Te Mata Coleraine 2024

Reviews

One of New Zealand's "Grand Cru" (Tipuranga Teitei o Aotearoa). Critics about Te Mata Coleraine 2024:

Sam Kim, Wine Orbit: 100/100. This is a masterpiece, much like a great work of art. The bouquet shows cassis, dark plum, bouquet garni, baking spice, rich floral, and cedar characters. It’s concentrated with exceptional depth and mouth-coating texture, wonderfully framed by finely polished tannins. It’s perfectly proportioned and gracefully powerful, combining scintillating fruit purity with seductive complexity. The wine flows seamlessly to a persistent, structured finish.

James Suckling (JamesSuckling.com): 98/100. Superlative balance. Aromas of blackberries, currants, blueberries, graphite and dark tobacco with hints of bark, violets and licorice. Medium-bodied with ultra-fine velvety tannins and a seamless, cashmere texture. So caressing and polished. Bright and vivid at the end. ... You could drink this tonight and enjoy it, but it will age.

Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion: 98/100. Deep magenta/crimson with enticing aromas of pure blackberry, damson plum, black cherry and blackcurrant fruits over hints of fine spice, dried tobacco, pencil case, crème de cassis, gentle crushed meadow herbs, violets, cocoa nibs, cedar, vanilla bean and earth. Such an elegant, graceful presentation of ripe black fruits on the palate, slender and supple, layered and kinetic. This has superfine powdered-gravel tannins and a finish that seems to roll forever. A classic from a superb vintage, this is just a no-brainer and a wine that sits right at the top of the New Zealand fine-wine hierarchy.

Gary Walsh, The Wine Front (Dec 2025): 97+/100. Deep dark wine, black and red fruit, chocolate and ironstone, some creamy and spicy cedar oak, dried flowers, some minty perfume, slight roasted red capsicum and pimento. It’s medium to full-bodied, crisp ‘mineral’ acidity, lavish graphite tannin, tobacco and nori, a fresh blackberry nip to it, brooding and ferrous, with a firm and savoury finish of superb length. An exceptional wine. It will keep, probably, for as long as you want to keep it, if you can keep your hands off it, that is. Drink 2028-2049+.

Stephen Wong MW (The Real Review): 97/100. Deep ruby with a purple rim. Quite closed and reticent until given considerable aeration and time in the glass. Once unfurled, this displays impressive amounts of restrained power, depth and persistence. The compact core of blackcurrant, rose and raspberry is swaddled in gossamer layers of cedar, dried tobacco, freshly ground coffee, dried orange peel and wet stone. Everything is precisely balanced and polished to sleekness; the firmly structural tannins and oak completely submerged and velvety. Majestically long yet not a blockbuster, the finish unfolds like a symphony, reprising every nuance and flavour hidden within its youthful shell, equal parts power, elegance and poise. Arguably approachable now but it will be considerably better with a few years in bottle.

VINOUS - Rebecca Gibb MW: 95/100. The 2024 Coleraine is young and rich but naturally refreshing. Vanilla and cedar oak flavours are prominent in its youth, but its density and richness of fruit will take over with time in bottle. The tannins are abundant but resolved and delectable, even at this early stage. A small splash of Cabernet Franc enhances the midweight, substantial palate with graphite notes, floral lift and a plait of tension. The long and very satisfying finish leaves black plum, black olive, licorice and vanilla tones. Having recently tasted the 1982 blind, I think it's safe to assume that the 2024 has decades and decades ahead of it, but will find its sweet spot in 15-25 years. This is a wine to get to know over several years rather than several glasses.

Tasting Note:

A deep, brilliant crimson with a vibrant purple core, Coleraine '24 opens with an alluring bouquet of fresh roses, cassis, dark cherries and blackberries. Layers of dark chocolate, nori, black olive and subtle cedar add complexity, while lifted florals and a savoury coastal nuance enhance its depth, precision and beauty. On the palate, a concentrated wave of red and dark fruit flows over velvety, cocoa-powder textures, as expansive, silky tannins weave seamlessly through the wine. This enormity of scale is highlighted by a fine, focused acid line that drives through to a finish of exceptional length. With immense power held in delicate restraint, Coleraine '24 is destined to unfurl over decades.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Varietals: 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc.

Food match: Rare roast beef, wagyu steak, or slow-cooked lamb shoulder with rosemary.

Vineyards: Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Coleraine ’24 is an assemblage of the finest wines produced from distinct plots within Te Mata Estate's oldest vineyards first planted in 1892. Hand harvested between 31 March and 8 April 2024.

Winemaking: Each parcel of grapes was destemmed before a traditional warm-plunged fermentation and extended maceration on skins. The resulting wines were then run to predominately new French oak barrels for 19 months' maturation, with 70% being new oak. Throughout this time, they were regularly topped and racked. The assemblage was made in November 2024 and the finished wine was bottled in December 2025.

The name Coleraine: Coleraine derives its name from the Coleraine vineyard, home of John and Wendy Buck of Te Mata Estate. John’s late grandfather was born in Coleraine in Northern Ireland and the name has been maintained through the family home to the wine. A single vineyard wine until 1989, Coleraine is an assemblage of the finest wines produced from distinct plots within Te Mata Estate's oldest vineyards first planted in 1892.

Alcohol: 13.5% vol

Residual sugar: dry

Notice: Contains sulphites, egg.

Cellaring potential: 2026 – 2041+

Closure: Cork

Bottle size: 0.75l

Ingredients:Grapes, egg albumin, preservatives and antioxidants (potassium metabisulphite (sulphites)), acidity regulators (calcium carbonate).

Produced and bottled by: Te Mata Estate, PO Box 8335, Havelock North, Hawkes Bay 4157, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany

On Coleraine

• "This highly collectible red is snapped up every year it is released." -  Bob Campbell MW, Kia Ora Magazine, June 2018 
• "Te Mata Estate Coleraine has won well-deserved iconic status for a string of elegant and complex wines that first appeared in 1982, blazing a trail for others to follow." -  Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, June 2018 
• "If there was Kiwi wine aristocracy, Te Mata would be it. Nestled in the foothills of the Te Mata heritage zone, they make some of the best wines in the country. Independent, family-owned, exclusively Hawke’s Bay, and committed to making premium wine on site." - Cuisine Wine, 2017 
• "New Zealand’s Grange equivalent, only Coleraine comes from one place, is much cheaper, and to my tastes, is significantly better and more interesting." - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, Australia. March 2017 
• "The legendary cabernet sauvignon and merlot blend of NZ. New Zealand’s Sassicaia." -  James Suckling, jamessuckling.com, USA 2012 
• "My benchmark. I’ve had every vintage of Coleraine the Buck family have made, from the inaugural 1982 to the current 2015. Te Mata Estate is the standard by which every other wine producer could be judged. The full range of styles has always been impeccable." -  Raymond Chan Wine Reviews 
• "Arguably New Zealand’s most prestigious wine. No one dreamed such a wine could be made from New Zealand grapes. Dramatically raising the bar for red wine in New Zealand." Coleraine ’16 Review Summary, Bob Campbell Decanter Magazine, October 2018 
• "A great wine from the very first vintage. Consistently great." -  Huon Hooke, The Real Review October 2018 
• "A national treasure. A benchmark, with a remarkable track record for age-worthiness. Consistently high quality and style have been hallmarks since day one." - Linda Murphy, jancisrobinson.com. October 2018
• "The Buck family of the Te Mata estate produce the best New Zealand wine I have come across … could have passed muster as a classed-growth claret." - Bruce Anderson, The Spectator, May 2020