Te Whare Ra

Te Whare Ra was established in 1979 by Allen and Joyce Hogan, who had purchased the Renwick property in 1977. Allen was a Woodbourne air traffic controller and Joyce had worked in Montana's vineyards, and together they planted four hectares of Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Chardonnay on land that sits centrally in the Wairau Valley. Their first wines were released from the 1982 vintage. At a time when Marlborough's pioneering plantings were dominated by Montana, Corbans, and Penfolds, the Hogans deliberately set up as a small, privately owned, hand-tended boutique winery, the first of its kind in the region. Crucially, they planted on grafted American rootstock, a choice that was unusual for Marlborough at the time. When phylloxera moved through the region in subsequent decades it destroyed many of the earlier own-rooted plantings, but Te Whare Ra's grafted vines survived. As a result, the 1979 Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Chardonnay blocks are today the oldest surviving vines in Marlborough.

• Allen and Joyce Hogan purchased the Renwick site in 1977 and planted in 1979; first release 1982 vintage
• First small, privately owned boutique winery in Marlborough at a time when the region was dominated by large producers Montana, Corbans, and Penfolds
• Original 1979 plantings: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Chardonnay on grafted American rootstock
• Grafted rootstock decision saved the vines when phylloxera later moved through Marlborough; now the region's oldest surviving vines

In 2003 Te Whare Ra was bought by winemakers Anna and Jason Flowerday, who have owned and run the estate ever since. Anna is a sixth-generation McLaren Vale winegrower who studied Science and then Oenology at the University of Adelaide, which had absorbed the historic Roseworthy Agricultural College viticulture programme in 1991. She spent seven years at Hardy's during the 1990s, culminating in a formative stint at the Leasingham winery in the Clare Valley working alongside Riesling specialist Kerri Thompson, where her love of aromatic whites took hold. Jason Flowerday is a third-generation Marlborough viticulturist and winemaker, and the couple met while both worked in the Australian industry before returning to New Zealand to take on Te Whare Ra. They are hands-on owner-operators: Anna leads the winemaking, Jason the viticulture, and the pair share business and cellar-door responsibilities. In 2025 The Real Review named them inaugural New Zealand Vignerons of the Year, reflecting more than two decades of work elevating the estate's reputation while keeping it deliberately small.

• Anna and Jason Flowerday purchased Te Whare Ra in 2003 and have owned and run it continuously since
• Anna: sixth-generation McLaren Vale winegrower; University of Adelaide oenology graduate (Roseworthy successor programme); seven years at Hardy's with a final posting at Leasingham, Clare Valley
• Jason: third-generation Marlborough viticulturist and winemaker, raised in the wine industry of the region
• Inaugural New Zealand Vignerons of the Year, The Real Review, 2025

The estate is a single 11-hectare contiguous block in Renwick in central Marlborough, planted to seven varieties on loam over clay subsoils typical of the central Wairau Valley. The Flowerdays have farmed the property organically since taking over, achieved BioGro NZ organic certification, and farm in line with biodynamic principles as members of Biodynamics New Zealand. They are founding members of MANA, the Marlborough Artisan Wine Producers group, and members of Organic Winegrowers New Zealand. Practices include composting, cover crops, on-site sheep grazing, biodynamic preparations, and a refusal to use synthetic herbicides or systemic fungicides. The varieties planted reflect the estate's aromatic focus: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Gris alongside Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and a small Syrah block. Total production sits at around 3,000 cases per year, which keeps the estate firmly in artisan territory and allows every block to be tasted, fermented, and bottled separately when needed.

• Single 11 ha estate in Renwick on loam over clay; seven varieties (Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah)
• BioGro NZ organic certification and biodynamic practice; founding member MANA Marlborough Artisan Wine Producers; member Organic Winegrowers New Zealand and Biodynamics New Zealand
• No synthetic herbicides or systemic fungicides; composting, cover crops, sheep grazing, biodynamic preparations
• Approximately 3,000 cases per year total production; every block can be vinified separately

Winemaking at Te Whare Ra is deliberately low-intervention. Fruit is hand-harvested and hand-sorted, ferments are wild and rely on indigenous yeast, sulphur additions are kept low, and wines are vegan and vegetarian friendly. The cellar is built around small tanks and a mix of older oak so each block can be handled as its own parcel. The estate is best known as Marlborough's leading aromatic specialist, and its Gewürztraminer in particular is widely regarded as the benchmark for the variety in the country, drawing on vines planted in 1979. The Toru white blend, first vinted from the 2006 vintage and named after the Māori word for 'three', is a co-fermented field blend of Gewürztraminer, Riesling, and Pinot Gris grown together in a single block, and was one of the first New Zealand wines of its kind. Riesling is bottled in two main expressions: a dry style and an off-dry 'M' style with around 25 grams per litre of residual sugar, balanced by the natural acidity of the old vines. The 'M' Series, named for Marlborough, represents the estate's regional benchmark expressions across varieties.

• Low-intervention winemaking: hand-harvested, hand-sorted, indigenous-yeast ferments, low sulphur, vegan/vegetarian friendly
• Toru: co-fermented field blend of Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris from a single block; first vintage 2006; one of the first NZ wines of its kind ('toru' = three in Māori)
• Gewürztraminer from the 1979 vines is widely regarded as New Zealand's benchmark expression of the variety
• Riesling produced in both dry and off-dry 'M' style (~25 g/L RS); the 'M' Series captures Marlborough regional character across varieties

Despite producing only around 3,000 cases a year, Te Whare Ra has built an outsized international reputation. The estate consistently ranks among the top tier of New Zealand wineries in critical reviews, and in 2025 The Real Review named Anna and Jason Flowerday inaugural New Zealand Vignerons of the Year. In the United States, K&L Wines has imported the estate exclusively for more than thirteen years, and the wines are distributed into the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Australia, and across Asia through small-portfolio specialist importers. The combination of forty-plus year old vines, single-estate organic and biodynamic farming, hand-tended scale, and Anna Flowerday's reputation as one of the country's most articulate advocates for aromatic whites and small-grower viticulture has positioned Te Whare Ra as a reference point for what Marlborough can deliver beyond commodity Sauvignon Blanc.

• Inaugural New Zealand Vignerons of the Year, The Real Review, 2025
• K&L Wines: exclusive U.S. importer for over 13 years
• Distributed internationally across UK, Europe, Australia, and Asia via small-portfolio specialist importers
• Reference estate for Marlborough beyond commodity Sauvignon Blanc, anchored by 1979 vines and single-estate organic/biodynamic farming