Te Mata
Awatea Cabernet Merlot, Hawke’s Bay
First made in 1982, Awatea continues to represent the best of the classic Hawke’s Bay Cabernet/Merlot blend. 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. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Exclusively from Te Mata estate vineyards in Havelock Hills and Gimblett Gravels.
Awatea is sourced exclusively from Te Mata estate vineyards in Havelock Hills and Gimblett Gravels.
The Havelock Hills are the heart of Te Mata Estate’s wine production and home to the winery. Te Mata Estate has five sites on these free draining, north-facing slopes, including the 1892 vineyard – one of New Zealand’s oldest vineyards, originally called the Hill Block. Soils to the east of the property are predominantly sandy loam over a sandstone base. Towards the west are sandy loam over clay and silica. The distinctive terrain lies at the intersections of two tectonic plates, which has paved the landscape of steep and gentle sloping terraces, ideal for grape-growing.
The Havelock Hills Vineyards are renowned for producing wines with great balance, power and elegance. In 1996 the Havelock Hills area was recognized for the significance of its natural and viticultural heritage when it was designated the Te Mata Special Character Zone. This legally protected the hills from development and created the first wine appellation in New Zealand.
The Te Mata team was one of the first to recognize the potential of the Gimblett Gravels sub-region for grape growing, an area where stony soils from the old Ngaruroro River were exposed after a flood in the 1860s. Today, the Gimblett Gravels has gained an international reputation for the complexity, depth and detail of its red wines.
- Region
- Hawke's Bay
- Appellation
- Hawke's Bay
- Varietal Composition
- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
- Aging
- 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 are then blended in and then returned to barrel for their second winter. The finished wine is then egg white fined and bottled.
- Alcohol
- 13.5%
A deep brilliant crimson with an underlying amethyst hue, 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.
Wine Advocate
96 Points
2021
"The 2021 Awatea Cabernets Merlot is dusty and chalky aromatically, with lavender and crushed rocks, pouch tobacco and a sheet or two of nori. The wine feels fleshy despite that, and this brings a pleasurable see-saw of savory and succulent. This is an excellent wine and perfumed to the extreme."
— Erin Larkin, 2024
