Te Mata Estate Awatea Hawke's Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2020

NEW ZEALAND : HAWKE'S BAYSUSTAINABLE : Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet FrancFULL-BODIED, BLACKCURRANT, DARK PLUM, CEDAR, TOBACCO, DARK CHOCOLATETe Mata Estate has been farming these Hawke's Bay hillsides since 1896, making it the oldest continuously operating winery in New Zealand. The Buck family has owned it since 1978. Winemaker Phil Brodie's Bordeaux-style blends, Coleraine and Awatea, have become reference points for what Hawke's Bay Cabernet can achieve at its ceiling.Awatea is drawn from estate vineyards in the Havelock Hills and the Bullnose, hand-harvested and aged for 15 to 18 months in partly new French oak. The 2020 blend runs 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and 12% Cabernet Franc. It earned 95 points from both Wine Advocate and Vinous. Vinous wrote: "Best Awatea ever? You might be looking at it." Decant this one generously. It opens to reveal blackcurrant, dark plum, cedar, and dark chocolate, with tannins that Yvonne Lorkin called "velvety and clinging."PAIRINGS : Rack of lamb with rosemary the New Zealand classic; tannin cuts through fat, dark fruit mirrors the savory lamb Grass-fed ribeye steak the structure and power of the 2020 vintage handles red meat; cedar and graphite become a feature Duck breast with cherry-port reduction dark fruit in the sauce mirrors the wine; tannin handles the duck fat cleanly

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