• Everything ‘Te Mata’ To Know

    Get to Know this New Zealand Estate

     

    Discover Te Mata, New Zealand’s oldest family-owned winery, nestled in the sunny, dry slopes of Hawke’s Bay.

    For over 130 years, this estate has crafted wines that balance ripe fruit, fresh acidity, and subtle savoury complexity, making them both approachable and age-worthy. From iconic reds like Coleraine to aromatic whites, Te Mata Estate aims to showcase the best of New Zealand terroir.

     

     

    Where Te Mata Estate Is and Why It Matters

    Te Mata Estate sits in Hawke’s Bay on New Zealand’s east coast, on the beach side of the town of Havelock North. From Napier Airport you can drive along the coast, through Marine Parade, about 20mins south. Hawke’s Bay is uniquely dry for New Zealand because the central ranges block most weather systems moving from the west, creating a natural rain shadow and some of the sunniest, driest conditions in the country. Those ‘classic Hawke’s Bay summers’ make for long warm growing seasons, tempered by sea breezes from the Pacific Ocean, that perfectly help grapes ripen fully while keeping vibrant acidity in the wines.

     

    A Winery With Deep Roots

    Established in 1896, Te Mata Estate is New Zealand’s oldest continuously operating winery, and remains independent and family owned. All grapes are grown on the estate’s own vineyards, and every stage from pruning to winemaking and bottling happens on site. The “large boutique” scale of the operations is really an estate-only model that gives unmatched control over quality and expression of place. As well as growing grapes, Te Mata produces about 40,000 cases of wine a year, with strong demand both locally and in export markets across 45+ countries.

     

    The Land and Terroir

    The vineyards occupy north-facing slopes on ancient hills formed by tectonic uplift and river erosion. Soils vary from sandy loam over sandstone in the east to clay and mineral-rich gravel in other sites, giving a wide palette of soil types that influence vine growth and flavor. Te Mata Peak itself is raised seabed with windblown volcanic topsoils. Te Mata has predominantly Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot growing on these hills since the 1890s. Te Mata’s original vineyards were the first in New Zealand protected by law as the Te Mata Special Character Zone in 1996, recognising their heritage and uniqueness.

    What Te Mata Wines Taste Like

    Across the range, Te Mata wines balance intense fruit clarity with structure and freshness. Reds are often medium to full-bodied with ripe dark fruit, savoury complexity, and fine tannins that support aging. Whites show expressive aromatics with bright acidity and textural richness. This combination of fruit depth, moderate alcohol, and freshness makes their wines highly enjoyable on release and rewarding with age.

    Key Wines to Know

    • Coleraine is Te Mata’s flagship red and one of New Zealand’s most celebrated wines. First released in 1982, it’s a Cabernet/Merlot blend known for balance, structure, and age-worthiness, often scoring high points from international critics.

    • Bullnose Syrah shows Hawke’s Bay’s ideal conditions for Syrah, with vibrant dark fruit, spice, and a long, elegant finish.

    • Awatea is a classic Cabernet/Merlot blend that sits just below Coleraine in style but with expressive dark fruit and savouriness.

    • Alma Pinot Noir highlights Hawke’s Bay’s rising status for this variety, with red fruit, floral notes, and supple tannins drawn from cooler sites like Dartmoor Valley.

    • Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc a barrel-fermented style known for its ripeness of acidity, soft texture and incredible length.

    • Elston Chardonnay rich, aromatic fruit with fresh acidity, soft oak and fine textural weight.

    • Estate Sauvignon Blanc is full of Hawke’s Bay, North Island, fruit: lively, tropical, and framed by balanced, mouthwatering acidity.

     

    How to Pair and Enjoy

    Te Mata wines are made to be food-friendly and versatile. Their bright acidity and structured profiles complement a wide range of cuisines. They work beautifully with both classic pairings like grilled meats and game and fresh seasonal produce. They also work well with spiced dishes including Indian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern flavours. (Especially when fresher spices are used rather then powdered ones.) The wines own freshness and medium-body makes them particularly gastronomic. The lighter reds cans be chilled. The light whites are refreshing on their own or with seafood, and robust reds can stand up to richly flavoured dishes.

