Te Mata Coleraine: Top wines from 1982 to 2016

Bob Campbell MW was one of the lucky few to attend a 32-vintage tasting of Coleraine recently - twice! Read his report below, including ratings and tasting notes on his top 15 vintages of this New Zealand pioneer...

Te Mata’s Coleraine is arguably New Zealand’s most prestigious wine.

In 1982, as the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes were being harvested for Coleraine’s first vintage, there was a general feeling among winemakers and wine drinkers alike that, while New Zealand might make decent white wines, the climate was simply too cool to produce good red wine.

That all changed when Coleraine hit the market.

Scroll down to see Bob’s top 15 picks from the historical vertical

No one, with the obvious exception of founder John Buck, had dreamed that such a wine could be made from New Zealand grapes.An inky red with intense, ripe cassis and cedar flavours, it demonstrated what could be achieved through careful site selection and restrained cropping levels.

Coleraine did for Hawke’s Bay Bordeaux blends what Cloudy Bay later did for Marlborough Sauvignon, dramatically raising the bar for red wine in New Zealand.

The tasting

Air New Zealand, the country’s national airline, is an active supporter of New Zealand wine. They recently purchased four complete sets of Te Mata Coleraine and subsequently opened them at tastings in Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, and at the Te Mata estate in Hawke’s Bay.

I was fortunate enough to attend two of these tastings, in Auckland and Hawke’s Bay. Each tasting featured 32 wines, ranging from 1982 to 2016 (Coleraine was not produced in 1992, 1993 or 2012).

The second set, tasted in Hawke’s Bay, was clearly in better condition than the first. Fill levels suggested that the wines from the second set had benefitted from better storage. Wines in the second set (but not the first) had been opened, tasted and topped up or replaced by Te Mata winemaker, Peter Cowley. My tasting comments are based on wines from the second set.

My top three wines, for rather different reasons, were from the 1982, 1998 and 2014 vintages. The least attractive wines were 1984, 1988 and 2011, all from challenging vintages in Hawke’s Bay.

When to drink

For current drinking I would be happy to open any vintage prior to 2013. With careful storage and a good cork, Coleraine will survive for three decades or more. My optimum window is from 10 to 20 years.

Continue reading below

Te Mata Coleraine: Factbox

First vintage 1982

Vineyards A selection from a total of 45ha of estate vineyards from the Havelock Hills and Heretaunga Plains, Hawke’s Bay

Soil types Coleraine’s core is always off the Havelock Hills, with windblown loess soils over volcanic silica on a sandstone base. Additional contributions come from sites on the Heretaunga plains. These have ‘red metal’ soils – a sandy loam layer high in iron over deep gravels.

Blend Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc

Annual production 60,000 bottles

More on Te Mata

Written by Andy Howard MW for a Decanter.com article originally published in October 2016

Located in the Hawkes Bay area, on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, the Te Mata estate today comprises the original historical plantings in the Havelock Hills and, in addition, the Woodthorpe Terraces to the east of Napier and the Bridge Pa Triangle – one of the warmest sites in the Hawkes Bay.

Coleraine, a classic Bordeaux style red, has been the estate’s top wine since it was first produced in 1982.

At its inception, Coleraine honoured classed growth Bordeaux with a blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, supported by Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Extensive maturation in new French oak, great finesse and the ability to age are all hallmarks of this wine.

My early recollection of Coleraine was of the 1989 vintage – a wine that had all the traditional classed growth Bordeaux structure but with an extra hint of new world ripeness and purity that was often missing in the Haut-Medoc equivalents.

Indeed, Nick Buck confirmed that the original intention had been to mirror the top cru classés, but that today Coleraine has evolved its own style.

Bob’s top 15 wines from the Te Mata Coleraine tasting:

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