Haera Ra 2024: Wairarapa
As Ata Rangi approaches 45 years of growing wine in Wairarapa, Winemaker Helen Masters explores some of the highs and lows of 2024, including "The Vintage" of the past 30 years.
Ata Rangi's winemaker Helen Masters says they wanted the label to reflect the new enthusiasm that accompanied their first foray into sparkling wine after the punishing weather conditions of 2023 forced them to pivot.
"It was a new beginning for us wine-wise, something beautiful that came out of a tough season. So, we wanted the label to be happy and fun."
They commissioned that fun from Helen's daughter Stella Masters, who is currently studying Visual Communication Design in Christchurch. The brief was to capture the meaning of Ata Rangi - dawn sky/a new beginning.
Stella explains her process.
"Taking the concept of sunrise and combining it with the sparkling nature of the wine lef me to use expanding metallic lines. They represent the sun's first rays reaching over the hills, but also the bursting of the bubbles. We wanted the colour of the wine to be a key feature which integrated well as the peachy pink dawn sky."
Signifying place within such a small rectangle of bottle real estate is no mean feat, but Stella nailed this by incorporating the distinctive silhouette of 'Kupe's canoes' - three hills that sit like upturned canoes on the Martinborough skyline.
She used a digital drawing app to create the design.
"I like the traditional pen to paper technique that an iPad recreates while allowing me to draw something clea and graphic. I made the design balanced and bold so that it has more impact from afar and compliments the stripped back packaging of the bottle."
Helen loves the result.
"It's fun but not too much. It still has a classic Ata Rangi feel."
