WINERY Established in 1896, Te Mata Estate remains family owned, producing internationally recognized wines exclusively from its Hawke’s Bay vineyards, located on New Zealand’s North Island. Te Mata Estate is home to New Zealand’s oldest vineyards and wine cellars with over 125 years of continuous wine production.

WINE 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 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.

The grapes for the 2021 Awatea were hand harvested from Te Mata Estate’s vineyards between March 9 and 29, 2021.

The earliest harvest on record at Te Mata was warm and dry, produced low crops with tiny berries, creating exceptional wines with fragrance, tension, purity, power, and persistence… these are so appealing, the tricky part will be having the patience to enjoy them at their peak!

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 were blended in December 2021, then returned to barrel for their second winter. The finished wine was then egg white fined and bottled in November 2022.

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.