
"‘Aroha’ meaning ‘love’ in te reo Māori. Reflective of its namesake, Aroha is handcrafted with passion from unique parcels of Pinot Noir. The pedigree of particular blocks in our Te Muna vineyard is paramount to the quality of this wine. At over 25 years of vine age, our best blocks are identified by a narrow band of clay over stone, which contributes to the balance between power and beauty.
When crafting this wine, we look for the quality of tannin to be the ultimate driver, and with Aroha, the velvet line provides unmistakeable length." - Craggy Range, Winemaker
"From the Martinborough region in New Zealand, which makes some of the world’s best Pinot Noir, the fruit here hails from the wonderful Te Muna vineyard, which is now twenty-five years of age. The name, ‘Aroha’ is Maori for love. And it is simply impossible not to love this wine. From the brilliant 2024 vintage, fermentation was with wild yeasts. The team fermented 85% whole clusters in French oak, while the component which was from clone 114 was fermented in a combination of French oak and sandstone amphorae. Maturation was for a further fourteen months. I can’t remember a better example of this wine from any past vintage. A purple/blue hue, the nose offers a wonderful array of aromas, weaving through cherries, truffles, violets, wild raspberries, leaf litter and notes of freshly baked blackberry pie, just emerging from the oven. We are already seeing some early complexity and, no doubt, that will increase enormously over the coming years. The structure is seamless, the balance impeccable, and the concentration beautifully defined. A wine of focus and energy with great length through to satiny tannins on a lingering finish. Stunning stuff and for me the finest Aroha I can recall. A fifteen-year proposition." - 97 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
"Mellow, medium–fuller weight, fine-tuned and fancy-feeling. A pinot noir of inward concentration. Dark cherry, dark plum, cola, panforte, woody spices, faint mintiness, white pepper. Lots of character here, all squished away in a compact, lengthy frame. Plenty of finesse. Closure: Screw cap. 13.5% alcohol. (Drink by 2030)" - 95 Points, James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
