Te Mata Coleraine

Coleraine is New Zealand's most famous red wine. First produced in 1982, this classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc displays the concentration, complexity and elegance found in the world's finest wines.

Coleraine named #1 in the Best New Zealand Wines of 2024

New Zealand's Only Decanter 'Wine Legend' - 1998 vintage

Winemaker notes

2022: Coleraine ’22 harnesses the energy and complexity of Te Mata cabernet sauvignon, on show at its highest level since the first Coleraine in 1982.

The beautiful floral aromas of lavender, violet, plum and blackcurrant, are all in orbit around the wine’s dark savoury core of tightly wound graphite, nori, coffee grounds, vanilla and tobacco.  The palate is intensely concentrated, with a superbright tension building freshness and precision as layer upon layer of fine polished tannins give
pinpoint detail alongside signature, exacting, levels of finesse.

Coleraine ‘22 is a modern reprise of what make’s Coleraine iconic, a wine balancing past and future, heritage and innovation. This is a statement wine, one that lingers both on the palate and in the mind.

2022

Wine Advocate 97+: The 2022 Coleraine is laden at this stage with the outrageous attractiveness of youth. I mean, it's irresistible. There's raspberry, nori, rose petals, coffee grounds, star anise, salted licorice, sun-dried kelp/nori, warm pine (I know this smell because I was hiking around the Te Mata peak yesterday, and there was a fallen pine tree lying in the sun, and it smelled great) and layers of peppercorns. In the mouth, the wine is so fresh, so alive, with so much energy, but it already is showing the svelte line of this house, this place. With a hint of raw cocoa laced through the finish, I'm sad to push this glass away. It will be the last time that I taste it for a while. A ripper. Excellent. This is composed of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc.

James Suckling 96: A very elegant young Coleraine with lovely aromas of oyster shell, lead pencil, sweet tobacco, black currant and moss. Very perfumed and expressive. Medium-bodied with fine tannins that are polished and energetic with some citrusy acidity underneath. Some dust to the texture. This is the second highest blend of cabernet sauvignon in the history of Coleraine with 84% cabernet sauvignon, 13% merlot and the rest cabernet franc.

Vinous 94: It wasn't an easy season for Hawke's Bay growers, but the 2022 Coleraine seems to have negotiated the trials and tribulations of this hot season with untimely rains. For classicists, this cuvée remains the closest you'll get to Bordeaux. It is richly aromatic, excluding pure blackcurrant and Cabernet's varietal tobacco and leafy notes, but there's never an overt sweetness, resisting any new world caricature. There's abundant tannin here, providing structure and assuring its longevity, but they are tender in nature, and that's probably a reflection of the team pulling back on their extraction regime since 2020. It's dark, it's intense, it's pure blackcurrant Cabernet, it has just the right amount of dark chocolate bitterness. The oak is a supporting act that provides cedar and Christmas spices but never gets in the way, even at this early stage. In all, this is surprisingly well-balanced. Based on vintage reports, I didn't have high hopes after the superlative 2021 vintage, but the high proportion of the late-ripening, thick-skinned Cabernet at the dry end of the season has ensured it maintains its high standards.

2023

Wine Advocate 98: The 2023 Coleraine comprises 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. This cuvée is not made to a recipe, rather as a selection of the best from each vintage. In 2023, due to the weather induced by Cyclone Gabrielle, which landed in early February (the second or third), the strongest performer was the Cabernet Sauvignon due to bunch architecture, small berries, thick skins and, in this case, the low-vigor rootstocks and the chicory in between the rows. Te Mata invests heavily into research and development in the vineyards, which really assists in a vintage like 2023, which imposes challenges. 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. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.

James Suckling 97: This really changes in the glass with blackcurrants, kelp, umami, graphite, fresh mushrooms and roses. Iodine and lemon rind as well. Extremely expressive. It’s medium-bodied with lovely finesse and fine, caressing tannins that are very long in the finish. Firm yet open-grained tannins. Needs time to come together but already a beauty. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot and 5% cabernet franc. Best after 2028.

Vinous 94: The 2023 Coleraine is a young yet age-worthy Cabernet-dominant blend that shows layer of flavor, concentration, integration and length in the face of the wrath of nature. Despite a cyclone that swept through the region in the second week of February, these late-picked varieties have demonstrated incredible resilience. It is a massive surprise to see how good the 2023 is. Expect plenty of nuance here: initially the nose offers up pure cassis fruit and tapenade, smoky tobacco and bay leaf, while flavors of integrated cedar oak and the merest hint of violet follows on the long, elegant finish. Richness of substance and fine gravelly tannins currently require a decent hunk of meat, but you'd be better off laying this down for at least five years.

Wine Enthusiast 97: 2023 will forever be remembered in the North Island as the year of Cyclone Gabrielle. Fortunately, Te Mata's vineyards escaped relatively unscathed. In fact, Coleraine, the historic estate's top wine, is singing. Unmistakably Cab aromas of blackcurrant, dried mint, pencil lead and rhubarb are out in full force from first sniff. The palate shows precision and balance with a beautiful rush of tangy, current-y acidity tempered by fine, dusty tannins. It's perfumed and svelte with charm and appeal now, but a promise of even greater things to come.