The Wine: Te Whare Rā (TWR) Rosé 2025, Marlborough RRP $32.00  

Te Whare Rā means ‘The House in the Sun’, and it’s made by winemakers Anna and Jason Flowerday.  

One of the oldest in Marlborough, originally planted in 1979 and today Certified Bio-gro, the vineyard is managed with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices, and all the fruit is hand-picked and hand-sorted. Small ferment batches mean a lot more attention to detail, palate weight, flavours and mouthfeel.  

This is such a delicious wine – fresh and taut, a youthful expression with aromas and flavours of peaches and pink grapefruit, cherry flesh, and cold rover stones. A dry wine with a fine tannin presence, plenty of acidity and persistent light red fruit and cherry flavours. The wine to pull for Spring and Summer 2026.  

The season:  

Warm and sunny conditions in late November and December set Marlborough vineyards up for a bumper crop. While a cool, cloudy January caused some concern, February and March delivered a settled summer, as well as an extended harvest window. Fairly low rainfall with overall yields running high. The weather delivered excellent fruit balance and flavour development across the region.  

The food:  

An aperitif style this wine is well suited to pre-meal snacks – salty crackers with cheese and tomato, lots of pepper and some salt; you could also have sweetcorn fritters with topped with sour cream and a little chilli-jam. A Minestrone or chilled soup is also a great match.

LISTEN ABOVE