Olly Masters

The Climb

Training at Massey University and Lincoln University gave Olly Masters a technical base before he entered the slower work of earning a place in Martinborough, where vines, site and season set the standard. In 1989, he began work as martinborough winemaker in Martinborough, a role that put him inside one of New Zealand’s most demanding regions for detail and consistency. By 1994, the work had widened into the dual rhythm of winemaker/viticulturalist at Ata Rangi, and later into partner at Ata Rangi. The progression reads as accumulated practice: first learning the district, then working both sides of the vineyard and cellar, and then staying long enough for the two to inform each other. That long association continues in consultancy. Olly Masters is Consulting Oenologist of Ata Rangi and Consulting Winemaker of Misha's Vineyard (since 2007), keeping his work tied to two names closely associated with New Zealand wine. The through-line is precision: attention to what the vineyard gives, and discipline in how that is carried into the wine.

Today

At Misha’s Vineyard in Cromwell, Central Otago, New Zealand, Olly Masters has been winemaker since 2006 and Consulting Winemaker since 2007. The place Central Otago sets a clear, focused frame for the work, and Misha’s Vineyard links vineyard and cellar in a way that depends on steady decision-making rather than volume or display. In that setting, his role is to guide style without losing sight of the fruit’s origin. Pinot Noir is the variety most closely associated with his work. It asks for restraint, patience and a careful read on site, and that is where Masters’ reputation sits: in wines shaped by structure and poise rather than embellishment. The connection between his name and the grape is built on consistency, and on the discipline required to let the vineyard remain legible in the glass. > "With Olly joining our team, which includes Robin Dicey, arguably one of New Zealand’s most recognised viticulturalists, we have the best possible combination to be able to realise the flavours from our vineyard."

Signature

Olly Masters works with Pinot Noir. That focus is the point. Across Martinborough, Ata Rangi and Misha’s Vineyard, the work has stayed anchored to a grape that rewards exacting vineyard judgment and a light hand in the cellar. Masters’ signature is not breadth for its own sake, but continuity: one variety, worked across different sites, with the same attention to expression and control.

In Their Words “With Olly joining our team, which includes Robin Dicey, arguably one of New Zealand’s most recognised viticulturalists, we have the best possible combination to be able to realise the flavours from our vineyard.”