     

    Visiting the Estate

    The Te Mata cellar door welcomes visitors to explore their long history and premium wines. Options include walk-in tastings, guided Heritage Tours, and discovery experiences tailored for new enthusiasts and collectors. The winery is accessible from Napier Airport by car hire and private shuttle. There are lots of accomodation options, we have parking if your driving, and the surrounding Hawke’s Bay region features extensive cycle paths for vineyard touring.

  • 2024 The Holy Grail?

     

    Each vintage is a celebration of time and our terroir. Each one is distinct, each one is shaped by the land, people, and nature. In 2024, we had time to find poise. It was an remarkable harvest, producing beautifully balanced wines with elegance, power and restraint. Deeply thought-provoking wines. It was a vintage that rewarded precision. Each pick, each parcel, each ferment was handled with a jeweller’s attention to detail – a deliberate pursuit of purity.

     

     

    Vintage 2024

    Technical Report from Senior Winemaker Phil Brodie Vintage is, for us, a celebration of the reflection of time and our terroir—each one distinct, each one shaped by the land, people, and nature. In 2024, we had time to find poise. The 2024 was an incredible vintage, producing beautifully balanced wines with precision—powerful yet restrained, and deeply thought-provoking. Wines with a degree of umami, salinity, and acidity to focus the wine, give tension and energy, and sweeten the tannins on the finish. The wines have delivered an amazing sense of place.

    Winter – Spring
    Early winter was dry, then came some rain, which was needed to replenish our underground water table. Thankfully, we received a beneficial volume of rain in the early part of spring that gave us the ability to recharge our soils and grow a healthy, full canopy. From there on, we received very little in terms of significant rain events, and with a cool, dry, windy flowering period, smaller bunches formed, promoting reduced potential yields. We then began to see blocks experience levels of water stress. Given intimate knowledge and understanding of our soils across the various subregions, we started increasing irrigation to allow the vines to combat heat spikes in late December and January.

    Summer – Autumn
    December to early February saw rapid heat accumulation with above-average temperatures. There was very little rain over these months, giving clean canopies, clean fruit, controlled vine stress, and very small berries on both whites and reds. These factors, combined with exceptionally low cropping rates, produced an early harvest, starting with some hand-picked Chardonnay for Elston on 26 February with good sugars and balanced acids.

     

     

    Harvest
    Harvesting continued through into April with classical daytime temperatures in very dry conditions, combining with tiny berries to produce significantly lower yields, both in cropping rates and juice yields. As a result, the whites showed great intensity and tension, with wonderful natural acidity, and the reds are deeply coloured with plenty of extract, rich with purity, complexity, and length.

    Conclusions – Notes of Significance
    • A very dry preceding winter
    • Early onset of vine stress monitored by new advanced technology coupled with precision irrigation
    • Above-average heat summation (1590 GDD — Growing Degree Days)
    • A tapering of warm nights in early February led to retention of acids, contributing to
    the wines’ varietal expression, balance, and wonderful length
    • Beautiful clean fruit with no disease pressure
    • Exceptionally low crops with tiny berries and great concentration
    • White wines – acid retention, pure with intense complexity
    • Red wines – deeply coloured, complex, and structured

    Through the continuous improvements from the formalisation of our winery and vineyard R & D programme, including organic, biodynamic and regenerative practices, new pruning techniques, greater experience with an intimate knowledge of our blocks down to the individual vine, increasing vine age, and attention to detail, all this coupled with such an incredible vintage the wines from 2024 are absolutely stellar.
    Can we see The Holy Grail?

     

     

    Download as PDF here.

     

     

  • Spring Crimper in Action

     

    At Te Mata Estate, one of the more striking sights at this time of year is the crimper in action, moving steadily between the vineyard rows behind a tractor. Rather than cutting or mulching, this specialised piece of equipment gently bends the stems of grasses and companion plants like mustard seed, tick bean, and phacelia, pressing them down without breaking them. The result is a living mat of vegetation that remains rooted, intact, and actively contributing to the vineyard ecosystem.

