2022 Te Mata Coleraine Cabernet Merlot

99 POINTS

Huon Hooke - The Real Review

Deep, brooding purple-red colour with a concentrated berry fruit bouquet laced with cedar, violets and dried herbs, gorgeous fruit and classy oak embellishment. The wine is full bodied and powerful, with a generous serving of fine grained tannins that add length, authority and a drying but supple finish. Tremendous persistence and wonderful structure. A great wine, that will richly reward long-term cellaring.

98 POINTS

Sam Kim - Wine Orbit

The ‘King of the Grape’ Cabernet Sauvignon comes to the fore with its flatteringly classy presence. This is captivating and totally seductive on the nose, exhibiting blackcurrant, violet, game, anise, subtle tobacco and cedary oak characters, leading to a powerfully concentrated palate displaying considerable depth and exceptional concentration. Harmonious too, it’s gloriously structured and balanced with a firm grip, yet the tannins are just right and seamlessly infused. Perfectly proportioned, this 2022 has the majestic feel that each previous Coleraine possess. A blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot & 3% Cabernet Franc.

Mike Bennie - The Wine Front

Whoa, so fresh, such beautiful perfume, floral, lavender and violets, touches of cassis, some woody spices, so lifted and frisky. Three days in mind you. White pepper, plum, faint choc-mint in there too. Scents for days. So fine, so silky, choc-liquorice, cassis strongly in the palate, blueberry, grunt of dried herbs and some truffle notes. Concentrated but so fresh in the same breath. Tannins all graphite and slate, wonderfully minerally. Beautiful."

James Suckling

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."

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

I tasted this over two days, and gee, it really moved about. Started off with a pop of fragrance and more rugged tannin, then it eased itself back into a more typical Coleraine profile, though for sure it’s a different style in some respects with its unusually high Cabernet Sauvignon component of 84%, the remainder being 13% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Black fruit, some red, pencil lead, a little aniseed and floral perfume, nori, baking spice, pimento, slight vanilla. Medium-bodied, a fair bit of chew, dark fruit and dark chocolate, porcini mushroom umami, grainy tannin, concentrated and chewy, earthy and ferrous, with a bright line of very ‘mineral’ acidity on a long finish. Excellent, albeit a more Cabernet focused expression of Coleraine, which marks it out as being different, and on that point such a worthy of addition to the cellar, though of course the wine is outstanding irrespective of that.

Erin Larkin - Wine Advocate

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. "The highlight of vintage 2022 was the Cabernet Sauvignon components," says winemaker Phil Brodie (here at Te Mata for 31 vintages). For the fans playing at home, wondering whether or not there will be a 2023 Coleraine, I have good news, friends—there will be. Having spent two hours in the vineyards prior to this tasting, the level of detail and viticultural care fills me with comfort and confidence, even more than I already had. It's great. These older vineyards are looked after to absurd detail. Every 1% pays off, and that is the defining difference between a good estate and a great one. 97+ points.

Bob Campbell MW - The Real Review

Oak is a little obvious but it is attractive oak and should integrate into the wine in time (it was bottled six weeks before tasting). Cassis, cedar, floral and tobacco flavours are evident. Youthful wine that clearly needs time. Elegant red that seems to get better every vintage