2023 Te Mata Awatea Merlot Cabernet, Hawkes Bay

The 2023 Awatea Cabernets Merlot comprises 52% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. Aromatically, this wine is thrilling: dusty cassis, bramble, raspberry pip, blood/iodine, sweet tobacco, raw cocoa, violet perfume, tarragon and fennel and a hint of hazelnut/nutmeg. In the mouth, the wine is savory, structural, spicy and chewy, with a ductile splay of tannin that moves across the palate and through the finish. The palate speaks of structure and shape, while the fruit is mostly on the nose at this early stage. This will evolve beautifully in bottle over time, and as the bottle I am tasting here today was bottled four weeks ago, no doubt your bottle will look more polished and sleek. As it is, I love it, but I am sure I will like it more in time. It is a magnificent wine and a tremendous value. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under 44-millimeter Diam 10 cork (usually it's a 44-millimeter natural cork). Next year it will be a 49-millimeter Diam 10 cork. The Awatea fruit is technically grown as if it will be Coleraine, only once it's picked is the assessment made. The fruit was handpicked, and the wine matured in French oak (30% new) for 15 months. Drink to 2043.

96 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, January 2025

A juicy and delicious red with plums, dark cherries and blackcurrants as well as fresh flowers. Medium-bodied, it has a lovely, creamy texture and a savory finish. Hints of dried oranges and blossoms. Soft and crunchy finish. 52% merlot, 33% cabernet sauvignon and 15% cabernet franc. Drink or hold.

94 points James Suckling, February 2025

Bright medium-deep ruby with a purple edge; the aromas are of tobacco, olive and plum—strongly driven by the merlot—while the palate is medium-full bodied and impressively smooth, supple, easy; the tannins caressing the tongue and making for a yielding palate which is easy to enjoy now as a youngster. Is this a change of direction for Awatea? It is a bigger style contrast with the Coleraine this year. (Merlot, cabernet sauvignon & cabernet franc). Drink to 2035.

92 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, September 2025

Defined aromas of tobacco and bay leaf are set against a backdrop of dusty blackcurrant and cloves. Elegant and restrained, with a perfumed, herbal and floral core which turns crunchy around the frame of very fine tannins and vibrant acidity. Tight and focused with lovely definition and a touch of youthful austerity in a lighter, more bony style. A wine of grace and detail rather than size or power but this will age in the mid-term by virtue of its excellent balance. Drink to 2031.

92 points Stephen Wong for The Real Review, July 2025

Te Mata takes it name from the hill of Te Mata O Rongokako, the silhouette of Rongokako, the Sleeping Giant. In the pūrākau of the Ngāti Kahungunu, the local chief proved his love for beautiful Hinerakau by attempting to eat a pathway through the hills to the sea. He died beside his final bite, and the profile of his body is the high peaks of Te Mata O Rongokako.

Te Mata is among the first wineries to greet the rising sun. The vineyards were once part of the Te Mata Station, a large pastoral landholding established by English immigrant John Chambers in 1854.

Johns third son Bernard planted three parcels of north-facing hillside land above the homestead with Chardonnay, Cabernet and Pinot Noir in 1892, and began converting the original stables to ferment and mature these first Te Mata wines, and the estate wines have been made at that location ever since.

The Chambers family sold the property in 1919, and the property had two other owners until it was acquired by the Buck and Morris families in 1974, the two families behind the modern interpretation of this historic estate.

The estate is committed to improving its performance in terms of environmental, social and economic sustainability through the Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) programme.