Te Whare Ra

Te Whare Rā, abbreviated TWR, was established in 1979. The 2025 Gewürztraminer is made solely from 14 rows in the old block that were planted by the Hogans in 1979. Its Riesling and Gewürztraminer vines are among Marlborough's oldest, and Te Whare Ra counts its original 1979 plantings as the oldest vines in the Marlborough region. 2014 marked the 35th anniversary of the first plantings and the release of the wines under the updated Single Vineyard 5182 series labels. Anna and Jason Flowerday have owned and run Te Whare Ra since 2003.

• Established 1979; owned and operated by the Flowerday family since 2003
• Old-block Gewürztraminer rows planted by the Hogans in 1979
• Riesling and Gewürztraminer vines among Marlborough's oldest
• 2014: 35th anniversary of the first plantings and release of the Single Vineyard 5182 series labels

Te Whare Ra is owned by winemakers Anna and Jason Flowerday, who have owned and run it since 2003. Jason grew up in Marlborough and Anna is from McLaren Vale in South Australia; both come from multi-generational wine backgrounds. Jason's parents, Ross and Marie Flowerday, have been involved in many aspects of the Marlborough industry since the early 1980s, and Anna's parents, Chris and Sally Burgan, are winegrowers from McLaren Vale. The Flowerdays learned regenerative farming while living in South Australia, before buying their Marlborough vineyard. Cellar door visitors are guided through the wines by the winemaker and owner. Izzy Flowerday is the winemaker of the 2025 Flowerday Organic Syrah Rosé, the first winemaking venture for the next generation of the family.

• Anna and Jason Flowerday: winemakers, owners and operators since 2003
• Jason grew up in Marlborough; Anna is from McLaren Vale, South Australia
• Izzy Flowerday: winemaker of the 2025 Flowerday Organic Syrah Rosé

The 11 ha vineyard in Renwick has predominantly loam over clay soils and was originally planted in 1979. It is planted to seven varieties, with a selection of clones: Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. Yields are kept very low, the vineyard is hand-tended as much as possible, and selective crop thinning is done at key times during the growing season. The Chardonnay comes from two clones on the home block: the Mendoza clone, planted in 1979, and a small amount of Clone 6 planted in the mid-1980s. When the Flowerdays bought the property they replanted a section of the old block with the Berry-Smith clone of Pinot Gris, also known as the Larkham clone. Syrah was first planted on the home block in 2004, and the 2024 release is a blend of clones 470 and 174. The 2023 Sauvignon Blanc blends two vineyards in two Marlborough subregions: Shamrock in the upper Awatere Valley and the certified organic TWR home block in Renwick. For its style of Pinot Noir, Te Whare Ra prefers the flavour profiles from the southern side of Marlborough.

• 11 ha in Renwick; predominantly loam over clay; originally planted 1979
• Chardonnay: Mendoza clone (1979) and Clone 6 (mid-1980s)
• Pinot Gris: Berry-Smith (Larkham) clone, replanted in a section of the old block
• Syrah: first planted 2004; the 2024 release blends clones 470 and 174
• 2023 Sauvignon Blanc: Shamrock vineyard in the upper Awatere Valley plus the Renwick home block

The vineyard is managed with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices and is certified organic through BioGro New Zealand; 5182 is its BioGro vineyard designation number. Te Whare Ra is a member of Organic Winegrowers of NZ (OWNZ) and the NZ Biodynamic Association, a founding member of MANA, Marlborough Natural Winegrowers, and part of a Marlborough Biodynamic Group that meets to share information and make preparations. In place of chemical fertilisers the estate uses compost made from grape skins and stalks, its own hay and manure from its cows; it also makes and uses biodynamic preparations, seaweed and compost teas, sows cover crops, and uses a mechanical weeder and hand weeding instead of chemical herbicides. Cattle graze the vineyard in winter. Part of the reason for the conversion to organic farming was to rescue the old vines. Cover crops, compost and cowshit, the Flowerdays' "3 Cs", remain the foundation of the system; cows are on the property all year, sheep are added over winter, and soil organic matter has risen from 2% to around 7%. Anna Flowerday put the couple's view this way: “Jason and I both believe that to be truly regenerative you need to be organic as well – you can’t be using herbicide”.

