Te Mata Estate

Te Mata Estate begins as a vineyard project on a much older pastoral landholding. Te Mata Station was established in 1854 when John Chambers, an English immigrant, purchased land from Ngati Kahungunu on the lower slopes of Te Mata Peak. The original 1870s stables and outbuildings that still form part of the working cellar were built in that decade. The wine story starts a generation later: in 1892, John Chambers' third son Bernard returned from France convinced that the north-facing limestone-influenced hillsides above the homestead could grow serious wine. Bernard planted Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir on three north-facing parcels, converted the original stables into a small winery, and made the first official vintage in 1896. Te Mata won a gold medal at the Imperial International Exhibition of 1909 and, for a period in the early twentieth century, was New Zealand's largest wine producer. The Chambers family sold the property in 1919, and over the next half century the estate passed through two further owners and slid into obscurity. By the early 1970s the vineyards were largely abandoned and the buildings semi-derelict. In May 1974, two men changed that. John Buck, a young wine merchant who had told friends he intended to 'shake up' the New Zealand wine industry, and his business partner Michael Morris, together with their wives Wendy Buck and June Morris, signed an agreement to buy Te Mata. A pre-existing tenancy meant the partners took possession of the vineyards within months but did not get the winery itself until that tenancy expired three years later. The Bucks and Morrises spent the rest of the 1970s replanting and rebuilding, hand-pulling neglected vines, planting fresh blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and putting Te Mata back into commercial production. The 1974 refounding is the moment modern Te Mata Estate truly begins.

• Te Mata Station founded 1854 by John Chambers; original 1870s stables still part of the working cellar today
• Bernard Chambers (John's third son) planted the first Vitis vinifera vines (Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir) on three north-facing parcels in 1892; first official vintage 1896; gold medal at the Imperial International Exhibition 1909
• Chambers family sold in 1919; estate passed through two further owners and fell into dormancy across the mid-twentieth century
• Refounded May 1974 by John and Wendy Buck and Michael and June Morris; vineyards taken over within months, winery building secured three years later when the existing tenancy expired

Te Mata's roughly 135 hectares of estate vineyards span four distinct Hawke's Bay sub-zones, and the contrast between them is the engine of the portfolio. The Havelock Hills, fifteen hectares of north-facing slopes immediately below Te Mata Peak, is the original Bernard Chambers site, still planted to the same combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Chardonnay. The free-draining silt loams, sheltered aspect, and reflected warmth from the surrounding limestone-influenced peak generate the slow, even ripening and structured tannins that define Coleraine and Elston. Woodthorpe Terraces, seventy-five hectares developed in the early 1990s along an elevated terrace bench of the Tutaekuri River valley northeast of Havelock North, provides the cooler, more aromatic profile behind Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc, the Zara Viognier, and much of the Estate Vineyards range. The Bridge Pa Triangle, west of Hastings, is the warm gravelly heart of Hawke's Bay Syrah country: the fifteen-hectare Bullnose Vineyard, planted 1989-1990 in red iron-rich soils over deep river gravel, is among the very oldest Syrah vineyards in New Zealand and the sole source of Bullnose Syrah; the fifteen-hectare Isosceles Vineyard, planted in 2000 on similar terroir, contributes to the Estate Vineyards Syrah and to selected blends. Hawke's Bay's temperate maritime climate is moderated by the Pacific to the east and sheltered by the Kaweka and Ruahine ranges to the west, creating a rain shadow that lifts sunshine hours and lowers humidity, while strong diurnal swings preserve acidity and aromatic intensity.

• Havelock Hills (15ha, north-facing slopes below Te Mata Peak): the original 1890s Chambers parcels; free-draining silt loam; the Coleraine and Elston source
• Woodthorpe Terraces (75ha, established early 1990s): elevated terraces along the Tutaekuri River valley northeast of Havelock North; cooler aromatic-white country
• Bullnose Vineyard (15ha, Bridge Pa Triangle, planted 1989-1990): red iron-rich soils over deep gravel; among the oldest commercial Syrah vines in New Zealand; first Bullnose Syrah vintage 1992
• Isosceles Vineyard (15ha, Bridge Pa Triangle, planted 2000): companion Syrah and Bordeaux-variety site to Bullnose

The winery itself is one of the most recognised pieces of modern architecture in New Zealand. From 1980 onward, John and Wendy Buck commissioned Sir Ian Athfield, the country's most celebrated post-war architect, and Athfield Architects to design first the Buck family home (Coleraine House, 1980) and then the working winery complex. Across the 1980s and into the 1990s the firm added a winemaker's laboratory and visitor centre (1987), a dedicated red-wine fermentation room (1991), an underground barrel hall and cuverie, and a packaging warehouse (1994), all built around the original 1870s stables. Athfield's response drew explicitly on the Art Deco rebuilding of Napier after the 1931 earthquake, the Spanish Mission idiom common in Hawke's Bay's commercial architecture, and the Art Nouveau character of the surviving Chambers homestead. The result is a cluster of limewashed, locally sourced buildings that read as a single modern New Zealand interpretation of those regional traditions, and one of the few wineries in the country to have become an architectural destination in its own right. The integrated complex also drives the way Te Mata works: each Havelock Hills parcel, each Woodthorpe block, and each Bridge Pa block is vinified and aged separately, with the underground barrel hall providing the still, low-temperature environment that the long maturations of Coleraine, Awatea, Elston, and Bullnose require.

