2005 has been a vintage of the highest quality, where the mid-summer weather provided ideal conditions. The wines have now all finished fermentation and are currently undergoing maturation. Of particular note are the late ripening Bordeaux varieties, the flavours of which appear to have responded wonderfully to the January heat. At this early stage, these
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Winter 2003 finished very wet with about half our annual rainfall occurring in August and September. The timing of bud burst was normal however, and a warm spring ensured a very good and even flowering. Conditions through to December were mild and very dry with no rain in spring and early summer until we had
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2003 produced small crops in New Zealand due to a cool, frosty spring. Hawkes Bay had its share of this weather although Te Mata was fortunate enough to escape largely unscathed. With the exception of low crops for Chardonnay and Merlot our growing season was quite normal in every respect. Summer was dry, with only
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Vintage 2002 was the longest harvest in Te Mata’s history. It began on Friday 15th March and finished, after nearly 7 weeks of picking, on Wednesday 1st May. It was a high quality growing season albeit with an unusual pattern. An early and warm spring progressed to a humid summer, and a very long, warm
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The single greatest factor in reviewing the 2001 vintage is the reduced volumes that were harvested due to the cool November flowering. Vineyard yields for 2001 were 50% of normal levels. Apart from November, it was a normal growing season in every other respect. As is often the case with low cropping years the quality
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The 2000 vintage in Hawkes Bay was characterised by an extremely dry growing season resulting in smaller than average berry sizes giving wines with intense flavours. Heat summation was back to normal levels, after the hotter than average 1998 and 1999 seasons, and quality looks very promising. Our white wines are showing intense ripe fruit
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