    Unlike conventional mowing, crimping allows the plants sown between the vine rows to complete their natural life cycle. These companion species are chosen to support soil health, moisture retention, and biodiversity, and the crimper works with them rather than against them. By bending the stems instead of severing them, the plants slowly senesce in place, forming a protective layer over the soil. This cover helps reduce evaporation as the weather warms, moderates soil temperature, and creates habitat for beneficial insects and microorganisms.

    The retained plant material also plays a meaningful role in carbon capture. As the crimped vegetation breaks down, its biomass is returned directly to the soil, adding organic matter and improving structure over time. This process supports healthier root systems, better water infiltration, and more resilient soils — outcomes that align closely with Te Mata Estate’s long-term approach to vineyard stewardship. The vineyard floor becomes not just a managed surface, but a dynamic, living system.

    While crimping is more commonly seen in parts of Europe and North America, it remains a rare sight in New Zealand vineyards. Te Mata Estate has been quietly trialling and refining this approach for around seven years, adapting the system to local conditions and learning from each season. Seeing the crimper at work each spring is a reminder that thoughtful innovation doesn’t always look dramatic — sometimes it moves slowly between the rows, bending rather than cutting, and leaving the vineyard stronger for it.

  • On Multi-Generational Wine

    The Gift of Time: Wine as Legacy
    There is something quietly magical about a bottle of wine that does more than mark a moment. It becomes part of a story that can stretch across decades. At Te Mata Estate, this idea is not romantic fantasy. It is a living tradition built on craftsmanship, place, and time. Since 1896, Te Mata has tended vineyards on the Havelock Hills of Hawke’s Bay, hand harvesting and making wine entirely on the estate, in the same historic buildings and original cellars that generations of winemakers have worked in.

    Buying a bottle of Te Mata with the future in mind transforms it into a vessel of memory. A bottle put aside for twenty or thirty years becomes a gift for the next generation, a reminder of births, anniversaries, or milestones yet to come. In that way, wine becomes more than something to drink. It becomes legacy.

    Why Te Mata Wines Age: The Craft Behind the Cellar
    Not all wines are made to last. To age gracefully, a wine needs balance and structure, along with the sort of quiet restraint that allows it to evolve rather than fade. At Te Mata, decades of experience and a deep connection to the land come together to create exactly that. Coleraine, the estate’s flagship red, first made in 1982, has become an icon of long aging potential. What began as a single vineyard bottling is now a blend of carefully selected parcels from some of the oldest vineyards on the Havelock Hills, first planted in the 1890s.

    Winemaking here is classical and respectful. Grapes are destemmed, gently fermented, and allowed an extended maceration before a long maturation in French oak barriques. Once bottled, the wine’s fine tannins and brilliant acidity carry it through decades of development. Coleraine often behaves like a fine Bordeaux in its structure and longevity, yet its soul is pure Hawke’s Bay, shaped by coastal breezes, mineral soils, and long, even growing seasons that give it both freshness and power.

    Proven Track Record: Wines That Evolve Beautifully
    Te Mata’s reputation for cellar worthy wines is not theoretical. Vintage after vintage has shown how well these wines can age. Bottles from the early eighties still offer freshness and personality. Landmark vintages, such as 1998, have been celebrated internationally as some of the greatest wines ever produced in New Zealand. More recent vintages continue that tradition, with notes of dark fruit, graphite, cedar, and floral perfume, all wrapped in the bright energy and polished tannins that signal a long life ahead.

    For collectors and wine lovers alike, this consistency is what makes Te Mata such a dependable choice for the cellar. These wines not only survive the years, they thrive in them, gaining depth, softness, and complexity while holding on to their natural freshness.

    Wine as a Multi-Generational Gift
    Imagine a new parent buying a bottle of Coleraine the year their child is born, tucking it away, and handing it over on a twenty-first birthday, wedding, or another important milestone. A wine like this matures slowly, its fruit deepening from bright berries to richer, darker tones, its tannins softening into silky structure, its layers of earth, spice, and minerality becoming more woven and complete. What you give is not simply a bottle. You give time, memory, and the story of a place cared for over generations.

    Because Te Mata wines come from historic vineyards and a family-led estate that has been working the same land since the nineteenth century, the gift carries provenance and meaning. It feels less like a commodity and more like an heirloom.

