Gifts for holidays, birthdays, weddings, graduations, retirements, special occasions and long weekends.
2023 will be a lesson in “never count your chickens before they’re hatched.” It was a season that took Te Mata to new frontiers, and one we can’t wait to share with you.
An extreme year setting new records on multiple fronts, 2023 was the:
and, had a historic cyclone (Gabrielle) in mid-February thrown into the mix.
The extraordinary conditions produced some extreme results in the wines:
The best performers were Cabernet Sauvignon, and its associated blending partners of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, (which all had stellar results, and will produce amongst the greatest wines ever at Te Mata Estate) within the red wines, and Sauvignon Blanc amongst the whites. Syrah was also very strong. It is important to note that all of these are late varieties which were unripe and unaffected when mid-February’s cyclone hit Hawke’s Bay. In fact, the last of these were harvested in mid-April, a full two months later.
Unsurprisingly, the most difficult wines were from the earliest ripening varieties; Pinot Noir (Te Mata Estate did not harvest a single Pinot Noir grape in 2023), with Gamay Noir and Chardonnay also impacted (yields of these down more than 50% to achieve quality).
Spring was early, following another very mild winter, with another early budburst repeating the early starts of the recent five years (if this trend continues, we may have to re-evaluate what we consider as early). The early start can mean increased frost fighting, but this year saw only a few frosty nights and no damage from any of these. At this point, the long-term weather forecasts were indicating a warm and wet “El Nino” season, and these conditions really began to manifest in the late spring and early summer, prompting significant canopy growth. Flowering was strong, with a record number of flower clusters suggesting a high-yielding harvest. We responded by increasing planting of inter-row crops to extract soil moisture, opened up the vine canopies to the maximum extent with extensive shoot removal and full leaf plucking.
The overcast, humid conditions continued, so in late December we took extreme action; severely reducing yield, mechanically shaking all vines, and dramatically increasing spraying. It was an enormous workload, but these vineyard interventions had a tremendous impact on the final fruit quality. Together with the weather conditions, they dramatically constrained berry development leading to very small grapes with thick skins, assisting to withstand disease and splitting. This was vitally important as February brought record rainfall with Gabrielle and two other notable rain events. Thankfully, the main cyclone impact was north of us and, with all our vineyards being on higher, free-draining ground, we sustained little direct damage.
Harvest commenced in the last week of February, beginning in tricky circumstances as the early varieties had varying degrees of condition requiring very strict selection and careful handling. Thankfully the weather had cleared and held dry, fine and steady throughout the entirety of the two-month harvest period. Once the earliest harvests were over, the remaining varieties reaped the full benefit of the sustained fine autumn weather – hanging on and on towards full ripeness in clear, warm autumn sunlight.
The resulting wines are quite remarkable. Cabernet Sauvignon is the undoubted star of the vintage with intense concentration, bright ink-black colours, huge extract, beautiful ripeness (generally 24 brix), and great length. Merlot and Cabernet Franc are likewise brilliant. These will produce amazing blends. The Sauvignon Blancs are amongst the finest ever at Te Mata, and the Syrahs are likewise showing very strong. These wines will astound, and especially so considering the generally poor expectations of a growing season that was written-off before the first grapes were even picked.
2023 will be a lesson in “never count your chickens before they’re hatched.” It was a season that took Te Mata to new frontiers, and one we can’t wait to share with you.
Download the Technical Report from Te Mata Estate here.
THE BEST NEW ZEALAND WINES OF 2024 – #1 COLERAINE IS OFTEN CONSIDERED NEW ZEALAND’S ‘FIRST GROWTH’, COLERAINE IS EASILY THE ESTATE’S MOSTFAMOUS AND INSTANTLY RECOGNISABLE WINE. AT US$92 (NZ$160), AN EXTRAORDINARY PRICE FORONE OF NEW ZEALAND’S – AND THE WORLD’S – GREATEST WINES.COLERAINE IS, INDEED, NEW ZEALAND’S BEST WINE.- DON KAVANAGH, WINE SEARCHER
COLERAINE IS NEW ZEALAND’S MOST ICONIC RED WINE.IT HAS EARNED THAT STATUS SINCE 1982.- BOB CAMPBELL MW
EVERY BIT NEW ZEALAND’S ‘FIRST GROWTH’, WITH A REPUTATION FORUNWAVERING CONSISTENCY. JUST GLORY.- ANDREW GRAHAM, AUSTRALIAN WINE REVIEW
THE LEGENDARY CABERNET SAUVIGNON AND MERLOT BLEND OF NEW ZEALAND.NEW ZEALAND’S SASSICAIA.- JAMES SUCKLING, JAMESSUCKLING.COM
COLERAINE FROM TE MATA IS NEW ZEALAND’S GREATEST CABERNET BLEND … EVERY 1% PAYS OFF,AND THAT IS THE DEFINING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD ESTATE AND A GREAT ONE.- ERIN LARKIN, ROBERT PARKER’S WINE ADVOCATE
‘The recent pandemic reaction closed borders all over the world removing global travel as an outlet option for discretionary income. This has meant people with means have had to look elsewhere for something to spend the money they had budgeted for experiential consumption as opposed to those funds earmarked for developing more purely financial returns.
