TE PA

Marlborough’s Te Pa (our place, our home) is owned and operated by the MacDonald family, who can trace their family’s occupation of land at the historically important Wairau Bar to the earliest known settlement by Maori, 800 hundred years ago. This means that the terroir is well and truly in their blood.

Formed where the Wairau River meets the Pacific Ocean, the Wairau Bar combines rich topsoil with free-flowing alluvial deposits, allowing winemaker Liam McElhinney to produce his outstanding single vineyard expressions.

The MacDonalds established the home vineyard in 2003 and released their debut 2011 Sauvignon Blanc to immediate success; Cuisine magazine awarded it 5 Stars and labelled it the top New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; the wine was also selected for the Top 100 at Sydney’s International Wine Competition. Te Pa's owner, Haysley MacDonald, describes the winery’s critically acclaimed wines thus: “A taste from home. Our home. The land that has been the backbone of our family for 800 years.”

Sam Bennett

Hailing from Whangarei, Sam has known te Pa’s Proprietor Haysley MacDonald and Chief Vintner Liam McElhinney for a number of years now, and leapt at the opportunity to join his mates and the rest of the te Pa team in mid-2015. Sam’s international experience has been in the cool climate regions of Tasmania, Oregon and Burgundy. He’s honed his Kiwi winemaking skills at wineries in Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough. These roles have seen Sam work with great fruit from a diverse range of regions stretching from Hawke’s Bay to Martinborough, Marlborough, Nelson and Central Otago.