• Certified organic through BioGro New Zealand (vineyard number 5182)
• Member of Organic Winegrowers of NZ and the NZ Biodynamic Association
• Founding member of MANA, Marlborough Natural Winegrowers
• Compost, cover crops, biodynamic preparations, mechanical and hand weeding instead of chemical herbicides
• Soil organic matter up from 2% to around 7%

The winery began as a tractor shed and has been added to over time. It is set up for small batch, hands-on winemaking, with many small tanks of 600 litres and up so that each vineyard parcel (clone, soil type, vine age) can be kept separate. All fruit is picked by hand and hand sorted in the winery, and a small cold room is used for chilling fruit before processing. The reds are berry sorted, moved by gravity to small open vats for fermentation and hand plunged. The winery uses no fining agents, no added tannins and no chemical yeast nutrients, and the wines are given time on lees before bottling. The 2025 Gewürztraminer and the 2025 Flowerday Organic Syrah Rosé have not been fined and are suitable for vegans and vegetarians.

• Small tanks from 600 litres; each vineyard parcel kept separate
• Hand picked and hand sorted; reds berry sorted, moved by gravity to small open vats and hand plunged
• No fining agents, no added tannins, no chemical yeast nutrients

The current range includes the 2023 TWR Sauvignon Blanc, the 2022 SV Riesling "D", the 2023 SV Riesling "M", the 2024 SV Pinot Gris, the 2023 SV Toru field blend, the 2025 SV Gewürztraminer, the 2022 TWR Chardonnay, the 2022 TWR Pinot Noir, the 2024 SV Syrah, the 2025 SV Organic Rosé and the 2025 Flowerday Organic Syrah Rosé. Toru, Māori for "three", is a co-fermented field blend of Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris; Te Whare Ra first created it over 15 years ago and calls it the first of its kind in New Zealand. The estate's old vines were mostly planted in the late 1970s. Riesling "D" is a dry style, and Riesling "M" is a medium-dry style inspired by the wines of the Mosel. The 2025 Gewürztraminer is off dry and was fermented 100% in stainless steel. The 2024 Pinot Gris is a dry style. The SV Rosé, first released in 2015, is based on Pinot Noir with a Syrah component, and the Flowerday Syrah Rosé is 100% Syrah from the certified organic home block. The 2024 Syrah is the estate's 12th release of the variety, with production of 150 cases.

• Toru: co-fermented field blend of Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris
• Riesling "D" (dry) and Riesling "M" (medium-dry)
• 2025 Gewürztraminer: 14 rows of the 1979 old block; off dry; fermented in stainless steel
• SV Rosé: first released 2015; Pinot Noir with a Syrah component
• 2024 SV Syrah: 12th release; 150 cases

Anna and Jason Flowerday set out their approach on the estate's home page: “Our philosophy is wholly centered on making seriously good wine. We like wines to express their place – to speak of a somewhere-ness rather than of a same-ness, we want you to be able to taste this in our wines.” The wines are made with minimal intervention in a small winery set up for small batch winemaking, and the Flowerdays hold that the manipulation and intervention should be done in the vineyard. Anna Flowerday told Decanter: ‘We truly believe that aromatic whites are the unsung heroes.’

• Minimal intervention winemaking in a small-batch winery
• Manipulation and intervention done in the vineyard

The cellar door is at 56 Anglesea Street, Renwick. For the 2026-27 season it is open for tastings from 3 November 2026 until 26 February 2027, on weekdays only, with three tasting sessions each day; booking in advance is recommended. The wines can also be tasted and bought at The Marlborough Food & Wine Experience in the Blenheim CBD.

• Cellar door: 56 Anglesea Street, Renwick
• Tastings 3 November 2026 to 26 February 2027, weekdays only, three sessions a day

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.twrwines.co.nz/, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-story/our-place, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-story/our-vineyard, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-story/our-winery, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-story/organic-biodynamic, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-story/anna-and-jason, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-story/team-te-whare-ra, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/contact-us, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2023-sv-toru, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2023-sv-riesling-m, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2022-sv-riesling-d, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2025-sv-gewurztraminer, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2024-sv-pinot-gris, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2023-twr-sauvignon-blanc, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2022-twr-chardonnay, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2022-twr-pinot-noir, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2024-sv5182-syrah, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2025-sv-organic-rose, https://www.twrwines.co.nz/product/2025-flowerday-syrah-rose. Official body: New Zealand Winegrowers winery directory, https://www.nzwine.com/en/winery/te-whare-ra-twr-wines; New Zealand Winegrowers, Regenerative Viticulture (Emma Jenkins MW), https://www.nzwine.com/en/media/our-people/regenerative-viticulture/. Secondary source: Decanter (Emma Jenkins MW, 20 July 2026), https://www.decanter.com/wine/new-zealand/new-zealands-aromatic-whites-tailor-made-for-summer/. Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.