Sign up to receive limited time offers or to hear about wines that just aren't in great enough supply for us to advertise anywhere else. This is the best way to hear about the wines that we're most excited about. Tailor your email subscription at the time of your sign up through safe subscribe. All Sec Wines Email Specials are on a first come, first served basis. Orders will be filled in the order that they are received. Call with any questions (503) 805-5871
2021 Te Mata, Sauvignon Blanc Blend, Cape Crest, Hawke’s Bay, NZ $34.99 bottle / $179.94($29.99) six-pack
My favorite wines of Bordeaux are Cheval Blanc, Leoville las Cases and Haut-Brion BLANC. The 2021 Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc goes for between $799 to well over $1,000 per bottle, so I don’t have any in my cellar. The 2021 Cape Crest from Te Mata, is the closest wine I’ve ever come across in resemblance to young Haut-Brion in aromatic profile, texture and depth on the palate. While this wine is head-turning now, and while it might not age for three decades like Haut Brion, I expect this wine to be absolutely stunning in 10-15 years. I’ll add some to the cellar and find out. While I find the below scores to be very conservative, the text is worthwhile. “White Bordeaux lovers eat your heart out, the 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Cape Crest is a white Sauvignon-Semillon blend offering palate richness and texture. There's plenty of expressive aromatics from blackcurrant and herbs to nectarine and tropical fruit, along with well-integrated oak-derived vanilla. A delightful, concentrated, attractive style that provides a refreshing alternative to classic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc styles.” - 92 Vinous & “This is composed and impressive and yet still so young. Having had the benefit of tasting the lineup, I'd say that while I can both appreciate and even encourage drinking these wines in their youth, the complexity and layering that evolves over time is magnificent, and you are missing this element in youth. The trade off of fresh fruit in the short term is not enough to warrant the sacrifice of age-derived complexity. Drink 2024-2036” - 94 Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate. Very limited.
Special Price: $34.99 per bottle
2021 Te Mata, “Awatea” Red Bordeaux Blend, Hawke’s Bay, NZ $44.99 bottle / $243.00($40.50) six-pack
I have to admit, this red wine really surprised to the upside. I expected it, like any wine from Te Mata, to be very strong in it’s category, but it I wan’t prepared for how good it is - especially at this price point. I mean, you can’t buy Cabernet-based CA for WA - or Bordeaux wines anywhere near this good at anywhere near this price. The beautiful nose reminds me of 1980s era young California Cabernet Sauvignon - as in Mayacamas, Spottswoode, Chateau Montelena and the like. While this wine is already really delicious now, it will only improve over the next 15 years. “The 2021 Awatea Cabernets Merlot is dusty and chalky aromatically, with lavender and crushed rocks, pouch tobacco and a sheet or two of nori. The wine feels fleshy despite that, and this brings a pleasurable see-saw of savory and succulent. This is an excellent wine and perfumed to the extreme.” - 96 Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
Special Price: $44.99 per bottle
2021 Te Mata, “Coleraine” Red Bordeaux Blend, Hawke’s Bay, NZ $99.99 bottle / $539.94($89.99) six-pack ~ pre-arrival due mid October
Te Mata’s Coleraine red is widely considered to be the “First Growth” of the southern hemisphere, if not the new world. Vintage after vintage, this wine is among the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon blends in the world - and it sells for a fraction of the price of its competition. “The 2021 Coleraine is refined an understated, maintaining this Kiwi thoroughbred’s royal reputation. The blend brings together 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, although the lifted violets and pencil lead perfume would leave you thinking there was more Franc here. It is a fragrant expression that brings sweetness of ripe, silky fruit without opulence or heaviness. Layers of complex flavor are infused though its concentrated yet satiny core, combining cassis, raspberry, violets, pencil lead, cedar and tea leaf. While plentiful, the tannins are already fine and for those who like to drink prematurely, you could reasonably enjoy this without needing a slab of protein to cope with its structure. The finish is long, smoky and scented. Drink 2025-2040” - Vinous
Special Price: $99.99 per bottle