    Why Now Is a Great Time to Begin a Cellar
    Recent vintages at Te Mata have been especially promising. The wines are concentrated, pure, and structured, shaped by low yields and small berries that offer exceptional depth. Some of these vintages have already received outstanding recognition. For anyone considering a future gift or simply building a cellar, this is an ideal moment. Each bottle begins its life with great promise, backed by more than a century of heritage and care.

    More Than Wine: A Living Tradition
    At its heart, wine is about time. It is about patience, craft, and trust in what the future can bring. At Te Mata, that idea is present in every vine, every barrel, and every bottle. Whether you age a wine for decades or open it in a few years to celebrate something meaningful, you are tasting more than wine. You are tasting history, hard work, and hope.

    So when you are looking for a gift that lasts, a memory that deepens, or something that will grow more beautiful with time, consider a bottle from Te Mata Estate. It does not just age. It endures.

  • Te Mata x French Oak

    At Te Mata Estate, oak is far more than a vessel; it is a vital partner in crafting wines that evolve gracefully over time. Our winemaking philosophy embraces the classical tradition of using French oak barrels to shape structure, aromatic complexity, and elegance across a broad spectrum of styles. From the vibrant, fruit driven expression of estate Gamay to the depth of flagship reds like Coleraine and Awatea, oak integration is thoughtfully tailored by our winemaking team to suit each wine’s character and long term development.

    French oak is slow-growing and (somewhat paradoxically) known for its softness of flavour – how little flavour it gives. We source premium medium toast French oak from renowned forests across France and work in long standing relationships with trusted cooperages who understand our approach. This level of selection ensures each parcel of wine receives the right barrel for its varietal personality and doesn’t overwhelm the wines we make.

    Cabernet Sauvignon is paired with an oak program inspired by traditional Bordeaux structure. Syrah benefits from a Rhône influenced approach, while Pinot Noir and Chardonnay follow Burgundian tradition. Our Gamay Noir sometimes spends a month on older oak to add just a little tannin – that faintly ‘grippy’ mouthfeel wine can have, a bit like tea.

    Even our Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc, a barrel fermented style, uses a proportion of ‘immersion’ oak – barrels shaped over steam to reduce smokiness and char. Whether a wine needs only a short period in barrel or many months of careful maturation, every decision reflects our pursuit of balance and refinement.

    Our oak program also includes the thoughtful use of new barrels where appropriate. Selection choices are made down to the staves and heads of each barrel we use. And each oak barrel will give almost 90% of its flavour in the first year. The gentle spice and toast characters, from cinnamon to nutmeg to subtle vanilla, contribute layers of texture and tannin that support longevity and expression. It’s important these influences enrich the wine without overpowering the purity of fruit and floral aromatics that define Te Mata Estate’s style. By calibrating oak use with precision and care, our winemakers ensure that each wine’s journey from fermenter to barrel to bottle enhances its ability to age beautifully.

    This commitment to oak has been part of Te Mata Estate from the beginning. More than 130 years ago, barrels arrived through Napier Port just as they do today, linking our wines to the maritime heritage shared by many of the world’s great wine regions. This continuity of history, combined with experience, ongoing research and technical innovation, is central to why Te Mata Estate remains one of New Zealand’s most respected producers and why our barrel program today is such an essential part of creating wines that develop gracefully.

  • Regeneration in Action

    For nearly a decade, Te Mata has been quietly applying regenerative viticulture across our Havelock Hills, Bridge Pa, and Dartmoor vineyards. This is not a gesture toward fashion, but a disciplined exploration: watching, testing, and letting each method prove itself in the vineyard and in the glass. From cover crops to mycorrhizal networks, polyculture to low-till practices, each intervention is measured, site-specific, and always in service of the wine. Here, regenerative viticulture is not an experiment for its own sake – it is a lens through which the precision of the vineyard can be realised.

    Our regenerative toolkit is broad and detailed. Companion planting, wildflower strips, no-drill tilling, low-till cultivation, and precision seeding machinery are applied where they make the most impact. Legumes and brassicas enrich soil life and feed beneficial insects; clover acts as a natural insectary. These layers of life in the soil increase water retention, enhance carbon sequestration, and allow vines to grow in a more balanced, resilient way. Across all our varietals, these practices are subtle yet cumulative, shaping the vines’ ability to express their site without interference.

