To kick off the New Year we are visiting Te Whare Ra (TWR), a small vineyard and winery located in the Marlborough sub-region of Renwick, owned by winemakers, Anna & Jason Flowerday. Their 11 Ha vineyard is one of the oldest in Marlborough and is Certified Organic.
Te Whare Ra (TWR) was originally established in 1979 and since 2003 has been owned & operated by the Flowerday family, most recently crowned 2025 NZ Vigneron of the Year by The Real Review.
THE PEOPLE
Anna and Jason Flowerday are 2 young (ish) winemakers – one from Australia and one from New Zealand and they have owned and run Te Whare Ra since 2003. Together they have taken Te Whare Ra to new heights and won many awards for their wines and their efforts in organic farming, amongst those many achievements they have also produced two sets of twin girls. So life is pretty busy!
Jason grew up in Marlborough and Anna is from McLaren Vale in South Australia. With both of them hailing from multi-generational wine backgrounds it was as natural as breathing that they end up with their own winery.
“We have made it our aim to showcase the depth and diversity of what Marlborough is capable of and to produce authentic wines of excellence. Our 11 Ha vineyard is planted to 7 different varietals and is home to the oldest vines in the region.”
They are supported with a small but a ‘great’ team and are so thankful to have people who have a huge passion for quality wine and understand why they do things a bit differently at Te Whare Ra. The team motto (which is written on the staff noticeboard) is a quote by chef Marco Pierre White which very succinctly sums up our approach to what we do and how we do it…
“Perfection is a lot of small things done well.”
Read more about the Flowerday Family, their Team & the Cows and Dogs here:
https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-story
THEIR PHILOSOPHY
Their approach at Te Whare Ra is first and foremost to make great wines and to use a natural approach to the growing (and making) of those wines. They actually feel very comfortable that natural wine-growing is not strictly defined. It is more a way of doing things than a pure definition. They think it means different things to different people and can cover a wide range of practices and techniques.
They manage the vineyard using a combination of organic and biodynamic practices. From their perspective the making of quality, naturally produced wines, involves many occasions when intervention is required to varying degrees but for them its what they don’t use that makes the real difference. Te Whare Ra is proudly Certified Organic through Biogro New Zealand.
Read more about their Organic / Biodynamic approach here:
https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-story/organic-biodynamic
THE VINEYARD
Te Whare Ra yields are kept very low and the vineyard is managed with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices. The vineyard is planted to 7 different varieties with a selection of clones of ~ Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah.
The vineyard is hand-tended as much as humanly possible as they feel that a person can treat each vine individually and coax the best from it rather than a machine which does the exact same thing to each vine. It does mean more time and effort but they think it is more than worth it for the resultant quality.
Their aim is to grow great quality fruit and this starts with great quality dirt or Good Dirt. If a vine has a good start in the soil it can grow fruit which is balanced in all its components, is physiologically ripe and therefore requires minimal winemaking intervention once they get it in the winery.
2014 marked the 35th anniversary of the first plantings at Te Whare Ra and also the release of their wines with the newly updated Single Vineyard 5182 series labels. They have released these aromatics with this new label as well as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah.
This journey started out in 1979 with the Te Whare Ra original plantings which are now the oldest vines in the Marlborough region. They have chosen to use their organic certification number 5182 to celebrate what this place has now become.
THE WINERY
Being both winemakers, when Anna & Jason first talked about doing our own thing, they decided that having their own winery was of paramount importance. It meant they could pick things when they wanted to and make them exactly how they wanted to, without having to make any of the compromises involved in making their wines in a contract facility.
The winery building at Te Whare Ra had very humble beginnings as a tractor shed and has been added to over time. The winery is a bit like them – not flashy, not showy and very down to earth! It is set up for small batch, hands on winemaking which is what they focus on.
It not an architectural marvel or an iconic showpiece but they saw function as being the key factor rather than form. They have made no compromises and spared no expense when it comes to the functions and equipment that are important for wine quality.
THE WINES
Te Whare Ra’s philosophy is wholly centred on making seriously good wine. All the decisions in the vineyard, and in the winery are based around the question “is it going to make the wine better?” They like wines to express their place – to speak of somewhere-ness rather than of a same-ness, they want us to be able to taste this in their wines.
They are heavily influenced by organics and bio-dynamics and have a very hands on approach in both the vineyard and the winery. They use a blend of old and new world winemaking techniques combined with respect for the place the grapes are grown.
TWR produce a wide range of varieties and styles, you can purchase by the bottle / case or take advantage of special deals – the current wines available are:
2023 Sauvignon Blanc
2024 SV Rosé & the 2025 Flowerday Syrah Rosé NEW RELEASE!
2022 SV Riesling “D” & 2022 SV Riesling “M”
2024 SV Pinot Gris & 2023 SV Toru – (Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Gris co ferment)
2024 SV Gewurztraminer and 2021 TWR Chardonnay
2019 TWR Pinot Noir and 2024 SV 5185 Syrah
NEW RELEASE – The Flowerday 2025 Syrah Rosé marks the first foray into winemaking for the next generation of Flowerdays. It is made solely from their certified organic home block at Te Whare Ra. They wanted to make a Rosé that reflected a classic, dry, savoury style and this release is 100% Syrah. Now available to purchase online.
BUY WINE ONLINE HERE:
https://www.twrwines.co.nz/our-wines
VISIT TE WHARE RA
Te Whare Ra are currently OPEN for WINE TASTINGS – Monday to Friday – from 17th October 2025 until early March 2025 (date still TBC as depends on harvest dates) There are three tasting sessions each day – 11am, 12pm and 2pm – Each session lasts approx 45mins and will usually be 5 to 7 wines on tasting. Tasting fee is $20 per person.
In order to offer a great experience for cellar door visitors they have limited spaces at each session, and recommend booking in advance as during the very busy season they can’t always accommodate walk ins if the session is already full. Please note they are usually closed on weekend and public holidays and can only offer tastings on those days by prior arrangement.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT:
https://www.twrwines.co.nz/
