Te Mata Awatea Cabernets/Merlot 2019

Reviews

Cameron Douglas MS: 96/100.  Very youthful and concentrated with dark berries and clove vanilla oak, smoky and forward, varietal and urgent. Great wine - young and needs time, but has power and muscle I have not really noticed before. Spicy plums and dark berries, black berry and blackcurrant. Firm tannins and acidity, youthful, focused, high energy and very exciting. Best drinking from 2022 through 2028+

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit: 96/100. Instantly satisfying and inviting on the nose, showing blackcurrant, dried herb, floral and spicy oak characters, leading toa delectably expressed palate that’s filled with dark and red fruit flavours with a discreet oak infusion. Offering excellent structure and immense drinkability at the same time, it’s hugely charming and enticing. At its best: 2024 to 2034.

Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: 95/100.The 2019 Awatea Cabernets Merlot is succulent and fruity, with mid-weight tannins in the mouth, sumac and paprika in profusion and fresh leather handbag through the finish. This is a beautiful wine; the tannins are chalky and fine and yet loosely knit. It feels accessible now. I feel this is aligned with the 2014, and I love it for that. Drink Date: 2024 - 2039.

Bob Campbell, MW (The Real Review): 95/100. Adense, lush red with cassis, ripe berry and cedar wood flavours. Seriously good andvery accessible red that offers great value at this price.

Michael Cooper: 5 stars, Super Classic (= outstanding quality for at least the last 5 vintages).

Tasting Note:

Edged with a brilliant crimson, Awatea Cabernets/Merlot ’19 has a rich magenta core, with dark plum, blackberry, and lush black cherry forming the deep heart of this wine. There’s grace notes of cola and cassis, bay leaf, lavender, and tapenade. Ripe acid and long tannins give a layered richness that builds in length and texture. The classic aromas of the best vintages are already present, the hallmark of age-ability.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: Red wine from New Zealand

Varietals: 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc.

Winemaking: 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 15 months. Throughout this time, they were regularly topped and racked. The separate wines were blended in January 2020, then returned to barrel for their second winter. The finished wine was then egg white fined and bottled in November 2020. The final blend is 46% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot, 22% cabernet franc.

The name: 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 a troop transport in WWII and was sunk off Algeria in 1942.

Alcohol: 13.5% vol

Wine style: dry

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: Contains sulphites, egg white.

Cellaring potential: 2028+

Closure: Cork

Produced and bottled by: Te Mata Estate, PO Box 8335, Havelock North, Hawkes Bay 4157, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany