Te Mata Estate Awatea Hawke's Bay Cabernet Merlot 2021

Te Mata Estate Awatea Hawke's Bay Cabernet Merlot 2021French oak Blackberry Cocoa & cedar Ripe acid tension "Offering harmony and structure within an opulent framed of rich fruit and silky tannins, this is a gratifying red offering awesome value. The enticing bouquet shows blackcurrant, mulberry, tobacco and cedary oak characters with a delicate floral overtone. The palate displays amazing depth and persistency, wonderfully complemented by delectable fruit flavours with spicy nuances. Tannins are fine,

• French oak
• Blackberry
• Cocoa & cedar
• Ripe acid tension

"Offering harmony and structure within an opulent framed of rich fruit and silky tannins, this is a gratifying red offering awesome value. The enticing bouquet shows blackcurrant, mulberry, tobacco and cedary oak characters with a delicate floral overtone. The palate displays amazing depth and persistency, wonderfully complemented by delectable fruit flavours with spicy nuances. Tannins are fine, mouth-coating and just right, making it structured and seamless at the same time. At its best: 2025 to 2038" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Feb 2023

"Deep-ish purple-red colour, glowing and bright; there are fresh mulberry, blackcurrant and raspberry aromas paired with a delicate sheen of barely perceptible nuttiness from oak (30% new). The wine is tautly focused, poised and long on the palate, refined and vibrant. It's just a babe and will reward cellaring big-time. (50% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot, 14% cabernet franc)" Huon Hooke, The Real Review, Jan 2023

"Positioned below its Coleraine stablemate in Te Mata's hierarchy of Hawke's Bay, claret-style reds, Awatea is grown at Havelock North and in the Bullnose Vineyard, inland from Hastings. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, it is hand-harvested and matured for 15 to 18 months in French oak barriques (partly new). Compared to Coleraine, in its youth Awatea is more seductive, more perfumed, and tastes more of sweet, ripe fruit, but it is more forward and slightly less concentrated. The wine can mature gracefully for many years, but is also typically delicious in its youth. The 2021 vintage (5*) is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50 per cent), Merlot (36 per cent) and Cabernet Franc (14 per cent). Dark and purple flushed, it is mouthfilling, with deep blackcurrant, berry and spice flavours, complex and savoury, finely tuned tannins and a very harmonious finish. An elegant, rich, distinctive red, it offers great value and should be at its best 2026+" Michael Cooper, Buyer's Guide, Feb 2023

"50% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot and 14% cabernet franc. Tasted alongside the 2020 and while they’re obviously similar, there’s more acidity and leafy perfume in the 2021. Blackcurrant, raspberry and leaf, tobacco, and spicy perfume, pencil/cedar oak. Medium-bodied, tannin sits so nicely within the wine, fresh and long, with classic fragrance in with that. So ‘minerally’ and cool. Very long. Precision and definition mark it out as a wine of class and fine filigreed deliciousness" Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, Dec 2022

"Aromas of fresh flower stems and green leaves. Fresh bark, too. Roses. Graphite. Medium-bodied with tight and linear tannins and a focused and refined finish. Slightly chewy. Juicy. 50% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot and 14% cabernet franc. Drinkable, but needs two or three years" James Suckling, Feb 2023

A deep brilliant crimson with an underlying amethyst hue, Awatea ’21 immediately offers up concentrated blackcurrant, blackberry, dark plum, cocoa-powder and cedar with a subtle marine note in the background. The ripe dark and red fruit is fresh and varietally defined, enlivening the wine with layers of brightness, persistence and appeal. This depth of fruit, balanced by the bright, ripe, acid tension, carries right through to its fine dry finish. The most concentrated Awatea ever this ’21 is a delight.

The grapes for Awatea ’21 were hand harvested from Te Mata Estate’s vineyards between 9 and 29 March 2021

Awatea takes its name from the historic ship SS Awatea (a Maori word meaning “Eye of the Dawn”) that sailed the Auckland – Sydney – Wellington route in the late 1930s. The Awatea was requisitioned as troop transport in WWII and was sunk off Algeria in 1942.

The separate parcels of grapes were destemmed before a traditional warm-plunged fermentation and extended maceration on skins. The resulting wines were then run to new and seasoned French oak barrels for 17 months. Throughout this time, they were regularly topped and racked. The separate wines were blended in December 2021, then returned to barrel for their second winter. The finished wine was then egg white fined and bottled in November 2022. The final blend is 50% cabernet sauvignon, 36% merlot and 14% cabernet franc.