Te Mata Estate

Te Mata Estate grew out of Te Mata Station, a pastoral landholding established in 1854 by English immigrant John Chambers; a homestead and stables were built on the property in the early 1870s. After returning from France, John Chambers' third son Bernard planted vines on three parcels of hillside land above the homestead in 1892, choosing Chardonnay, Cabernet and Pinot Noir for the north-facing hills around Havelock North, and began converting the original stables to ferment and mature the first Te Mata wines. Those first vines came from the Marist Brotherhood's vineyards in Meeanee, from the Beecham family near Waipukurau and from Henry Tiffin's estate in Taradale. The estate dates its establishment to 1896, and by 1909 its Havelock Hills vineyards formed the country's largest vineyard. Its name was gifted by Ngāti Kahungunu. The Chambers family sold the property in 1919; Te Mata Vineyards was established, and the property had two other owners before the Buck and Morris families acquired it in 1974. John Buck and his business partner Michael Morris had spent several years searching for vineyard sites suited to fine Cabernet/Merlot and Chardonnay, and in the late 1970s Buck, with experience gained in the British wine trade, redeveloped the vineyards and winery. No part of the original winemaking operation has ever moved: the estate still makes its wines in the original winery buildings and from the original vineyards.

• Te Mata Station established in 1854 by John Chambers; homestead and stables built in the early 1870s
• 1892: Bernard Chambers planted Chardonnay, Cabernet and Pinot Noir on three hillside parcels above the homestead
• Chambers family sold in 1919; two further owners before the Buck and Morris families acquired the estate in 1974
• The winemaking operation has never moved from its original site

The estate's team page lists Nick Buck as Chief Executive, Alastair Morris as Chairman and Phil Brodie as Senior Winemaker. Nick Buck, the second-eldest son of John and Wendy Buck, returned to the family business in 2000 to run sales and marketing and was appointed Chief Executive in 2013. Jonathan Buck, the eldest son and a director, is Estate Manager of Woodthorpe Terraces, the estate's largest grape-growing site, and the youngest son, Toby Buck, also a director, has managed sales in the estate's largest markets since 2014. Fiona Morris, a director, is the daughter of co-founders Michael and June Morris. Phil Brodie joined Te Mata in 1992, with vintage experience in Burgundy and at Château Margaux. Peter Cowley joined in 1984 as sole winemaker, oversaw the creation of the estate's range over more than 30 years and later served as technical director; he had retired by November 2024. John Buck chaired the New Zealand Wine Institute from 1991 to 1996, helped establish Hawke's Bay Vintners (now Hawke's Bay Winegrowers) and was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his work in wine and the arts.

• Nick Buck: Chief Executive since 2013
• Alastair Morris: Chairman; Fiona Morris, Jonathan Buck and Toby Buck: directors
• Phil Brodie: Senior Winemaker; joined Te Mata in 1992
• Peter Cowley: sole winemaker from 1984, later technical director; retired by November 2024

All Te Mata Estate wines come from the estate's own Hawke's Bay vineyards, in a temperate maritime climate with low rainfall due to the rain shadow from mountains to the west. The Havelock Hills, first planted in 1892, hold five Te Mata sites on free-draining, north-facing slopes, with sandy loam over a sandstone base to the east and sandy loam over a thin layer of clay and a silica pan to the west. The Awatea, Elston and Coleraine vineyards are here, as is the winery. In 1996 the area was recognised as the Te Mata Special Character Zone, making these the first vineyards in New Zealand to be protected by law. Woodthorpe Terraces is a 220-hectare property of elevated, free-draining terraces stepping down to the Tutaekuri River valley, with sandy loam over gravel; first planted in 1994, it produces Viognier, Pinot Noir and Gamay Noir as single-vineyard wines and holds the estate's largest plantings of Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. In the Bridge Pā Triangle, the 15-hectare Bullnose Vineyard was planted in 1990 with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Sauvignon Gris, and the 15-hectare Isosceles Vineyard was planted in 2000 with Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah, Semillon and Cabernet Franc. About 90% of the estate's Syrah plantings are in Bridge Pā, and Te Mata also has two Syrah vineyard sites in the Gimblett Gravels. The estate's vineyards were among the first accredited under Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand in 1995, as was the winery.

• Havelock Hills: five sites on north-facing slopes, first planted in 1892; home to the Awatea, Elston and Coleraine vineyards and the winery
• Woodthorpe Terraces: 220-hectare property above the Tutaekuri River valley, first planted in 1994
• Bridge Pā Triangle: Bullnose Vineyard (15 ha, planted 1990) and Isosceles Vineyard (15 ha, planted 2000)
• Gimblett Gravels: two Syrah vineyard sites

The stables, built in the 1870s and converted into a winery by the Chambers family in the 1890s, remain the centre of Te Mata's winemaking. Built from handmade, hand-fired bricks of local clay and pit-sawn native timber, the building provides cool cellaring space and the white wine fermentation room. A first-year barrel hall with a Matai roof was added in the 1930s. In the 1980s the architect Ian Athfield, who had designed John and Wendy Buck's home in the Coleraine vineyard, was asked to extend the winery buildings. Athfield Architects created a series of buildings reflecting the art deco heritage of Hawke's Bay and the art nouveau heritage of the original Chambers homestead, using local materials and limewash colours. A winemaker's laboratory, staff facilities, offices and a visitor centre were added in 1987, a red wine fermentation room in 1991, and a packaging and labelling warehouse in 1994. A state-of-the-art red wine cuverie now operates alongside the brick and wood of the original barrel halls.

