Te Mata Awatea Cabernet Merlot 2018 - Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Commended - Decanter World Wine Awards (2007 Vintage)
Silver - International Wine Challenge (2007 Vintage)

95/100 Wine Enthusiast
95/100 - Huon Hooke
92/100 - Robert Parker
17/20 Jancis Robinson
95/100 Sam Kim (2017 Vintage)
94/100 The Wine Front (2017 Vintage)
93/100 Tom Cannavan (2017 Vintage)
92/100 Wine Enthusiast (2017 Vintage)


Te Mata Estate is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most important wine producers


Wine Enthusiast "This is an excellent bottling of Awatea, the younger brother of Te Mata's top red, Coleraine. From a long, warm growing season, this feels like a complete wine. Winter warming notes of plump plums, dark cherries and chocolate are complemented by a bounty of dried herbs, spices and graphite. The palate is similarly dense and structured but with elegance and balance. Tannins are powdery and fine, winding through dark, tangy fruit and herbs. Like many of Te Mata's wines, it has an old school Bordeaux vibe that will appeal more to some than to others. Christina Pickard"

Huon Hooke" Very deep, bold, bright purple/red colour leads into a superbly fragrant cabernet nose of violets, cassis, cedar and tobacco, while the palate is intense and bright, focused and elegant, with abundant fine tannins but also ready drinkabilty and superb balance. An excellent Awatea, with the structure to age and develop for many years. (48% cabernet sauvignon, 37% merlot, 15% cabernet franc)"

Robert Parker - "A blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Awatea Cabernets-Merlot is a bit leafy on the nose, with herbal, tobacco-tinged aromas accenting cassis and black cherries. It's medium to full-bodied and supple on the palate, finishing long, silky and mouthwatering."

Gary Walsh '...Wonderful wine. So adult, so poised and sure footed...... [Te Mata's] Coleraine most often is a fair leap ahead of Awatea, but this year they almost pack into the same scrum with equal weight. Black fruit, tobacco, dried flower perfume, cocoa with a sprinkle of baking spice. Its proudly medium-bodied, light but lithe and well-knit. Mineral feel and lead pencil savoury stuff, a little redcurrant and cool acidity, firm and dry tannin, dried herb and delightful clarity mouth-perfume, sure length and mocha in the after taste."" (2017 Vintage)

Wine Enthusiast ""Te Mata's Awatea red blend costs less than half the price of the Coleraine and yet is cut from a very similar cloth. With a little less Cabernet Sauvignon and more Merlot than the latter, along with a touch of Cabernet Franc, it's more red fruited on the nose, weaving between crushed flower petals, herbal tonic, vanilla and graphite nuances. There's a softness here that's apparent on the palate too, where a silky texture belies the power of tight-grained herbaceous tannins. More immediately approachable than the Coleraine, it could nevertheless cellar until 2029."" (2017 Vintage)

Sam Kim ""Wonderfully composed and elegantly expressed with loads of delectable flavours, superbly structured by polished tannins. Delicious already with a potential to evolve gracefully......The wine offers splendid juicy fruit attack on the nose, showing dark plum and raspberry coulis characters with nuances of toasted almond, thyme and mixed spice. The palate is succulent and beautifully rounded, offering lovely flow and supple texture."" (2017 Vintage)

The Winemaker ""glimmers with bright raspberry, cherry and blackberry sparkling over mocha, cedar and spice.....Aromas of red and dark berry fruit, flashes of boysenberry and espresso on the palate, and a classical, super-fine, tannin structure running through to its long finish..."" (2017 Vintage)

Tom Cannavan "A touch more floral and lifted than the 2016, a bit of tapenade, racy cherry and raspberry, the same fruit complexity of red over dark, but super-juicy, a squirt of lemon juice and edgy, energetic flavours are crisp and fresh in the finish over black fruit." (2017 Vintage)

World of Fine Wine 'Getting to know a legend' ""A visit to one of the world’s greatest fine-wine estates should be an integral part of any tour of New Zealand. On the East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island is the independently owned, family-run, Te Mata Estate. Owners and staff still work on vineyards that began growing Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir back in the 1890s, making it the country’s oldest wine estate. Since 1905, this winery has been winning gold medals globally, which led to these sites becoming the country’s first to be protected by law due to their viticultural history. Te Mata Estate wines are currently available in 45 countries and have been presented at some of the world’s top tables— including to President Barrack Obama, President Xi Jinping, and Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.""

Raymond Chan ""Te Mata Estate was the standard by which every other wine producer could be judged against, as the full range of styles has always been impeccable. In the earlier days, Hawke’s Bay was the scene of New Zealand’s quality wine, so it was very apt to have Te Mata Estate as the point of reference. Even when other regions developed, and Marlborough grew larger, and other varietals such as Pinot Noir became important, one could understand the state of the New Zealand wine industry by how Te Mata Estate behaved or reacted to influences, whether internal, or international.""

Te Mata Estate is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most important wine producers. It is New Zealand's oldest winery, oldest wine estate and has the oldest winery cellars in the country - in continuous operation since 1895. Coleraine is Te Mata's most acclaimed wine and is often regarded as New Zealand's best red wine.

Hawke's Bay is located on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island in and around the cities of Napier, Hastings and Havelock North. This historic region has New Zealand's second-largest wine industry (after Marlborough) and is highly regarded for its red Bordeaux Blend wines. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Chardonnay are all planted widely across the region. Over the years, the region has won international acclaim for its very high-quality Bordeaux-style reds and full-bodied Chardonnays. Syrah, produced in a classic European style with strong black-pepper flavors, is another grape variety thought to have great potential here.

Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot wines are made from two of the world's most famous and most widely grown wine grapes. The pair form the foundation of many of the great wines of Bordeaux, where this classic blend (often dubbed ""Bordeaux Blend"") is thought to have originated. For centuries, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot have been the quintessential Bordeaux wine grapes, but their fame and popularity have now taken them far beyond the banks of the Garonne, Dordogne and Gironde, to the furthest reaches of the wine world.

In California the blend is often labeled as Meritage – providing the producer meets the requirements of the Meritage Alliance. The Australian regions of Coonawarra, Margaret River and Yarra Valley are highly regarded for their unique expressions of the blend. A Bordeaux Blend is any combination of those grape varieties typically used to make the red wines of Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon is widely accepted as a compulsory component of any Bordeaux Blend along with Merlot. In fact, the majority of Bordeaux Blend wines are often made exclusively from a blend of these two varieties. The remaining components are Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. "