Meet Our Makers: Anna and Jason Flowerday, Te Whare Ra Wines
Anna Flowerday is a 6th generation Aussie winegrower from McLaren Vale (SA) and kicked off her career there amid a thoroughly talented pack of young winemakers in the mid-1990s. She worked for Hardy’s for seven years, culminating in an aromatically formative stint at Leasingham in Clare Valley. During her time at Hardy’s, Anna met and fell in love with Jason Flowerday, a third-generation viticulturist & winemaker from Marlborough. Eventually, they struck out together and, in 2003, bought Te Whare Ra, home to one of the oldest vineyards in Marlborough, originally planted in 1979. Together they manage the estate with a combination of organic regenerative and biodynamic practices and have cemented this region's reputation not only as an impeccable source of aromatic whites but also as a force to be reckoned with for both Pinot Noir and Syrah.
Te Whare Ra was first planted in 1979 and is home to the oldest vines in Marlborough. It was originally established by Allen & Joyce Hogan but has been owned and operated by the Flowerday family since late 2003. The winery was constructed in the early 80s from mud bricks sourced from the property, and the first vintage on site was in 1982, so the 2022 releases will celebrate the family’s 40th vintage!
Anna and Jason think that growing organically gives the wines more “x-factor” and sense of place, Vines that are growing in active, living soils are much better at delivering that. So they feel that by farming organically, they are making wines that showcase the best that Marlborough is capable of rather than the mass-produced version.
The couple started the organic conversion once they took over, yields are kept very low and the vineyard is now managed with a combination of organic and regenerative practices including the use of cover crops, compost and cows in the vineyard. The estate vineyard is planted in 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, Anna and Jason feel that a person can treat each vine individually and coax the best from it rather than a machine that 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.
At Te Whare Ra, the aim is to grow great quality fruit, and this starts with healthy soil or “Good Dirt” as they like to call it. If a vine is growing in healthy soil with active soil biology and good organic matter then it can grow fruit that is balanced in all its components and therefore requires minimal winemaking intervention once they get it in the winery. This means a cropping level that is controlled, so they do selective crop thinning at a number of key times during the growing season.
2014 marked the 35th anniversary of the first plantings at Te Whare Ra and also the release of a newly updated Single Vineyard 5182 series of labels. They released their aromatics with this new label and Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah.
The Te Whare Ra journey started out in 1979 with the original plantings which are now the oldest vines in the Marlborough region. Anna and Jason have chosen to use their organic certification number 5182 to celebrate what this place has now become.
Anna says ‘‘5182 is of huge significance to us as it is our vineyard designation number from BIOGRO New Zealand. This number represents all our hard work and effort over the past 18 years to achieve our full organic certification. Our SV 5182 wines represent all the things that we feel are important – provenance, organic farming and authentic, world-class wines from Marlborough.’’
The 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. The vineyard is managed using a combination of organic regenerative and biodynamic practices. From Anna’s perspective, the making of quality naturally produced wines involves many occasions when intervention is required to varying degrees, but for Anna, it’s what they don’t use that makes the real difference, and being proudly Certified Organic through BioGro New Zealand.
Anna says ‘‘We are not taking an evangelical approach to growing our grapes and making our wines. It is not about using natural techniques by rote but all about using informed decisions and our experience to make the best and most expressive wines possible. The philosophy we share with other organic & biodynamic producers around the world is that using artificial chemicals in the vineyard or winery is not natural.’’
Some examples of Anna and Jason’s organic management techniques in the vineyard are:
· Using compost made from grape skins & stalks, hay and manure from their cows ~ rather than synthetic chemical fertilisers.
· They make and use biodynamic preparations, seaweed and compost teas to improve the soil fertility and the soil microflora.
· The use of cover crops to improve soil structure and fertility and to encourage beneficial insects into the vineyard ~ rather than synthetic chemical herbicides and insecticides.
· They use a mechanical weeder and hand weeding ~ instead of using chemical herbicides.
· They make our own hay for compost and stock fodder.
· Cattle are grazed in the vineyard in the winter so that they don’t have to mow as often, and then they helpfully spread more manure as they go ~ reducing the use of tractors/diesel.
· Anna and Jason are also part of a Marlborough Biodynamic Group (BD), which meets regularly for sharing of information and prep-making.
· The couple is committed to making as much as they can on-site and has a BD prep-making area which includes cow pat pits for making CPP preps.
Anna and Jason know their vines intimately and say that ‘‘vines are a lot like people – if you are run down, stressed and surviving on vitamin pills and energy drinks, you tend to pick up every bug that is going around, and you can’t perform at your best. On the other hand, when you are in the prime of life, eating a balanced diet, well rested and surrounded by people who love and appreciate you – you can achieve anything! The key to the whole thing is a word we use daily when describing what we do – BALANCE. SOIL – VINES -WINES – LIFE. All of these are at their best when the balance is right!’’
Te Whare Ra (TWR) is a small vineyard and winery located in the Marlborough sub-region of Renwick, owned by winemakers – Anna & Jason Flowerday. The 11 Ha vineyard which has predominantly loam over clay soils, is one of the oldest in Marlborough, originally planted in 1979. Yields are kept low, the vineyard is managed with a combination of organic regenerative and biodynamic practices and all the fruit is hand picked and hand-sorted.