• 1870s stables converted to a winery in the 1890s; still the centre of winemaking
• 1930s: first-year barrel hall with a Matai roof
• Later additions: laboratory, offices and visitor centre (1987); red wine fermentation room (1991); packaging and labelling warehouse (1994)

Coleraine, first made in 1982, is the estate's flagship, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. From 1982 to 1988 it came from a single vineyard in the Havelock Hills originally called The Hill; in 1989 it became a blend of pickings chosen to represent the best of the vintage, and from 1994 some fruit has come from the Bridge Pā Triangle, with occasional parcels from Dartmoor and the Gimblett Gravels. It spends 18 to 20 months in French oak barrels with around 30% new wood. Coleraine was not produced in 1992, 1993 or 2012, and the 2024 vintage was its 40th release. The name comes from the river port in County Derry, Northern Ireland, from which Samuel Morrow, Toby Buck's great-grandfather on his father's side, emigrated to New Zealand in 1908. Awatea, first made in 1982 as Coleraine's sibling, draws at least 85% of its fruit from the Havelock Hills and always carries a higher proportion of Merlot and Cabernet Franc than Coleraine; the 2024 is 62% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc, aged 17 months in French oak (28% new). It is named after the SS Awatea, a New Zealand-built ocean liner of the 1930s. Elston Chardonnay comes primarily from the estate's historic Chardonnay vineyards in the Havelock Hills, first planted in 1892, and takes its name from Elston Hall in Nottinghamshire, where members of the Chambers family were educated as children. Bullnose Syrah is 100% Syrah, with no co-fermented Viognier; the 2024 was hand harvested from parcels in Bridge Pā, the Gimblett Gravels and Dartmoor and matured 16 months in French oak barriques (34% new). Its name comes from an early Morris Cowley motor car, known as the Bullnose for its rounded radiator. Alma Pinot Noir, from vines first planted in 1999, was introduced in 2019 with the 2018 vintage and is named for Dr James Thomson of the 1854 Battle of the Alma, a forefather of the Buck family. The range also includes Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc and Zara Viognier, and in 2012 the estate launched a collection of six varietally designated wines: Merlot/Cabernets, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Gamay Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

• Coleraine: first made in 1982; single vineyard from 1982 to 1988, a blend of pickings from 1989; 18 to 20 months in French oak, around 30% new
• Awatea: first made in 1982; at least 85% Havelock Hills fruit; 2024 blend of 62% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon and 11% Cabernet Franc
• Bullnose Syrah: 100% Syrah; the 2024 drawn from Bridge Pā, the Gimblett Gravels and Dartmoor
• Elston Chardonnay: from Havelock Hills Chardonnay vineyards first planted in 1892
• Alma Pinot Noir: vines first planted in 1999; first release the 2018 vintage

Decanter named the 1998 Coleraine a Wine Legend in September 2017; Stephen Brook's citation calls Coleraine 'the most avidly collected of New Zealand red wines.' The 1998 was a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc. Writing in Decanter, Bob Campbell MW called Coleraine 'arguably New Zealand’s most prestigious wine' and wrote that it 'did for Hawke’s Bay Bordeaux blends what Cloudy Bay later did for Marlborough Sauvignon.'

• 1998 Coleraine: Decanter Wine Legend (2017); 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc

In its own notes, Te Mata presents Bullnose as 'intensely coloured, highly perfumed and finely structured,' with aromas of violet, rose petal, raspberry, black cherry, black olive and pepper. It sets Awatea apart as more Merlot and Cabernet Franc-driven, more fruit-forward and more approachable young than Coleraine, which is more Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant and more structured. Its notes on Elston list white peach and nectarine, citrus zest and grapefruit, hazelnut and saline mineral notes.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.temata.co.nz/, https://www.temata.co.nz/our-story/, https://www.temata.co.nz/havelock-hills/, https://www.temata.co.nz/woodthorpe-terraces/, https://www.temata.co.nz/bridge-pa-gravels/, https://www.temata.co.nz/staff/, https://www.temata.co.nz/architecture/, https://www.temata.co.nz/the-te-mata-character-zone-25-years-of-new-zealands-first-wine-appellation/, https://www.temata.co.nz/coleraine-a-new-era/, https://www.temata.co.nz/awatea-cabernet-merlot/, https://www.temata.co.nz/elston-chardonnay/, https://www.temata.co.nz/bullose-syrah/, https://www.temata.co.nz/new-zealands-oldest-winery-2/, https://www.temata.co.nz/peter-cowley-joins-wine-hall-of-fame/, https://www.temata.co.nz/two-new-wines-pinot-noir-from-te-mata-estate-just-20-years-in-the-making/, https://www.temata.co.nz/new-world-winery-of-the-year/. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/learn/wine-legend-te-mata-coleraine-1998-375078/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/te-mata-s-john-buck-awarded-cmnz-22893/, https://www.nzwine.com/en/winery/te-mata-estate, https://www.decanter.com/premium/best-te-mata-coleraine-wines-402906/ (Decanter: Stephen Brook, published 17 September 2017; Richard Woodard, last updated 26 May 2015; Bob Campbell MW, last updated 9 August 2019; New Zealand Winegrowers winery listing). Last verified 2026-10-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.