TE MATA | Awatea | Cabernets/Merlot | 2018
cabernet sauvignon | merlot | cabernet franc

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Today we are are going to review a wine blend from the famous Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand – Awatea Cabernets / Merlot 2018 by Te Mata Estate. Hawke’s Bay is a very special place for wine making, as its range of slopes, plains and climatic differences, coupled with low humidity and ample ultra-violet light, create almost perfect conditions for vine growing. Soils are young and derived from the gravels, silt and sands left behind as the three main rivers of Hawke’s Bay changed course over thousands of years. Awatea takes its name from the historic ship SS Awatea (a maori word, which translates as ‘the eye of the dawn‘) that sailed the Auckland-Sydney-Wellington route in the late 1930’s. The ship was requisitioned as a troop transport in World War II and was sunk off in Algeria in 1942. This particular wine is a blend of three main Bordeaux grape varieties: cabernet sauvignon (56%), merlot (34%) and cabernet franc (10%), where cabernet sauvignon forms the wine’s main body and structure, merlot is all about up-front richness and a more refined mid-palate, whereas cabernet franc offers a leaner and a more dynamic finish and some subtle, terroir-driven rustic hints. Each grape variety has been vinified separately before ageing, where in order to add extra complexity and balance, the final blend has been aged for 15 months in new (35%) and used french oak barriques. First made in 1982, the Awatea wine continues to represent the very best of what those classic, Bordeaux grape varieties can achieve in this part of the world. But enough with all that theory, that said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: medium-deep ruby color
clarity: hazy garnet shades on the rim

//Olfactory
intensity: rich & vibrant
fruit profile: black fruits
__black fruits: blackcurrant | black plum | dark cherry | blackberry | aronia berry
fruit character: ripe

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | earth | other
__spice: cloves | anise | peppercorn
__oak: toasted oakwood | tobacco | cigar box | black tea | sun-dried oak | hints of vanilla
__earth: black soil | charcoal | pencil lead | granite | quartz | dust
__other: bay leaf | dried leaves | dried figs | brown olive | old leather | sweet potato
primary layer: fruit & oak

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: medium+
alcohol: medium+
tannin: medium+
__grip: seedy
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: rough | medium

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits
fruit character: underripe
non fruit: spice & oak
finish: medium
aftertaste: crisp & green

//Scoring
TE MATA | Awatea | Cabernets/Merlot | 2018
variety: cabernet sauvignon | merlot | cabernet franc
country: New Zealand
region: Hawke’s Bay
rating: 92.5

//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 2 or 3 more years
verdict: fine | highly recommended
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This is definitely a fine wine of New Zealand and, with a total of 92.5 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a quite seedy, crisp and slightly rough wine blend, with a rich and vibrant accent on the nose and a nuanced, cool-climate, green and a bit austere mouthfeel. The wine is still in its development phase, therefore it definitely requires at least 2 or 3 more years of bottle ageing to round up and smoothen its sharp edges, as in its current state if feels unpolished and angular, lacking both, harmony and finesse on the palate. On the nose the wine brings vibrant notes of ripe black fruits in the foreground, followed by a nuanced, spicy-oaky background and a very subtle, earthy layer in between the two. On the palate the wine delivers crisp acidity, seedy tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth that is showing through on the mouthfeel, which leads to a crisp and slightly green aftertaste. We believe that this wine will pair nicely with seared meat cuts, like for example a pan fried T-bone steak or a classic seared rib eye steak. Cheers!

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