Te Mata Coleraine Cabernet Merlot 2024

Te Mata Coleraine Cabernet Merlot 2024

Each parcel was destemmed before a traditional warm-plunged fermentation
and extended maceration on skins. The resulting wines were then run to predominately
new French oak barrels for 19 months’ maturation, with 70% being new oak.
Throughout this time, they were regularly topped and racked. The assemblage was
made in November 2024 and the finished wine was bottled in December 2025.
The final blend is 58% cabernet sauvignon, 31% merlot and 11% cabernet franc.

"This is 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc. 55% new oak. This vintage puts me in mind of the mighty 2020; that sort of depth and concentration, though it has some of the acid cut of 2021 in the mix too. Winemaker Phil Brodie says 2024 was a dry vintage, and warm too, with small bunches and lower crop levels. Said it could have gone too ripe, but they walked through the vineyards on a daily basis, tasting and testing, and they picked it when they thought it was just right. When I think about NZ wine, at the top of the tree, I have Kumeu for Chardonnay, Bilancia for Shiraz (and sometimes Chardonnay!), and Te Mata for Cabernet. A trio of meticulous producers who regularly deliver that little bit extra. The one percenters, if you like.

Deep dark wine, black and red fruit, chocolate and ironstone, some creamy and spicy cedar oak, dried flowers, a light minty perfume, slight roasted red capsicum and pimento. It’s medium to full-bodied, crisp ‘mineral’ acidity, lavish graphite tannin, tobacco and nori, a fresh blackberry nip to it, brooding and ferrous, with a firm and savoury finish of superb length. An exceptional wine. It will keep, probably, for as long as you want to keep it, if you can keep your hands off it, that is." 97+ Points - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

This is a masterpiece, much like a great work of art. The bouquet shows cassis, dark plum,
bouquet garni, baking spice, rich floral, and cedar characters. It’s concentrated with exceptional depth and mouth-coating texture, wonderfully framed by finely polished tannins. It’s perfectly proportioned and gracefully powerful, combining scintillating fruit purity with seductive complexity. The wine flows seamlessly to a persistent, structured finish. 100 Points - Sam Kim, Wine Orbit