The Auswine Forum

I felt priviliged and honoured having had the chance to taste a range of TE MATA wines with winemaker Peter Cowley in Sydney. TE MATA is New Zealand's oldest vineyard (replanted, reworked 25-30 years ago), recognised as a 'distinguished site' since 1996. The flagship red 'Coleraine' is said to be NZ's greatest Bordeaux style wine, however others's are catching up fast.
In case you wonder, 'Te Mata' is the name of the gentle giant who died for love.

2003 TE MATA Estate Woodthorpe Sauvignon Blanc

Colour bright clear. Fragrant nose of lychee, herbs and melon. Rich palate that is packed with passionfruit and smooth zesty melon. Excellent drinking right now. Very tasty, full and satisfying. Well worth AU $23.

2003 TE MATA Estate Woodthorpe Chardonnay

A prety nice, lightweight wine with quite strong vanilla finish from the American oak component. Peter Cowley wanted to experiment with the American influence but he is now back to French oak. AU $24.

2003 TE MATA Estate Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc

Brand new release. An 100% barrel fermented (30% new French oak) wine that is very delicious and outstanding. Colour bright pale with hay edges. Beautifully complex and fragrant nose of melon, pear and just a whiff of toasted bread from the oak. Silky and full palate of delicious passionfruit, pear and melon. Nicely balanced with a long finish (for a Sauvignon Blanc) with lovely acid. I found it absolutely beautiful. Well worth AU $35.

2002 TE MATA Estate Woodthorpe Cabernet Merlot

Just as expected, a medium weight, lovely red that is St.Estéphe in style. More serious than what I initially thought it will be. It's definitely attractive at the price with good complexity. Lovely cherry flavours mixing with plum with a hint of blood orange. Nicely balanced with a good tannin grip that will carry this wine for an other 5 years. Cost AU $24.

2002 TE MATA Estate Woodthorpe Syrah Viognier

The first ever Syrah Viognier release from New Zealand. The grapes are from young vines (only 5 years old) which explains the lack of concentration in the middle palate. Colour vibrant cherry red. The most AMAZING, fragrant nose that is 100% northern Rhone. Beautiful, beautiful promise! There are plum nectar, jasmine, raspberry and tea spices. Once in the mouth, however the taste reveals a medium weight fruity wine that is made for current drinking, lacking a little focus but no doubt it will become better with 1 or 2 years in the cellar. Buy it at AU $35 if only for it's aromatic perfume that is enchanting. This new style from Te Mata is a huge, huge promise for the future.

2002 TE MATA Estate Awatea Cabernet Merlot

Awatea (in case you wonder, it's a ship) is a step up in quality from the Woodthorpe range. In fact it is tasting VERY similar to the Woodthorpe but with more concentration and better length. More St.Estéphe style spicy red berries and earthiness on the nose as well. Anise and cedar rules the middle palate with blood plum. Awatea needs a little time to show more, about 8 years will do in the cellar. Very good integration and smooth fruit makes this wine attractive. Those want to buy this, must fork out AU $50 for a bottle.

2002 TE MATA Estate Coleraine Cabernet Merlot

The flagship red. 'Cabernet Merlot' in this instance means the two Cabernet's, Franc and Sauvignon and the Merlot as the components are: 26% Cabernet Franc,25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 49% Merlot. Coleraine usually is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon but vintage conditions in the vineyard meant that they had to change the blend in 2002. The 2003 vintage blend is back to 'normal'. This wine spent 19 months in French oak, 75% of the barrels were new.
Colour very dark cherry red. Plummy, dusty oak on the nose, dried herbs, currants and red berries. Definitely Pomerol in style, the palate is concentrated with an excellent oak grip. It needs 10 years to show it's greatness, it's quite closed and backward now but will SHINE in time. Very succesful and lovely blend, it's high class with lovely plummy softness from the Cabernet Franc and red berry richness from the Merlot. The Cabernet Sauvignon component sits quitely in the bacground, fans of the previous St.Estéphe style vintages must readjust their mind to accept this outstanding Pomerol style blend. Very nice but there is nothing to drink here right now, it MUST be cellared. I found the AU $85 asking price a little steep but it doesn't matter what I think, it will all be gone soon, anyway.
I asked Peter Cowley about the (for me) disappointing performance of the 2001 Coleraine but he assured me that the wine will come around and will be very good and attractive in time.