• Sir Ian Athfield (Athfield Architects) designed Coleraine House for John and Wendy Buck in 1980 and then the winery complex from the late 1980s onward
• Phases: winemaker's laboratory and visitor centre (1987); red-wine fermentation room (1991); underground barrel hall, cuverie, and packaging warehouse (1994)
• Drew on Hawke's Bay's Art Deco and Spanish Mission heritage and on the Art Nouveau character of the original Chambers homestead; limewashed local materials throughout
• Recognised as one of the landmark works of modern New Zealand architecture, alongside its function as the working cellar for parcel-by-parcel vinification

Te Mata's flagships were not invented in a marketing room. They were built parcel by parcel through the late 1970s and the 1980s. Coleraine, first made in 1982, is named after the river port of Coleraine in County Derry, Northern Ireland, the ancestral hometown of John Buck's great-grandfather Samuel Morrow (the Morrows ran a hardware business there until Samuel emigrated to New Zealand in 1908). Awatea, the sister tier and effectively Coleraine's second wine, was first made in the same 1982 vintage. From the inaugural Coleraine through 1988 the wine was a single-vineyard expression; in 1989 John Buck and Technical Director Peter Cowley shifted to a multi-parcel Havelock Hills assemblage, selecting the best blocks each vintage to build a wine that could carry up to a century of cellaring. The exact blend changes every year: the 2023, made in the difficult Cyclone Gabrielle season, was 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc, with the Cabernet's small berries, thick skins, and bunch architecture rewarding the vintage's conditions. Awatea is consistently the same trio in different proportions, matured 15 to 18 months in partly new French oak, designed for a 10-to-20-year window rather than a 30-to-50-year one. Elston Chardonnay, first made in 1984 and named for Elston Hall in Nottinghamshire (another piece of family history), comes from the estate's oldest Chardonnay vines in the Havelock Hills; whole-cluster pressed, 100% barrel-fermented, with partial malolactic and 11 months in French oak, it remains a New Zealand reference for serious oaked Chardonnay. Bullnose Syrah comes exclusively from the 15-hectare Bullnose Vineyard in the Bridge Pa Triangle, with vines planted 1989 and 1990 (among the very oldest commercial Syrah plantings in the country); the first vintage was 1992 and every release since has been made by Phil Brodie, now the estate's chief winemaker. Cape Crest is the barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc styled after a white Graves; Zara is the single-vineyard Viognier; the Estate Vineyards range, launched in 2012, is a six-wine tier (Cabernets/Merlot, Syrah, Gamay Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir added in 2019) made exclusively from estate fruit.

• Coleraine: first vintage 1982 (single-vineyard); multi-parcel Havelock Hills assemblage from 1989 under John Buck and Technical Director Peter Cowley; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc in proportions that vary every vintage (2023 = 80/15/5); named after Coleraine, Northern Ireland, the hometown of John Buck's great-grandfather Samuel Morrow
• Awatea: first vintage 1982, the same Bordeaux trio as Coleraine in different proportions; positioned directly below Coleraine; matured 15-18 months in partly new French oak
• Elston Chardonnay: first vintage 1984; from the estate's oldest Havelock Hills Chardonnay; whole-cluster pressed, 100% barrel-fermented, partial malolactic, 11 months in French oak
• Bullnose Syrah: first vintage 1992; sourced exclusively from the 15-hectare Bullnose Vineyard in the Bridge Pa Triangle (vines planted 1989-1990 on red iron-rich soils); every vintage made by Phil Brodie, today chief winemaker

Te Mata is one of the longest-running family-owned wine businesses in New Zealand, and the way the cellar has been led mirrors the way the families have run the company. John Buck CNZM OBE (a former chairman of the Wine Institute of New Zealand and member of the New Zealand Wine Hall of Fame) and Michael Morris were the founding partners in 1974; their wives Wendy Buck and June Morris have been involved from the very start, and Coleraine House, the Athfield-designed Buck family home, sits on the same hillside as the vineyards. Generational handover began in the 2010s. John Buck remains active in the business; his middle son Nick Buck was appointed Chief Executive in 2013 and now leads the company, joined by his brothers Jonathan and Tobias. On the cellar side, Peter Cowley served as Technical Director from 1984 onward (his arrival coincided with the first Elston and the building of the new winery) and was the partner with John Buck on the 1989 decision to remake Coleraine as a multi-parcel assemblage; Cowley remained at the helm of the cellar for more than three decades before retirement. Phil Brodie, who joined Te Mata in 1992 with vintage experience at Clos des Lambrays in Burgundy and Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux, made every Bullnose Syrah from the inaugural 1992 release and is now the estate's chief winemaker. The continuity is striking: across more than fifty vintages the estate has had two principal Technical Directors and the families that bought the winery in 1974 are still the families that run it.

