Dark berries
Stone fruit

Everyday Low

Te Mata Awatea Cab/Merlt

Name: Te Mata Awatea Cab/Merlt 750ml
SKU: 106395
Price: 44.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

Wine · New Zealand · 750ml · 13%

$44.99each

What it tastes like

Blackcurrant · dark fruit · firm tannins

First made in 1982, Awatea continues to represent the best of the classic Hawke's Bay cabernet/merlot blend. Floral aromas with intense blackberry, currant and dark plum flavours lead to a rich, supple palate with a sustained finish. Awatea will continue to evolve in bottle for ten years from harvest.

Dark berries
Stone fruit

Additional information

Wine
Style: New Zealand
Origin: 750ml
Size: 13% ABV
Alcohol: 0.8 per bottle
Standard drinks

The story of Te Mata Awatea Cab/Merlt

Awatea was first made in 1982 as the sibling to Te Mata's flagship Coleraine. Where Coleraine leans on Cabernet, Awatea carries a higher share of Merlot and Cabernet Franc in every vintage. It is named after the SS Awatea, a New Zealand built liner of the 1930s that served as a troop transport in the Second World War and was sunk off Algeria in 1942. The word is Māori for dawn.

Most of the fruit comes from Te Mata's Havelock Hills vineyards on the slopes of Te Mata Peak, including the Buck, 1892 and Coleraine vineyards. They sit about three kilometres from the Pacific, so cool breezes and a big swing between day and night temperatures keep the fruit fresh.

The grapes are hand harvested, destemmed and fermented warm, followed by an extended maceration. The wine spends more than a year in French oak barriques, a quarter to a third of them new, and the blend goes back to barrel for a second winter.

Expect blackcurrant, blackberry, dark plum and violet, with tobacco, cedar and graphite, and silky tannins. It can be opened from about two years after harvest and is at its best between five and ten. Grilled lamb, steak and roast vegetables suit it, and so does a hard cheese.