Of course, they could have just tweaked their budgets to jam yet more cash into their commercial property or crypto currency portfolios but, seeing as they had already mentally put this money aside for other purposes, many didn’t automatically do this. Instead, they allowed themselves to wander into verdant green investment fields – just for fun, as a defiant riposte to having the joys of exploring a Cairo rug market on a Saturday morning snatched away from them.
Two of the categories to benefit most from this investment rambling have been the respective worlds of art and wine:
Art vs Wine
Everyone knows the benefits of art investment can be stupendous; news outlets seem to delight in reporting the latest ‘ridiculous’ sums paid for some doodle created by Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci or, especially of late, Vincent Van Gogh. Yet it hasn’t just been the gallery headliners who have cashed in during the pandemic, anecdotally local artists in places like the Kapiti Coast and Waiheke Island have never had it so good as investors have flocked in pushing both prices and turnover up.
But art investment does have a couple of not-insignificant drawbacks; the somewhat macabre practice of waiting for the artists themselves to die before seeing a major value jump; and the fact that it isn’t very experiential. Aside from that weird craze of bicycle eating a few years ago, consuming your art investment has never really caught on. (Although you can never discount that completely as it appears some people will do absolutely anything to gain followers on TikTok!)
On the other hand, wine investment offers the delicious option of actually drinking your assets in future should you choose to do so. This could be to celebrate a momentous occasion such as a daughter’s wedding or to impress – and hopefully win new/continued business from – important and highly valued clients.
Te Mata Coleraine
Air New Zealand did the latter recently when they busted out two vertical collections – i.e., a bottle of every vintage from 1982 until the present – of Te Mata Estate’s iconic Coleraine wine at an exclusive tasting for international guests in both Australia and New Zealand. The company had bought the wine assemblages at a 2016 auction at Mossgreen Webb’s Auction House for $5,600 – or for around $195 a bottle. At the time this was both the largest single-wine collection and highest overall auction price for any New Zealand wine ever.
A mere year later this record went west however as Webb’s Auction House in Auckland notified Te Mata that their Coleraine ’07 was now fetching $204 per bottle. Soon after, Coleraine ’03 set yet another new record of $216 a bottle.
Of course, part of this regular increase in value is due to the exceptional quality of Te Mata Coleraine and the high esteem in which the wine is regarded internationally. Well-respected wine critics like Huon Hooke of Australia’s The Real Review have described Coleraine as ‘a great wine from the very first vintage’ while Linda Murphy wrote: ‘Te Mata Estate’s Coleraine is a New Zealand national treasure.’ The Coleraine’s reputation as New Zealand’s only repeatedly 100 Point scoring wine has also seen it regularly listed in James Suckling’s ‘Top 50 Wines of the World.’
Yet more records
But the true impact of the last two years or so of pandemic-instigated wine investment can be seen in the massive step up in value from those auction prices only a few years ago to more contemporary times. In early 2021, Webb’s Auction House made ‘another record-breaking sale’ for Te Mata wines this time including aged Awatea, Elston, Cape Crest and Zara Viognier as well as Coleraine. But by the end of last year, Coleraine was at it again with one of the first ever 1982 vintages going for a staggering $948. Considering that the original bottle had been sold on the shelves for only $15 – it seems to have proved a pretty good investment!
Obviously, with returns like that, wine investment is here to stay and it also seems to be fast becoming the new norm as a secondary market fundraiser too. Another complete vertical Coleraine collection was bought for $19,000 in 2018 by Nick Stewart of Stewart Financial Group who then promptly donated it to charity. This collection is about to go to auction now with all proceeds earmarked to go to the Cranford Hospice and, going by the current trajectory, they should expect a very tidy windfall indeed.