• Founding partners 1974: John and Wendy Buck, Michael and June Morris; John Buck CNZM OBE remains active in the business
• Nick Buck (third-generation) appointed Chief Executive in 2013; joined by brothers Jonathan and Tobias in running the company
• Peter Cowley: Technical Director from 1984; partnered with John Buck on the 1989 shift to the multi-parcel Havelock Hills Coleraine; led the cellar for more than three decades before retirement
• Phil Brodie: joined 1992 with experience at Clos des Lambrays and Chateau Margaux; made every Bullnose Syrah from 1992; current chief winemaker

Te Mata sits at the top of any serious conversation about New Zealand red wine. Decanter magazine has described the estate as 'New Zealand's First Growth' and Coleraine as 'among the top Bordeaux blends in the world,' and in 2017 the magazine named the 1998 Coleraine a Decanter Wine Legend, the only New Zealand wine ever to receive that designation. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate classifies Te Mata as one of the five Icon Wineries of New Zealand with the rare 'Outstanding Producer' rating. Recent Coleraine vintages have been almost monotonously highly scored at Wine Advocate by Erin Larkin: the 2023 (the difficult Cyclone Gabrielle season) and the 2021 each at 98 points, the 2022 at 97+, the 2020 at 97. Coleraine and Bullnose Syrah have both appeared on James Suckling's Top 50 Wines of the World list; the 1989 Elston Chardonnay won the trophy for Best White Wine in Show at the 1991 International Wine Challenge; Coleraine, Awatea, Bullnose, and Elston have all been classified 'Super Classic' for consistency and aging potential across vintages. The estate ships approximately 30,000 cases a year, with all grapes grown, all wines made, and all bottling done on the Havelock Hills site, and is distributed in 45 countries through partners including Berry Bros and Rudd, Fells, and Wilson Daniels. Coleraine has been served at the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II and at official dinners for former US President Barack Obama; the 2013 Coleraine sold out from the winery in ten days. Te Mata is not a member of the Family of Twelve, the well-known producer alliance that includes Felton Road and Kumeu River, having always operated as an independent single-family estate.

• Decanter: 'New Zealand's First Growth'; 1998 Coleraine named a Decanter Wine Legend in 2017 (the only New Zealand wine ever so designated)
• Wine Advocate: one of five Icon Wineries of New Zealand, 'Outstanding Producer' rating; 2023 and 2021 Coleraine each 98 points (Erin Larkin); 2022 = 97+; 2020 = 97
• Coleraine and Bullnose Syrah have appeared on James Suckling's Top 50 Wines of the World; Coleraine, Awatea, Bullnose, and Elston all classified 'Super Classic' for consistency and aging potential
• Approximately 30,000 cases a year; distributed in 45 countries (Berry Bros and Rudd, Fells, Wilson Daniels, among others); independent of the Family of Twelve, operating as a single-family estate

For students of Hawke's Bay and of New Zealand wine more broadly, Te Mata is the foundational case study. It is the proof that Hawke's Bay can produce age-worthy Cabernet-dominant Bordeaux blends at international price points, and it is essentially the producer that created the category. The first vintage of Coleraine in 1982 came at a time when the international wine trade did not take New Zealand red wine seriously; by the late 1990s, the 1998 Coleraine was being celebrated by Decanter as a Wine Legend. The estate also offers an unusually compact teaching example of parcel-driven blending: a single owner, four contiguous-ish sub-zones (Havelock Hills, Woodthorpe Terraces, Bullnose, Isosceles), and a flagship that is rebuilt blend-wise from the ground up every vintage rather than made to a fixed recipe. The 1996 Te Mata Special Character Zone, New Zealand's first legally protected wine-growing area, codifies how a producer can shape regional regulation rather than just respond to it. And on the architectural and cultural side, the Athfield winery is one of the few examples in the country of a wine producer becoming a piece of national modernist architecture in its own right. For WSET Diploma and Master of Wine candidates, the syllabus is set: trace Coleraine from the 1982 single-vineyard wine through the 1989 multi-parcel shift; map the four sub-zones against the flagship wines; understand the John Buck-Peter Cowley and Nick Buck-Phil Brodie generational handovers; and place the 1998 Decanter Wine Legend within the broader emergence of Hawke's Bay as a first-rank red-wine region.

• The foundational producer for serious Hawke's Bay red wine and the case study for parcel-driven Cabernet-Merlot-Cabernet Franc blending under a single owner
• 1996 Te Mata Special Character Zone = New Zealand's first legally protected wine-growing area, shaped by the estate itself
• Athfield-designed winery complex (1980s-1990s) is one of the few wine estates in the country recognised as a landmark of modern national architecture
• Required reading for WSET Diploma and Master of Wine candidates studying New Zealand reds, parcel-driven blending, sub-regional terroir within a single estate, and the late-twentieth-century emergence of Hawke's Bay