Te Mata Coleraine vertical

Winemaker John Buck and his son Nicholas were at Linden's latest tasting to present their top bordeaux blend, Coleraine, a blend of cab sauv, merlot and cab franc. The wines were presented oldest first, John preferring this order to reflect the fact that the oldest vintages came from relatively young vines (planted in 1978). And indeed, there did seem to be a progressive increase in quality, and the youngest vintages tasted to me comparable to the very top clarets from 2005 - I'm thinking super-seconds here. The big question is whether they will age like claret. This tasting didn't really suggest that they would - the 1991 hadn't really gained in complexity from its 14+ years in bottle. The pre-2003 wines all struck me as quite Loire-like - intense but with a green streak

• 1991 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 88 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Spicy, cedary oak, lactic, tangy, mouthfilling. Bright, ripe, primary and little showing little sign of age

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• 1995 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 88 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  More muted than the '91, some and oak evident, tobacco and a noticeable green streak - tight, and sharp

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• 1996 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 88 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Funky barnyard nose, green nose, deep cedary fruit, quite tannic, long. (John Buck was adamant the funkiness was not brett, but more likely the effect of completing the malo in barrel rather than tank - a practice they flirted with in the mid 90s which has now been abandoned)

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• 1997 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 90 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Quite different from the preceding, older, vintages - a broad burgundian fragrance, penetrating fruity nose, quite volatile, but the palate was more conventional, still showing some vanilla oak - I really liked this, though it did seem to have become coarser when I went back to it at the end of the tasting

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• 1998 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 90 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Back to the dark tight style for this one, but this was loaded with fruit, violets and liquorice, dense crisp fruit, structured, but somehow more Loire than Bordeaux

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• 1999 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 89 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Intense and focused, a sharp fragrance, quite sharp (like all these wines), less distinctive on the palate, and less structured than the 1998

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• 2000 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 88 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Milk and nettles nose, very compact, closed today - Nick said this usually shows much better and is one of his favourite vintages

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• 2001 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 89 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  This too was sharp, nettley, green, piercing nose, harmonious on the palate - long and rather impressive

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• 2002 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 89 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Ripe, blackcurrant nose, nettles again, full on the palate, some raisiness to the fruit, long and intense - I agreed with those who found it Loire-like, due to the high percentage of cab franc this year

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• 2003 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 89 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Bitter chocolate on the nose, vanilla and coconut, by far the oakiest so far, but matched with bags of ripe fruit, very attractive

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• 2004 Te Mata Estate Coleraine 90 Points

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Monty chocolate nose - just like and After Eight - like the 2003 this showed bags and bags of oak and ripe fruit, and was very attractive

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• 2005 Te Mata Estate Coleraine

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  This seemed a definite notch up, dense, a fruit pastille sweetness - this was reminiscent to me of the 2005 clarets, the top ones.

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• 2006 Te Mata Estate Coleraine

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  If anything, even better than the 2005, the fruit and oak is not integrated yet, but the components seem quite superb

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