TE MATA COLERAINE 2023

98/100 "It is magnificent. I love this wine." – Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate
98/100 "A wine of meticulous precision and undeniable sophistication." – Sam Kim, Wine Orbit
95+/100 "I’m spending a lot of time thinking about this wine, about where it will go, and where it sits in the pantheon of Te Mata Coleraine, and the upshot it is ‘up’." – Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

Te Mata is as focused on quality as it is on innovation. When winery owner John made the first vintage of Coleraine in 1982, he opened the eyes of his peers to the potential for making top wine from a blend of Bordeaux varieties in Hawkes Bay. Good wines are now common place, but Coleraine still leads the pack with a style that grows more refined every year.

Considered New Zealand's most famous wine, Hawkes Bay's iconic Te Mata Estate Coleraine is also likely the most collected/collectable wine produced here. This classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot red has been made since 1982 and regularly attracts near-perfect ratings.

A good adage to describe the 2023 Coleraine release is, 'don't judge a book by its cover'. Whilst it is well known that the Hawkes Bay region faced difficulties in 2023 with Cyclone Gabrielle causing widespread devastation from rain, this didn't affect Te Mata as much and was well before they picked.

In fact, it was a good 6-8 weeks of lovely sunshine after the rain which turned the late ripening cabernet sauvignon into glorious looking bunches (this year's release is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon – a higher proportion than normal for Coleraine). Throw in naturally lower yields and you've got some beautifully concentrated fruit that delivers all we've come to expect from this iconic wine.

If you need any more convincing, the 2023 has been judged an impressive 98 points and described as 'magnificent' from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, the highest ever rating they have awarded to Coleraine!

Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"A regal brilliant magenta hue, with blackcurrant and brooding complexity on an immensely concentrated palate. Raspberry, white flowers, soy, and espresso, arise on driftwood smoke, creating a fresh, elevated, coastal sensation, in an intense, tannin-rich, sculptured wine that’s captivating and irresistibly endless. This is Coleraine essence – a majestic statement of a place, a time, and a lineage.

Each parcel of grapes 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 17 months’ maturation. Throughout this time, they were regularly topped and racked. The assemblage was made in October 2023 and the finished wine was bottled in December 2024. The final blend is 80% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot and 5% cabernet franc."

98/100 Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, January 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"This cuvée is a selection of the best from each vintage. In 2023, the strongest performer was the Cabernet Sauvignon. The elevation in all aspects of this wine from the already tremendously impressive Awatea is significant. Here, the tannins have a finer grain, the fruit is more persistent and the package is far more integrated and seamless. With raspberry, iodine, crushed shells, nori, pressed flowers, new lead pencil, tobacco, bramble and cassis, it is magnificent. Raw cocoa and the gentle and subtle creep of game/gristle/blood and sweet marrow indicate its direction later in life. I love this wine. I think I write that every time I taste it."

5 Stars & 98/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, January 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"Stunning bouquet… engaging and captivating. The palate exhibits immense concentration and presence, superbly enhanced by silky texture and layers of chalky tannins. The acidity is perfectly pitched and provides freshness to this long-living wine. A wine of meticulous precision and undeniable sophistication."

95+/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, December 2024 (2023 Vintage)
"I’ve tasted every vintage of Coleraine ever made. The acid line in this wine puts me in mind of the 2021. Blackcurrant, essence of Cabernet thing here, dried herbs (thyme) and nori, tobacco, pencil, liquorice/aniseed. Medium-bodied, bright acid line, ripe tomato, black and red fruit, lots of pulverized rock stuff to tannin, with a very long finish. Wonderful perfume, crisp with kind of a porcini mushroom umami-laced character about it, more of a cool and bony feel, but a great wine all the same. I’m spending a lot of time thinking about this wine, about where it will go, and where it sits in the pantheon of Te Mata Coleraine, and the upshot it is ‘up’. It’s either 95+ or 96 points."