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| Te Awa Cabernet Merlot 2003
Te Awa Cabernet Merlot 2003
3.5 Stars
If you’re looking for a big, everyday drinking Kiwi red at an affordable price, this wine fits the bill. Very spicy and ripe in taste; slightly drying on the finish.
Reference to Te Awa wines in Joelle Thompson’s The Indispensable Wine Guide 2008 Wines Under $25
4.5 Stars Winestate Magazine Peter Saunders
May/June 2006
46-40 blend with malbec and franc. Warm red, full of good fruit and intense flavours, young and unfolding. A sound, vibrant, food-friendly red, helped by the small cropping vintage which has concentrated the flavours.
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| Te Awa Boundary 2002
Decanter World Wine Awards 2007 Regional New Zealand Bordeaux Blend Over 10 Trophy.
Reference to Te Awa in Bettane & Desseauve’s The World’s Greatest Wines
Our favourite wines:
All the wines produced here have a style and balance particularly suited to the European or American palate. The most ambitious and accomplished of these is the “Boundary,” a red wine of blended Bordeaux varieties; the 2002 and, especially, the 2001 are outstanding.
Raymond Chan - Regional Wines & Spirits
Tuesday 23 October 2007
‘Boundary’ Vertical
Te Awa ‘Boundary’ Hawke’s Bay 2004
85% Me,10% CS, 5% CF. Darkish deep ruby red with a garnet edge. Full nose, quite broad, plums, black berries and savoury game aromas with some dried herbs. Some pepper, spice and liquorice notes. A little raw and brackish with slightly herby edge to the dark berry fruits and pepper. A sweetness to the fruit, some plumpness. The acidity is apparent. Good richness on the finish and length shows. Needs time to come together. The third preferred of the flight for the group of tasters. My score 17.5/20
Te Awa ‘Zone 6’ Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet 2003
13.0% alc, 61% Me, 37% CS, 2% CF. Potential ‘Boundary’ declassified due to high Cabernet Sauvignon component taking the wine out of style for the label. Dark, deep, blackish red with ruby hues. Firm, intense nose, attractive, ripe varietal Cabernet fruit predominant, blackcurrants and mint, quite tight. Silky smooth on the palate, very fine and elegantly sized. Blackcurrants, plums and game show. Supple tannins, making this a refined wine. However, the least preferred of the flight by the group of tasters. My score 18.5-/20
Te Awa ‘Boundary’ Hawke’s Bay 2002
13.5% alc, 68% Me, 16% CS, 16% CF. 23 days maceration, 17 months in oak. Medium deep garnet red with dark brick hues to the colour. Complex, savoury bouquet, plump with rich plum characters, some mintiness, savoury earthy aromas, good secondary development. Elegant and fine-textured palate, still tightly bound. Lovely fragrant and aromatic fruit, no doubt from the high Cabernet Franc proportion, with dried herb notes, complex with savoury flavours. The tannins are very fine-grained. Very, very long. The fourth preferred of the flight by the group of tasters. My score 18.5+/20
Te Awa ‘Boundary’ Hawke’s Bay 2001
13.0% alc, 82% Me, 15% CS, 3% CF. 18 day maceration, 16 months in oak. Medium deep colour, bricky red, orange on edge. Very elegant and fine nose, with good intensity. Lovely fruit-cake aromas, with cedar and earth, complexity from secondary development. Elegant, refined palate, with complex and fine secondary flavours, some resiny oak comes through. Cedar and game. Lovely supple palate that shows some good integration. The second preferred wine of the flight for the group. My score 17.5+/20
Te Awa ‘Boundary’ Hawke’s Bay 2000
13.0% alc, 85% Me, 10% CS, 5% CF. Deepish black-red colour, some brick on edge. Full, dense, solid nose, powerful with earth and game aromas, plums, and cedar fruit still showing. Full-flavoured wine with dark fruits and plums, blackcurrants and ink. The fruit is full and generous, quite plump. The structure is full and concentration matches the extraction. Yet the wine is open. A bigger wine, with the potential to develop further. The most preferred wine of the flight for the group of tasters. My score 19.0-/20
Te Awa ‘Boundary’ Hawke’s Bay 1999
13.0% alc. Lighter colour, mahogany and brick. Slightly subdued nose with savoury game, mushroom and brettanomyces animal aromas. Quite complex. Full and rich on impact, with developed savoury flavours. Tannins are prominent and the fruit expression is beginning to dry out the mid-palate. The brettanomyces component is not dominating the flavour, however. Sufficient interest for several of the tasters to enjoy it. However, the second least preferred of the flight for the group. My score 16.0+/20
××××× Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to NZ Wines 2006
“This very stylish Hawke’s Bay red is blended from Merlot (80 to 85 per cent), Cabernet Sauvignon (10 to 15 per cent), Cabernet Franc (3 to 5 per cent), and sometimes a splash of Malbec. Based on low yielding, nine to 12-year-old vines in the Gimblett Gravels and matured for 15 to 18 months in French oak barriques (50 per cent new), it is made by Jenny Dobson, who was once maitre d’chais at a respected Haut-Médoc cru bourgeois, Château Senejac. Subtle, multi-faceted and beautifully harmonious, it is more complex and savoury than most New Zealand reds. Still very youthful, the 2003 vintage (* * * *) is dark and purple-flushed, with fragrant berry, plum and spicy oak aromas. Fresh and vibrant, it has rich plum and spice flavours , with hints of dark chocolate, herbs and coffee, and firm tannins. Open 2007+.”
