Te Mata Estate Awatea Merlot Cabernet

First produced in 1985, Te Mata Awatea is the little brother to NZ’s most famous red wine, Coleraine. Or as we like to think of it – the poor man’s Coleraine! Te Mata Estate Awatea Cabernets Merlot

Te Mata Awatea is just one of those wines you simply have to keep a stash in the cellar. Even at just under $50 this actually still represents great value for an extremely classy take on the classic Bordeaux style red.

Awatea and Coleraine are wines that Robert Parker, one of the world’s biggest wine gurus, labelled as “bona fide classics“. The Awatea is named after the SS Awatea, a troop carrier from WWII that has family connections to the vineyard.

This is the latest 2024 Awatea release from Te Mata from what was quite simply a cracker of a vintage in Hawke’s Bay, definitely one of the best in recent years.

Usually a Cabernet dominant wine but for ’24 the quality of the Merlot fruit was simply next level which meant the final blend for Awatea 2024 was Merlot (62%), Cabernet Sauvignon (27%) and Cabernet Franc (11%). This release has got all of the top local critics jumping out of their seats as usual…

5 Stars (Michael Cooper, NZ Listener)
“Te Mata’s second-tier red is typically delicious in its youth. A blend of merlot (62%), cabernet sauvignon (27%) and cabernet franc (11%), it is full-coloured, mouthfilling, savoury and supple, with generous, ripe plum, red berry and spice flavours revealing excellent complexity, silky tannins and a very harmonious finish. (13.5% alc/vol) $45-$50”

96/100 (Sam Kim, Wine Orbit)
“This is comparable to a high-ranked Cru Classé Bordeaux, at a fraction of the price. The bouquet is classic and inviting with blackcurrant, dark cherry, tobacco, fennel, and fine oak with a floral overtone. It’s mouth-filling, succulent, and supple with a silky flow and persistence. Splendidly composed and styled, and finishes impressively long and robust.”

95/100 (James Suckling)
“This wine shows such focus, with blackberry, black currant, walnut, graphite and some dark chocolate aromas. Medium- to full-bodied with layers of ripe, beautiful tannins and a long and caressing finish. It’s all here, and shows such an enticing texture.”

94/100 (Cam Douglas MS)
“An inviting and nicely intense bouquet with core aromas and flavours of fresh plums and blackberries, boysenberry and some barrel spice, earth-smoke of clay and stone, then a salty leesy quality. An abundance of tannins and acidity ensure this wine will continue to age well. It can also be enjoyed today if decanted.”

93/100 (Huon Hooke, The Real Review)
“Lovely balance and elegance. Very attractive wine that already drinks remarkably well.”

93/100 (Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review)
“Not a big or dense wine but one with plenty of grace and elegance. Delicious now though it will continue to smoothen and unfold over the mid-term”

And how many years you wonder? This excellent ’24 vintage should cellar comfortably for 15-20 years.