     

     

    Beneath the surface, a quiet complexity is at work. Mycorrhizal fungi and soil microbes form networks that exchange nutrients, signal stress, and improve vine immunity. It is here  in this subterranean communication – that much of the vineyard’s character originates. Vines supported by these networks ripen with steadier, more measured growth; their fruit carries texture, tension, and vibrancy that speak of life in the soil rather than manipulation in the winery. The difference is felt in the mid-palate: layered, supple tannins, integrated acidity, and a resonance of flavour that feels intrinsic, not engineered.

    Precision viticulture guides this work. Each regenerative practice is mapped, monitored, and assessed; nothing is applied uniformly for effect alone. In Bridge Pa, low-till plots allow soil to sequester carbon while nurturing microbial diversity; in Dartmoor, polyculture helps vines develop subtle aromatic complexity and structure. The result is wines that are layered rather than linear, expressive rather than amplified. They do not shout varietal clichés but instead reveal a quiet, textural depth that rewards patience and attention.

     

     

    What distinguishes Te Mata is not any single method, but the patient orchestration of many small steps over time. Where regenerative viticulture is now being spoken of as a new frontier, we have been cultivating it for years, integrating slowly, testing empirically, and only adopting what proves resilient in both vineyard and glass. This measured approach allows innovation to enhance rather than overwhelm, guiding each vine to express its site with fidelity and nuance.

    The work of regeneration is continuous, and its influence is subtle but tangible in the wines. Soil alive with microbial networks produces grapes that carry energy, tension, and layered aromatics—mid-palates that expand gently, acidity that supports rather than dominates, and tannins that resolve with suppleness. It is a quiet, persistent vitality, one that reminds us that excellence is a process rather than a moment. At Te Mata, regenerative viticulture is not a trend; it is a practice in pursuit of enduring expression. #BetterNeverStops.

     

  • Why ‘Precision’ Viticulture?

    Sustainability technology in viticulture has moved well beyond good intentions. It is now a practical, measurable set of tools that allows vineyards to work with greater precision, lower impact, and deeper understanding of their land.

     

    At Te Mata, many of these technologies are already part of how we farm, not as add-ons, but as extensions of long-established vineyard practice.

    Precision viticulture is one of the most powerful shifts. Through the use of sensors, mapping, and real-time data, we are able to monitor vineyard conditions block by block, sometimes vine by vine. This allows decisions about irrigation, nutrition, and canopy management to be made with far greater accuracy, reducing waste while supporting healthier, more balanced vines.

     

    Water use is a critical issue in Hawke’s Bay, and smart irrigation systems have become an essential tool. Soil moisture sensors and weather data allow irrigation to be timed and targeted rather than assumed. The result is less water used overall, vines that are never pushed or stressed unnecessarily, and fruit that develops with consistency and clarity.

    Energy use is another area where technology supports long-term sustainability. Integrating renewable energy sources into vineyard and winery operations helps reduce reliance on fossil fuels and lowers overall carbon footprint. Just as importantly, it reflects a broader commitment to thinking generationally rather than seasonally.

    What matters is that these technologies are not about replacing intuition or experience. They sharpen it. They give viticulturists better information, earlier signals, and clearer feedback, allowing human judgement to operate at a higher level. The vineyard remains the teacher; technology simply helps us listen more closely.

    Taken together, these tools represent a future-facing approach to viticulture that aligns closely with Te Mata’s philosophy: respect for land, careful stewardship, and quiet innovation. Sustainability here is not a marketing claim, but an evolving practice—one that ensures the vineyards we farm today will remain expressive, resilient, and alive for decades to come.

     

  • ‘Vive la Difference!’

     

    Modern Te Mata Estate is led by CEO Nick Buck and Senior Winemaker Phil Brodie (both pictured below), who oversee our approach to winemaking.

     

    Read an insight from former Te Mata Estate Chairman John Buck (CNZM for Services to Wine and the Arts) on why the estate’s meticulous method is so distinctive:

     

    What makes a wine great? I’d suggest that what makes any wine great is also what makes them unique.

