Every great wine producing country has a small handful of truly world class ‘icon wines’ and it is very easy to argue that New Zealand’s benchmark red is Te Mata’s Coleraine. This top tier Bordeaux blend sits comfortably alongside the finest examples of Bordeaux itself, combining depth, structure and longevity with a distinctly New Zealand sense of freshness and precision. It is a pleasure to release the outstanding 2024 vintage to Society members, alongside Awatea, affectionately known as ‘Baby Coleraine’. Outside New Zealand, this represents the first global opportunity to access these wines, and they are unmissable for lovers of fine Bordeaux and serious New Zealand reds alike.
Order by midday on Wednesday 25th February
2024 was a warm, dry and low yielding vintage at Te Mata Estate, shaped by small bunches, tiny berries and meticulous vineyard management. Careful monitoring through the season ensured fruit was picked with superb balance, retaining freshness and acidity despite the heat. The result is a vintage defined by concentration, purity and poise, producing deeply coloured, structured reds with remarkable tension and length. Cabernet sauvignon performed especially well, making 2024 a textbook year for both Coleraine and Awatea.
Both wines show the depth and intensity expected of cabernet led blends in this vintage, but with a clarity and composure that marks 2024 out as something special. Coleraine is powerful yet restrained, with serious structure, savoury detail and a long, authoritative finish. Awatea is one of the most structured and serious releases to date, offering density, freshness and unmistakable class.
These wines are built to cellar, particularly Coleraine, but they are far from forbidding in youth. Decanting will be rewarded, revealing freshness, aromatic lift and beautifully shaped tannins. With time, expect increasing savoury complexity, greater harmony and the graceful evolution that defines the very best examples of fine cabernet from Bordeaux and beyond.
