the not serious Helen Masters
We’d love you to meet Helen Masters, winemaker at the iconic Ata Rangi Martinborough. Boy can she knock out a great tasting glass of vino.
On a grey, Auckland Saturday morning, Helen arrived at our K Road podcast studio wearing a NY Yankees cap. She explained she’d lost her hairbrush somewhere during a just-completed Australian sales trip and needed the cap to quell an unruly doo. We weren’t overly fussed. This woman is such a legend she could have arrived in her jimjams and we wouldn’t have minded but it has to be said, the cap only reiterated her rockstar status in the eyes of our Pete who, it turns out, is a major Masters fanboy.
It’s a valid ailment. Helen Masters and her wine continue to leave wine reviewers and wine collectors in awe. Her wines always rate extremely highly and the winery itself is lovingly revered as one of Aotearoa’s stalwarts. Ata Rangi has been around for 42 years now. In NZ wine dog years that’s a bloody long time so the star status is very real and Helen has been a very significant part of the brand’s history and current reputation. She did earn the title of Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year in 2019 and she’s just been shortlisted for the same title via American wine publication, Wine Enthusiast. There are countless other awards and high-scoring wines but that’s not why we’re here. We wanted to find out who she is.
Global accolades and cool baseball cap notwithstanding, Helen is particularly down to earth. She loves her veggie garden. She enjoys a gin. She’s super relatable.
We delighted in her stories of growing up as the youngest of 12 on a small farm on the Kapiti coast. She had us aghast with her unbelievable start to her wine story. At an age when most of us are out playing school sports, Helen was already thinking a career in winemaking might just be a jolly good idea. Her mother agreed, drove her over the Remutakas and dropped her off at the gates of Ata Rangi, sans even a suitcase and was off back to Kapiti before Helen could change her mind.
This really was a privilege to take time out and chat with this wonderful winemaker and truly lovely human.
Pour yourself a gin and tonic (Helen would be pleased) and get comfortable. This is the Not Serious Helen Masters chat.
Chat Facts
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Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2018
antipodes water — still
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Ruth & Paul Pretty — Wellington caterers and local icons
Michael Cooper — wine reviewer
Clive Paton & Phyll Pattie — founders, co-owners of Ata Rangi
Ben Masters — Helen’s husband and a very talented artist - see paperhand.co.nz
Jancis Robinson — Master of Wine and globally revered wine authority and reviewer
Michael Glover — Mammoth Wines est. 2013, making wines in NZ and Australia
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TCA / cork taint — is an acronym for the chemical compound 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, which is responsible for the aromas and flavors often called “corkiness” in wine or “cork taint”
Somm — abbreviation of Sommelier which is a French term. A sommelier, or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional, normally working in fine restaurants, who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine and food pairing.
5th Growth Bordeaux — “Growths’ refers to a ranking system for the region of Bordeaux in France. First Growth Bordeaux is your top of the class stylie wine and likely to cost the deposit on a house in Auckland. 5th growth is way more approachable from a savings account POV.
Root stock — a term for vines that indicates they are not planted on their own roots; rather the vine is grafted onto the root of a different vine species. This can be vital for the protection of the vine against phylloxera (a bug that is hard to detect and will eat the roots of a vine, killing the plant. A disaster for a vine on its own roots if they arent resistant).
Clone — A grape clone is a cutting taken from an existing grape vine that's grafted onto rootstock. The vine is chosen due to specific traits a grower wants to reproduce like increased disease resistance or fruit quality. Helen referred to specific numbers. These are given to specific clones that viticulturists will choose from in order to shape how the vines will develop on a site. They also impact the end flavour.
Canopy — is a collective word for the all the foliage (i.e. the vine leaves and shoots) and the fruit. The reason canopy management is important is that its techniques help to manage the exposure of the vine's leaves and fruit to the sun.
Vinifera — Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine
Cooper — is a person who makes the wooden staved vessels or barrels used in winemaking. The word comes from Dutch which means “basket, wood, tub”. Anything that is produced by a cooper is referred to as cooperage.
Fining — is an ancient practice in which a material that aids clarification is added to the wine. Gravity and time will eventually ‘fine’ a wine. Additives can be introduced to speed the process, like egg whites making the wine not ok for vegans.
Cellar palate — when you drink your own wine in exclusion of nearly all others. You can lose sight of how your wines rate against competitors if you don’t taste other wines.
Barolo / Nebbiolo — Barolo is a red Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG - or Italian governing wine body) wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines
Bud rubbing — a repetitive task that involves rubbing and twisting your hands down a vine's trunk to remove shoots and buds
Brett / Bretty — not one half of the Flight of the Conchords but an abbreviation of brettanomyces - a type of yeast commonly found in wineries, which has the potential to cause significant spoilage in wines, through the production of volatile phenol compounds.
Keen to try a bottle of Helen’s latest? Drop some bones on the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir or dip your toe in the water for a little less investment with the Ata Rangi Crimson. Both from By The Bottle. Delivered to your door, by the bottle or by the box, anywhere in Aotearoa.
