Te Mata Estate Coleraine 2021

This cuvée comes from Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. It blends distinct parcels from Te Mata's oldest vineyards, in the Havelock Hills. The sunny, dry climate, sheltered by the inland hills, is perfectly suited to the Bordeaux grape varieties and their slow ripening.

The grapes were picked by hand in March 2021, each parcel being destemmed and then fermented warm with punching down, before extended maceration on the skins. The wines are aged for 17 months in mostly new French oak barrels, slightly longer than in 2020 to refine the tannins, then blended.

This wine reveals notes of blackcurrant, black plum, blueberry, violet, cedar, tobacco leaf, black tea and dried herbs. Black fruit dominates a deep bouquet, lifted by floral and woody notes. The palate is broad and tight, highly concentrated, carried by fine, powdery tannins and a precise acidity that extend the finish.

Introduced in 1819, winegrowing was greatly developed by Jean-Baptiste Pompallier, a French Marist missionary. Sent to Oceania in 1837, he settled there from January 1838 to develop New Zealand's vineyards. The first quality vineyards were established in the Hawke's Bay region in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After production setbacks caused first by phylloxera and then by the First World War, the vineyards began to expand again during the Second World War, when their area doubled. Today New Zealand has 10 major wine regions spread across the North and South Islands, the largest of which is Marlborough. Most of New Zealand's wine regions have a maritime climate. The country's long, narrow shape means that vineyards are never more than 120 km from the coast, and most are much closer than that (with the exception of the semi-continental Central Otago region). A backbone of mountains running down the centre of the country shields most of the main wine regions from the strong westerly winds of the Tasman Sea known as the "Roaring Forties". Because of these winds, there are few wine regions on New Zealand's west coast. The quality and reputation of New Zealand wines are well established. Indeed, the country produces some of the best and most acclaimed Sauvignon Blanc in the world. And it is no coincidence that New Zealand has made Sauvignon Blanc its symbol, just like its sheep, its kiwis and its legendary haka!