Jo Burzynska – Viva, NZ Herald, 2007
“Age lets Bordeaux blends such as Te Awa’s impressive Boundary integrate and soften. This has developed into a refined spicy and savoury creature with a melt in the mouth texture and mature notes interleaved with the bramble and dark plum fruit retained from its youth.”
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| Te Awa Chardonnay 2005
Raymond Chan
Tuesday 23 October 2007
13.0% alc, clones 15, B95 and Mendoza from three sites. BF in 30% new French oak, aged 11 months in barrel, no MLF. Light straw yellow with some depth. Ripe melons and stonefruits on the nose, good intensity, but wine fineness. Some steely notes to the aroma. Lovely ripe fruits, on a medium weight palate. Slightly low acidity adds to the creamy barrel ferment texture, yet there is freshness and liveliness. Good long finish. 18.0+/20
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| Te Awa Merlot 2004
Te Awa Merlot 2004
3.5 Stars
Bright, fresh, flavoursome Hawke’s Bay merlot that tastes of ripe raspberries with a firm backbone of oak adding interest and depth of flavour.
Reference to Te Awa wines in Joelle Thompson’s The Indispensable Wine Guide 2008 Wines Under $25
From Gimblett Gravels, this wine shows medium deep red colour with dried fruit, ripe red berries and complex savoury,leather characters. The palate is full of ripe fruit characters,round texture and fine grain tannins. Beautifully
balanced with an excellent length of flavour. The wine has nicely matured to its peak. At its best: now to 2008.
Wine Orbit
Independent, Extensive Monthly Wine Review
7/10 Fine, aromatic, dense nose with spice and dark, succulent fruit. Fruit impact is even and dense with a fresh manner. Mid palate has weight and excellent flavour density with a early tannic grip that supports the succulence and balances it. Supple palate finishes dry, well composed and flavour long. Oak presence throughout adds nice sophistication. Smart wine.
Truewines Keith Stewart,Dec 06
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| Te Awa Sauvignon Blanc 2006
4 Stars
Hawke’s Bay sauvignon blancs are softer, easier, less-challenging whites than their Marlborough counterparts and this one is at the top of that tree. Fresh, vibrant, zingy, almost full-bodied and with a long finish.
Reference to Te Awa wines in Joelle Thompson’s The Indispensable Wine Guide 2008 Wines Under $25
Raymond Chan
Tuesday 23 October 2007
13.5% alc, 50% BF and 15% fermentation in S/S barrels. The BF portion aged in oak for 6 months. Pale straw yellow with a pale edge. Ripe herbal nose with oak smokiness and barrel ferment characters, lees component, fine and tight. Elegant wine, with good power, depth and concentration. Some phenolic grip and allied to the acidity, this moderates the fruit richness a little. Oak works well with the fruit. 17.5-/20
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| Te Awa Syrah 2006
Raymond Chan
Tuesday 23 October 2007
12.5% alc, 15 months in 20% new French oak. “Based on acidity.” Very dark, blackish hued purple red colour. Very fine nose with white pepper and florals, good depth and intensity, beautifully fragrant. Elegantly sized wine with velvety, fine-grained tannins. The fruit is in the violet and white pepper spectrum, and this has spice notes adding to the interest. Good concentration. There is acid freshness and combined with the supple tannins gives good length. 18.0/20
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| Windmill Chardonnay 2006
From Gimblett Gravels, this is a lovely young Chardonnay with good potential to evolve into a delicious wine. The nose is delicate and fresh with mineral, stone fruit and floral notes.The palate shows ripe, juicy fruit intensity with a creamy texture. Crisp acidity provides excellent structure and length of flavour. At its best: end of 2007 to 2009.
Sam Kim - Wine Orbit
| | | Te Awa Zone 10 2003
Raymond Chan
Tuesday 23 October 2007
12.0% alc, 100% CS, 12 days maceration, 17 months in 50% new oak. “Based on tannin.” Dark, deep, ruby red colour, youthful hues. Fresh and clean bouquet, pure blackcurranty aromas, with herb and oak interest, just a hint of secondary development. Elegant, fine and tight on palate, this is more medium-bodied. The fruit is pure, with an aromatic lift to the blackcurrant expression. Well-judged and balanced extraction giving a dryness. Softening on the finish. 18.0+/20
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