Te Mata Awatea is often described as a baby Coleraine and is one of Hawke's Bay's most iconic red wines. First made in 1982 as a classic blend of Bordeaux red grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Proportions vary each year and the wine was declassified in 2012 due to a cool vintage and the need to separate the two wines, Coleraine and Awatea. Both are excellent and both deliver robust classic reds for drinking now or cellaring for the long term. Awatea delivers excellent value for money for its consistently outstanding quality, great balance of dry spicy flavours and dark fruit forward approachability. 

Te Mata Estate is Hawke's Bay's oldest winery building and one of its oldest wineries; a family owned company with an eye on producing great New Zealand wines modelled on and inspired by the world's classic great wines.

Winemaker Notes

Blend: 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot

Critical Acclaim

WE93

Wine Enthusiast

Produced by the team of Calon Ségur, this wine is stylish and elegant while also full of the Saint-Estèphe tannic structure. Fresh and fruity, it is also firm and tannic. Drink this spicy, juicy wine from 2025.

JS92

James Suckling

This is structured and very linear with superfine and polished tannins. It’s full-bodied yet reserved and held back with such tension and focus. Full-bodied, fine and chewy on the finish. Better in 2020.

D90

Decanter

Great freshness of bountiful, ripe fruit and fine ripeness from 68% Cabernet. A lovely wine from perfectly managed vineyards.

JD90

Jeb Dunnuck

A rocking wine from the northern Médoc is the 2015 Château Capbern and it’s 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot brought up in 60% new barrels. This medium to full-bodied, ripe, impressively concentrated beauty boasts outstanding notes of ripe black cherry and currant fruits intermixed with lots of crushed flower and damp earth/clay-like nuances. It has terrific purity and ripe, yet present, tannin and will benefit from a couple years in the cellar. It’s a little gem that will be loved by old-school Bordeaux lovers. Tasted twice.

Vineyard Sites - Cornerstone Vineyard lies at the heart of the renowned Gimblett Gravels viticultural region, strategically positioned at the junction of Gimblett Road and State Highway 50 in Hawke’s Bay. This area is celebrated as New Zealand’s premier Bordeaux red grape-growing region, and it’s easy to see why. The vineyard’s unique terroir, composed of riverbed stones and gravels, challenges the vines, leading them to produce a limited yield of small, intensely coloured, and flavourful berries. The resulting grapes give rise to wines with rich, mouth-filling tannins and a depth of character that speaks to the harsh yet rewarding growing conditions. 

Vinification - The grapes were carefully handpicked, then crushed and fermented in small 3-tonne open fermenters. Each batch was hand-plunged and allowed varying periods of post-ferment skin contact to enhance complexity and structure. After pressing off, the wine underwent malolactic fermentation and was aged in a mix of French (90%) and American (10%) oak barriques, adding subtle layers of flavour and depth. 

Tasting Notes - Enticing aromas of freshly sanded wood, new leather, anise, and spice draw you in. On the palate, sweet dark red fruits, plums, and berry pie flavours shine through. Grippy, robust, dry tannins balance a smooth, sweet, slightly charry oak profile. This wine is drinking well now but will develop even more complexity with ageing.

The Blanc is pale yellow in colour, with green highlights. The bouquet is strong and characterful, with aromas of broom flower, citrus fruit, peaches, and apricots. The wine is elegant, delicate and quite vivacious on the palate.

Grape 80% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc

Food match oysters, mussels, fish

Fabulous example of structured black fruited Bordeaux offering superb value for money with dark summer berry flavours, notes of dried thyme and black olives combining in a wine of complexity. Smooth and long. 

The Chatterer Merlot Cabernet will definitely get tongues wagging with its depth of blackberry and blueberry fruit flavours, full and rounded body and outstanding character. This wine offers fabulous value for money and beautiful aromas of soft plums and dark berry fruits. 

The 2021 vintage was great in Hawke's Bay and that comes through in every complex sip. 

Winemaker's note:

"2015 was an exceptional vintage and the weather was consistent which allowed us to grow and ripen grapes to optimum quality. This blend is made of 72% Merlot, 20% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes hand-picked off our Gimblett Vineyard (58%) and Triangle Vineyard (42%). 

After fermentation the wine was aged for 24 months in French oak (42% new), then blended and had a further 3 months on lees in tank. There was no racking which allow the wine to have great volume and weight.

This is a concentrated, medium to full bodied blend. With ripe blackberry and plum characters, fine grained tannins and a fresh acidity all giving the wine a wonderful balance. It will age well and improve for 10 years from vintage."

Chateau Belgrave is a large estate in the Medoc, on the left bank of Bordeaux, a region well known as Cabernet Sauvignon's stronghold. It makes up 46% of this bold, full bodied red, with the balance being 50% Merlot which adds flesh and roundness to the impressive structure of this wine. The inclusion of 4% Petit Verdot adds further complexity, intense colour and supports the tannin structure of this impressive wine. 

Chateau Belgrave is produced by Dourthe Estate, a family owned winery founded in 1840. The family now owns nine estates and 500 hectares of vineyards in Bordeaux.

In exceptional vintages we occasionally find special pockets of grapes destined for the Basket Press. The resultant wine is the pinnacle of our wine making. Intense purple, red rimmed with a palate of multi -layered fruit, a heady mix of leather, tar, mint cassis and plum held together with fine grained tannins and spicy oak.

Comes in wooden gift box.

The second wine of Domaine de Chevalier, L'Esprit de Chevalier shows complexity, depth and power expected from the deep gravel soils of the Graves. In the vineyard and winery innovation is constant, Olivier Bernard and his team are always pushing to improve the wines while showcasing each vintage as it comes. L'Esprit can be enjoyed now or in the next six years where it will age gracefully in the cellar.

Grapes - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc

A beautifully structured Bordeaux from the hallowed gravels of Pessac-Leognan. The fruit grows on a 40ha site with Gűnz gravel from the Quaternary period located on the plateau above the village of Martillac with a distribution of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. The vines are planted at a density of 7200 per hectare.

This vintage is 60% Merlot – 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and offers a deep, dense, purple colour in the glass. The nose is intense and aromatic, with red and black fruits, spicy liquorice and gentle smoky notes. The palate is at once, powerful and fresh with well-rounded tannins leading to along and lush finish. 

Vineyards
- The McKenzie vineyard is located in Waipara close to the winery. The vineyard is a free draining terrace site. The average age of vines varies from 16 years or older.

Wine Making
- All hand harvested in late April and early May
- Harvest brix ranged from 22-23 brix [% sugar]
- Fermentation was in small vessels [1500L] 3 day cool soak, inoculated with yeast,
fermentation varies from 4-6 days peaking at 32 C then allowed 7-10 days on skins. Some components were given extended skin contact up to 28 days.
- Pressing was in traditional Basket Press
- Cooperage was a mixture of French barrels ranging in age from new to 6+ years. Duration is approx 18 months
- Malo lactic [ML] fermentation is natural starting in Spring and the wine is racked and has a SO2 addition once ML complete.
- Bottling is through 1 micron filter

Bottle Details
- Alcohol 13.0 % by volume
- Acid is 5.5 gm/L [as tartaric]
- Volatile Acidity is 0.45 gm/L
- Residual Sugar is < 1 gm/L