Winemaker Notes
The 2020 Awatea Cabernets-Merlot is a dark royal ruby in color with a bright purple glow at its edge. Immediate classical aromas of walnut and polished cedar shimmer amongst wild blackberry, currants, marzipan, and dusty sun-baked gravel. On the palate, red and black summer-fruits entwine with brilliant red roses, high notes of vanilla, and silky dark-chocolate tannin. Savory, bright, and sumptuous.
Blend: 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Awatea Cabernets Merlot is ripe and fleshy and almost a little obvious at this stage, but it's so lovely in its expression of Cabernet et al. A little iodine, a little oyster shell, bay leaf, dark chocolate and tobacco, they're all present and accounted for. This is a brilliant wine.
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Vinous
Initially tight as a monkey's nuts, the very young 2020 Awatea needs time to open up and reveal its creamy, seductive personality. Tasted alongside the already impressive 2019 Awatea, the 2020 goes a step further in its substance, depth and ripeness. It has a rich mid-palate of sweet black currant, black olives and mint, but it's all tremendously creamy. Underneath the lush exterior, an abundance of fine yet structured powdery tannins combine with fine acidity to provide the architecture for this intense wine. Offering excellent persistence, structure and scent, the 2020 has knocked it out of the park. Best Awatea ever? You might be looking at it.
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James Suckling
I like the distinct pencil lead and graphite character here, with dark plums, bramble, dried herbs and black tea. Medium-bodied with a fine tannin frame. Linear. Restrained, yet excellent varietal expression.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An eclectic region on the east coast of the North Island, Hawkes Bay extends from wide, fertile, coastal plains, inland, to the coast range, whose peaks reach as high as 5,300 feet. While the flatter areas were historically more popular because they are easier to cultivate, their alluvial soils can be too fertile for vines. In the late 20th century, the drive for quality led growers to the hills where soils are free-draining, limestone-rich and more suited to producing high quality wines.
Over the passing of time, the old Ngaruroro River laid down deep, gravelly beds, which were subsequently exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. In the 1980s growers identified this stretch, which continues for approximately 800 ha, and named it the Gimblett Gravels. The zone has proven to be ideal for the production of excellent red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
Today the area takes well-earned recognition for its Bordeaux blends and other reds. Expressive of intense stewed red and black berry with gentle herbaceous characters, Gimblett Gravels wines are suggestive of their cool climate origin, and on par with other top-notch Bordeaux blends around the globe.
Chardonnay is the top white grape in Hawkes Bay, making elegant wines, strong in stone fruit character. Sauvignon blanc comes in close behind, notable for its tropical, fruit forward qualities.