2020 Te Mata Estate 'Coleraine' Red Blend Hawkes Bay New Zealand

Winemaker Notes:  The color of the 2020 Coleraine wine is deep crimson with royal purple edges. It has exceptional character. Its aroma is pure Hawke’s Bay cabernet, with scents of wild blackberry, blackcurrant, thyme, cedar, and fresh roses, which are signature to Coleraine. The wine’s rich and vibrant palate is perfectly balanced, with a modern and varietally expressive taste, including cassis, raspberry, mocha, spice, and a distinctive minerality. The fruit ripeness is so succulent that it cloaks the profound, chiseled tannins that carry the palate on endlessly. With perfume, power, finesse, and length, this wine is a unique creation.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM


Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "The 2020 Coleraine is seriously structured, dark and spicy, with great concentration and gravitas. The tannins are so integrated and woven that they feel almost imperceptible. This is spicy and resinous and charry, but its fine and graphite and mineral too. Chalky tannins plume through the supple fruit. Very cool. It's exciting, plush, open weave and sensational."


James Suckling - "A beautiful nose of graphite, blackcurrant, crushed stone, blackberry, bark and sage. Medium- to full-bodied with velvety, structured tannins. Linear onto a wide open palate with so much clarity and length. Mineral complexity sits underneath the wonderfully ripened black fruit giving definition and dynamics. Steady acidity. Fresh herbs and black tea. Pine, too. So attractive now but needs time. 57% cabernet sauvignon, 36 merlot and 7% cabernet franc. Sustainable. Best after 2026."


Vinous - "The 2020 Coleraine is a wine that's going to give and give over the long term with its elegant shape and huge substance. Winemaker Phil Brodie explained that this was a year where Merlot acted like Cabernet Sauvignon, offering depth and richness of tannins, and he wasn’t kidding: the power within the wine and the mass of gravelly tannins coat all sides of the palate. There's intense yet slightly sweet black currant and blackberry fruit combined with cocoa and licorice. The lengthy finish is fragrantly spiced with flavors reminiscent of cinnamon, cocoa and black tea. While silken in the mouth, this conveys an overall impression of muscle and depth. Rather closed due to its youth, but it appears more impressive than the 2019 for its structure and smidgen of extra ripeness (14% in 2020 versus 13.5% in 2019). Those who prefer their classical clarets for freshness and line (e.g., 2010 over 2009 Bordeaux) may prefer the 2019 over the 2020, but the class of the 2020 can't be denied."