First made in 1982, Awatea continues to represent the best of the classic Hawke's Bay Cabernet/Merlot blend. 

Awatea takes its name from the historic ship SS Awatea (a Maori word meaning “Eye of the Dawn”) that sailed the Auckland – Sydney – Wellington route in the late 1930s. The Awatea was requisitioned as a troop transport in WWII and was sunk off Algeria in 1942.

With a gleaming crimson core and ruby rim, Awatea Cabernets/Merlot ’23 is enticingly perfumed with blackberry, bay, violets, and vanilla. The satisfying palate is detailed, poised and texturally rewarding, interplaying plum, black olive and sandalwood notes with salinity, refreshing acidity and bright tannin length. It has a captivating elegance that is classically Te Mata.