TWR Te Whare Ra Sauvignon Blanc 2025 is a wine made with one purpose — to silence the doubters and restore faith in Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and the extraordinary quality of wines from this region. Crafted by winemakers Anna and Jason Flowerday from their certified organic 11-hectare home block in Renwick — one of the oldest vineyards in Marlborough — and blended with fruit from the Shamrock vineyard in the cooler, slower-ripening Awatere Valley. Te Whare Ra means ‘house in the sun’ in Māori, and this wine lives up to the name: guava, white currant, and elderflower from the Awatere, coupled with ripe passionfruit, tropical notes, and hints of basil and lime from the Wairau fruit. Fine and soft on the palate, with loads of fleshy fruit, ripe juicy acidity, lingering minerality, and lovely texture from time on lees and barrel parcels. It is utterly delicious.
Tasting Notes
Appearance
Bright, luminous pale straw with green hints — the fresh, precise colour of a certified organic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from one of the region’s oldest vineyards, with the clarity and purity that Anna and Jason Flowerday’s meticulous viticulture and winemaking deliver.
Aroma
Guava, white currant, and elderflower from the cooler Awatere Valley — coupled with ripe passionfruit, tropical notes, and hints of basil and lime from the warmer Wairau home block. Two subregions. One seamless, characterful, and utterly inviting bouquet.
Palate
Fine and soft — loads of fleshy fruit balanced by ripe, juicy acidity and lingering minerality, with lovely texture from time on lees and barrel parcels. The Awatere’s restraint and structure meeting the Wairau’s tropical fleshiness in a palate of genuine complexity and weight.
Pairs With
A natural companion for freshly shucked oysters, Marlborough green-lipped mussels, grilled snapper, Thai green curry, Vietnamese cuisine, and soft fresh cheeses — equally rewarding now and will develop beautifully with a little time.
Finish
Long, juicy, and lingering — guava, passionfruit, elderflower, and minerality fading with ripe, juicy acidity and the fleshy texture that lees and barrel parcels deliver, leaving a clean, complex close that makes every glass a genuinely rewarding expression of Marlborough at its finest.