     

    How can you compare a Petrus, predominantly a merlot from the right bank of Bordeaux, to a Latour, predominantly a cabernet sauvignon from the left bank?

     

    These wines are different blends and, accordingly, different blends emerge from different soils. The varietals that suit the vineyard best will, in turn, create wine components that can be blended – not to a formula, but differently each year.

     

    Technical spaces for red wine specialisation – like a cuverie – improve the variety of ferments that can be individually developed and the control that can be exercised around their care.

     

    At Te Mata Estate we hand pick and then sort the fruit using the Armbruster system of de-stemming and grading, followed by another further round of hand sorting. We have 34 separate, small tanks available to us, and therefore over 68 batch ferments are possible in total.

     

    We then have total temperature control throughout our fermentation and barrel ageing. The components are further developed in oak with topping, and three-monthly racking, before being finally blended – the crucial moment where the final wine is ‘framed’ according to what makes the best totality.

     

    In composing our wines this way at Te Mata Estate our aim to use this ‘best-in-the-world’ model, rather than just a New Zealand model.

     

    It’s a method based on what makes great wine great, and it takes a team of skilled operators working together to achieve it.

     

    People who know us well look at Te Mata Estate differently, because we approach winemaking differently. 

     

    Yes, it is about equipment, fruit quality, precision winemaking, and the right staff.

     

    But ultimately, it’s about the ability to create a wine that speaks honestly of our specifically-selected vineyards and our Hawkes Bay environment.

    – April 2025

     

     

    Photo credits: Carl Gunderson for the image of our winemakers and press, M2 Magazine Ltd for the image of Nick Buck, and Richard Brimer for the images of Phil Brodie in the Te Mata Estate cellar and John Buck CMNZ.

     

     

  • The Real Review x Te Mata

    Join Stephen Wong MW on a special visit to Te Mata Estate in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, home of the iconic Coleraine and some of the country’s most celebrated wines. Senior winemaker Phil Brodie takes Stephen inside the barrel hall and cellar, where they taste the latest vintage wines straight from barrels and tanks.
    Along the way, Phil shares insights into Te Mata’s winemaking philosophy, the estate’s history, and what makes Hawke’s Bay one of the leading New Zealand wine regions. If you’re interested in wine education or simply love exploring New Zealand wineries, this episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at one of the country’s greatest estates.

     

  • Biodiversity & Conservation

    In 1996 the landscape surrounding Te Mata Estate was recognised within the Hastings District Plan as a Special Character Zone. The designation acknowledged the distinctive pattern of vineyards, orchards, farmland, and native bush that defines the hills behind Havelock North. For Te Mata, it affirmed a belief that had guided the estate for generations: that the character of the wine begins with the character of the land.

    Today the estate extends across nearly 200 hectares of hillside and valley leading toward the Tukituki River. Vineyards sit alongside orchards, pasture, shelter belts, and areas of regenerating native forest, including the Waipātiki Native Bush Reserve. Rather than forming a continuous block of vines, the property retains the mixed agricultural landscape that has long shaped this part of Hawke’s Bay.

    This diversity plays an important role in the health of the vineyards. Native plantings, orchard trees, and shelter belts support birds, insects, and other beneficial species that contribute to the balance of the ecosystem. Careful soil management and companion planting help maintain healthy vines while encouraging life throughout the property. The vineyards feel connected to the wider landscape rather than separate from it.

    One of the most familiar sights above the estate is the daily presence of the New Zealand falcon, or kārearea, riding the thermals that rise from the warm hillsides. These native birds of prey patrol the vineyards and surrounding farmland, helping regulate populations of smaller pest birds. Their presence is both useful and reassuring, a visible sign that the ecosystem surrounding the vines remains healthy.

    Over time, the increase in birdlife and native species across the estate has become one of the clearest indicators of environmental wellbeing. From the bush reserve to the vineyard rows, the land supports a wide range of life that thrives alongside the vines.

    For Te Mata, caring for this landscape is part of a long tradition of stewardship. The health of the vineyards depends on the health of the soils, waterways, and habitats that surround them. By protecting the character of the land, the estate helps ensure that this place continues to produce distinctive wines while remaining a vibrant landscape for future generations.

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