Tasted:March 2004

Good notes Attila - I have fond memories of drinking the 1982, 1983 (if memory serves me) and 1985 Coleraines in the mid-90s and they do develop quite well.

PS - Let's hope your 100th post is a special one!

nice to see an aussie saying nice things about kiwi wine

i for one are a little bemuddled by the 02 Coleraine and Awatea. I think they have missed the boat especially with the many who have a long association with coleraine and its style.

come round it may, but i dont think the 02s will ever be as great as the 91, 95, 98 ,00

ive tried most vintages of both wines and to be honest the long term prospects of the 02s concern me especially in the context of other vintages, and in context of the 02 vintage generally.

02 coleraine is a fantastic wine if you can divorce yourself from stylistic expectations, which with an icon is difficult.

If Grange was to become a cab shiraz, would it be a Grange??

Yes Craig, it would be. In 1953 there was a Grange Cabernet Sauvignon released alongside the 1953 Grange Hermitage as well. I've no doubt in my mind that Penfold's would change the blend if it had to, to remain true to the quality of the Grange icon just like Te Mata had to change to keep the greatness of the Coleraine blend.

Great Bordeaux blends change too from time to time, even Chateau Calon Segur went through transformations but remained a Calon all the way.

With the 2002 Coleraine, I think people should enjoy the difference and make it a prized wine that is unique among the other vintages.

You Craig, of all people must have it as you are indeed a Coleraine fan and connoisseur.

Cheers,
Attila

Lovely notes Attila. But one wine is missing. Where is the Michael Morris - Peter Cowley special, the Bullnose Syrah? To me this was one of the highlights of the release tasting held here about a week before your tasting.
Just to whet your appetite .....

Te Mata Bullnose Syrah 2002Red black, almost opaque. Bright fruit, gentle oak spice and fruit spice on the nose, fragrant, almost floral, a little peppery, some savoury herbs, it smells clean, varietal. Concentrated red berry fruits in the palate, fragrant spices, new leather and a peppery brightness to the creamy finish with perhaps just a hint of 'Black Forest' chocolate. The ripe fruit tannins are not at all intrusive, they are soft and supple and give the wine great length. There's a meaty nuance in there too. Coming back to this wine after the Awatea and Coleraine the aroma smells of sweeter creamy oak and fruit in comparison and it has more acidity. Absolutely delicious, IÂ’d love a big glass of this. Matured for 16 months in new and seasoned French oak. Bottled October 2003. 14.5% alc. RRP $36 (in NZ). Tasted 24Feb 2004.

FWIW, I thought the Coleraine very smart indeed.
Cheers,
Sue

SueNZ wrote:Just to whet your appetite .....

Te Mata Bullnose Syrah 2002

Sue, thanks for the note, based on your note and Huon Hookes the other week in the SMH I've ordered a 6-pack of this, it will be the first NZ red I've bought enough of to bother entering in the database, local prices for good NZ reds seem to getting a little sharper in recent times, although the Coleraine is still $70++ over here.

Attila, I tried the Woodthorpe Cab-Merlot recently too. I'm not very familiar with the St.Estéphe style, but thought it was a good wine for the price too, although the touch of leafiness wasn't liked by some of the tasting group, the fine tannin structure is excellent for a wine in this price range.

Attila

I did enjoy the coleraine and did buy (but not as much as a big cellering vintage). It is a different beast and as you say different aint always a bad thing.

Cheval Blanc from 00 was merlot predominant instead of the usual franc. It happens. Because of this I only bought a dozen of the Cheval from 00

However

I really feel that the reason coleraine is merlot dominant is deeper than 'oh it was the best blend this year' which was the Nicholas Buck line. The cellar door staff swore to me it was cab sauv dominant until i convinced them to ask or check the website/ tech specs

I think something happened to the cabernet which gave them less coleraine standard cabernet to use.

Instead of making less coleraine (as was the case say in 94), the blend was altered.

I have nothing to back this theory up except a hunch, and I may be pissing in the wind - maybe i will get it out of Peter one day - we have some pretty frank discussions which I know he enjoys because he knows I buy truckloads of coleraine and im a genuine fan.

im probably making a huge issue out of nothing here but it is an interesting topic for the die hard coleraine buyer

PS I was lying about the cheval - tasted it but cant afford that sort of stuff hehe