The future of discretionary income investment?
So now, even though the borders are reopening across the globe, universal shortages in flights, cabin and ground crew staff have meant that international travel has a long way to go yet to reach the user-friendly levels we all enjoyed pre-Covid. Until these issues are rectified, perhaps it might be prudent to consider using your potential discretionary income on wine investment rather than book air tickets that could get cancelled again and again due to staff shortages here, there and everywhere. And, in the unlikely event that your wine doesn’t perform as well as you hoped, you can always just throw a great big party to drink it all and damn the torpedoes. Talk about an experiential win/win!’
Want to age that bottle, but don’t know how to store it? Or for how long? This month in Kia Ora Magazine, Bob Campbell MW writes about ageing New Zealand reds and tasting an older Coleraine:
‘Anyone who has held on to a special wine for a long time faces the dilemma of when to open it. I was asked about this by a friend who had stored a magnum of Te Mata Estate Coleraine 2000 since he bought it 16 years ago. It is a robust blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc.
My heart sank slightly when he told me he’d stored it in the garage. “It’s quite cool,” he added. Variable storage temperatures cause wines to leak past the cork allowing air to enter the bottle. You can get an idea of how well an old wine has been stored by standing the bottle upright and looking at the gap between the cork and wine level. If the gap is less than 10mm there’s every chance it will be fine. As the level drops so do your chance of tasting good wine.
Corks vary considerably too and, as a result, so does the wine in each bottle. There was a possibility poor storage or a dodgy cork had allowed by friend’s Coleraine to spoil. I suggested the wine be opened and enjoyed as soon as possible. We set a date for dinner.
There was an air of anticipation among the dinner guests. We could be tasting a great wine, but we might be sipping vinegar. The wine level was perfect, raising hopes. A crumbly cork had our host worried, but the cork chips were easily removed with a tea strainer.
The wine was better than I’d dared to expect. Age had given it a silken texture. It was a peacock’s tail of flavours – delicate berry and floral characters with oriental spices, cigar box, old leather and a hint of nutty oak.
Our latest Cellaring Guide is available online, as well as our recommended storage protocols…
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Now retired, Peter was formerly the Technical Director at Te Mata Estate. One of New Zealand‘s leading winemakers and was a key figure in the development of Te Mata Estate’s culture of wine excellence. Peter describes himself as “a lover of old vineyards and the wines they produce, and fairly old Japanese motorcycles”.
Peter developed his interest in wine through restaurant work while a student. He attained a BSc in Chemistry at Auckland University and then a Graduate Diploma in Wine from Roseworthy College, near Adelaide. He was awarded the inaugural Hazelgrove Scholarship, which involved microbiology research projects at the Australian Wine Research Institute. After a vintage at the Rouge Homme Winery in Coonawarra under John Vickery, Peter returned to New Zealand.
Peter commenced work at Te Mata Estate in 1984 as the sole winemaker and over more than 30 years, oversaw the creation of Te Mata’s range of quality wines. His last role as technical director saw him mentoring the longstanding team responsible for all aspects of Te Mata’s wine production, from vine to bottle.
He has enjoyed a distinguished career as a wine judge at the Air New Zealand Wine Awards, The Sydney International Wine Competition, The Australian Cool Climate Wine Show and as co-chairperson at the New Zealand International Wine Show since its inception in 2005. In 2019 he received a special, one-off Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Gourmet Traveller WINE’s New Zealand Winemaker of the Year.
This week, in partnership with the Te Mata Park trust, the Te Mata Estate team and their families volunteered their time to plant over 400 native plants and trees along the Chambers Walk at the Te Mata Park.
As well as being our namesake, our deep connection to Te Mata Peak traces back to the Chambers family, who founded Te Mata Estate in 1896. As a memorial to their father, John Chambers’ sons gifted a 242 acre reserve, including Te Mata peak, to the people of Hawke’s Bay in 1927 and set up a charitable trust to maintain the land for the community to enjoy.
It was a great opportunity to support the local community and help take care of this precious resource for the next generation.
Images: @carlgundersen
Discover an experience designed for every wine lover, from first-time visitors to serious collectors – and our new Summer Courtyard experience.
