Te Mata winery is a brilliant family owned winery established in 1896, and regularly producing internationally recognised wines exclusively from its Hawke's Bay vineyards. To show how good they actually are, they have been ranked 'Top Winery in New Zealand' which is well evidenced by the consistent quality of their top tier Coleraine, Awatea Cabernet Merlot, Bull Nose Syrah and Elston Chardonnay.
First made in 1982, Awatea continues to represent the best of the classic Hawkes Bay Cabernet/Merlot blend, taking 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, and which unfortunately sunk off Algeria in 1942.

Tasting Note:
The 2019 is a wicked wine with a lovely dark crimson colour and attractive aromatics of dark blackberry, raspberry, graphite, warm spices and cedar giving an almost Bordeaux like character. The palate shows elegance, focus and finesse abundant fine tannins and superb balance with notes of blackcurrants, plum, raspberry, chocolate, dried herbs and lingering dark cherries. This is classical Te Mata in it's structure, with fine balance and juicy long finish. An excellent Awatea, with enough structure and complexity to age and develop for a long while yet.