2022 TWR (Te Whare Ra) "SV5182 Single Vineyard" Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough

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AH

Aaron Hughes

Aaron Hughes

Review Date: 07/2025

We all love TWR's Sauvignon Blanc here, and the regular one is delicious and a great example of NZ Sauvignon Blanc. This single vineyard is organically certified and their BIOGRO New Zealand number (5182) is representative, to them, of all their hard work to achieve that organic certification. The result is that this wine isn't quite your typical NZSB, but something a cut above. There's a depth and complexity to the nose that you wouldn't typically expect, a slightly honeyed character to the fruit, but with a really alluring slightly savory and saline mid-point. The palate has a little bit of gooseberry, there's a lot of orchard fruits, fleshy white peach, nectarine, and then it goes into kaffir lime and some white pepper. There's a kind of brooding underlayer to the whole thing, a little bit more richness than you expect, a little bit less acidity than you might assume, but it all rounds out to be something absolutely world-class and more than worthy of your attention.

Notes

Te Whare Ra is our longest direct import relationship — 13 years strong — from the Southern Hemisphere. Located in the Marlborough sub-region of Renwick, the winery was originally established in 1979 and purchased by the Anna and Jason Flowerday in 2003. The couple both come from wine families — Anna from McLaren Vale in Australia and Jason from Marlborough — and met while working in Australia before deciding to build their family and business in New Zealand. K&L is TWR’s exclusive US importer, even as their small boutique winery has grown and the accolades have accumulated. In 2025, The Real Review ranked TWR as the #3 Winery in New Zealand, and the #1 Winery in Marlborough. This is incredible recognition for a small 11-hectare winery resisting many of the dominant trends in the region. For the past two decades, Anna and Jason have been producing elegant, expressive wines from certified organic vineyards. This is incredibly unusual for Marlborough, where just 4% of the region’s vineyards are organic. The Flowerdays are proud of this distinction – their SV5182 wines refer to “Single Vineyard 5182” which is their BioGro NZ certification number. The TWR wines are handmade and honest. More importantly, they are a family endeavor. Jason and Anna raised their two sets of fraternal twin daughters on the property, with their home located just fifty feet from both the winery and the vines. Their work is a heartfelt labor of love, where quality and purity shine through each bottle.