Te Mata Estate Awatea Cabernets Merlot Hawkes Bay – 2020

First made in 1982, Awatea is generally seen as the second wine to Te Mata’s flagship Bordeaux blend, Coleraine. The grapes for this wine are hand harvested and destemmed before a traditional warm, plunged fermentation with extended maceration on the skins to gain tannins, colour and structure. The resulting wines are then aged for 16 months in seasoned French oak barrels, blended, then returned to barrel for a further 8 months’ oak maturation.

This blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc is a great success from the warm and sunny 2020 vintage! Inky purple, it has a wide mix of ripe blackberry, blackcurrant and plum flavours with an attractive floral character. Notes of vanilla, cedar and sandalwood from its maturation in French oak barrels add complexity. It is classically structured, with fine balance and long length; beautifully pure and fresh and uniquely “New Zealand” in style.

Winemaker’s tip:- serve with Leg of lamb provençal.

‘… substance, depth and ripeness …the best Awatea ever? You might be looking at it.’ 95 points, Rebecca Gibb MW, Vinous

“If you’re a Coleraine lover—and let’s be real, any self-respecting Cabernetphile is—then you’ll know that the Awatea Cabernet represents sensational value for the money. Slightly lighter framed and less dense/powerful than the Coleraine, and with an admirably open and lusty fruit profile, the 2020 Awatea Cabernets Merlot gives the people what they want. It leads with leafy, elegant, very fine Cabernet fruit laden with cassis, pomegranate, ferrous notes, a hint of iodine and loads of bramble and bay leaf. The palate is populated by very fine, powdery tannins that shape the flow of flavor. Gorgeous. The draw of flavor across the palate is sensational.The Merlot particularly really shines in 2020 and 2021.” 95/100pts Wine Advocate