"The 2021 Awatea Cabernets-Merlot is a thrilling wine and a worthy entree to the Coleraine—one of the Southern Hemisphere's best Cabernet blends. You get red fruits, savory exoticism, enoki mushroom, bay leaf, black tea leaves, pastrami, cassis bramble, red apple skins, tobacco leaf, vanilla pod, salted heirloom tomato, blackcurrant, flowers and delicate nuances of umami in profusion, along with crushed oyster shell, tea tree and native rosemary. It's bloody gorgeous. A sensational wine, it has detail, nuance and line, and it's very long and placid but precise. The 2021 Awatea is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc that matured in barrel for 17 months, 30% new. This spent longer in barrel (by a month) than the 2020 prior. The fruit is sourced from several subregions: predominantly Havelock, Gimblett Gravels and Bridge Pa Triangle." 96pts Erin Larkin The Wine Advocate
