Te Mata Estate Cabernet Merlot 2016

The individual parcels of each variety, from each plot, were de-stemmed before a traditional warm fermentation, followed by extended maceration on skins. The resulting wines were pressed, returned to tank for malolactic fermentation, then run off to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barrels for 11 months’ maturation before blending. The wines were regularly topped and racked, throughout maturation, blended and traditionally egg-white fined before bottling. The final blend is 47% cabernet sauvignon, 41% merlot , 12% cabernet franc.

Tasting Note: 
Bright, intense magenta, with ripe wild blackberry, red plum, cherry cedar and rosemary all jumping from the glass, Estate Vineyards Cabernets/Merlot  is fresh, rich and fruit-driven. The palate shows notes of ripe cherry, date and blackcurrant with an even and sustained weight throughout.

Consistently overdelivering, Estate Vineyards Cabernets/Merlot remains an ode to balance, ripeness and modern Hawke’s Bay fruit-purity.

Today, the estate comprises 250ha, with 150ha under vine, and produces 40000 cases exclusively from these plantings. Two thirds of the production is Cabernets/Merlot, Chardonnay and Syrah. Te Mata Estate Winery originated as part of Te Mata Station, a large pastoral land-holding established by English immigrant John Chambers in 1854. John's third son, Bernard had the original vision for wine production and planted grape vines on three parcels of hillside land above the homestead,… Read more