Our Story

In a world full of smoke and mirrors, we produce something simple and true. Our lives are entwined with our land and our wine. We live in the magnificent Marlborough, the heartland of New Zealand wine. Our vineyard is in the Upper Awatere Valley. A place with a micro climate that creates beautiful and unique flavour in grapes. We live on the land where the grapes are grown and we care about what goes into our soil – taking a sustainable and biological approach. For us, it’s a lifestyle philosophy about the way we want to live our lives and interact with the land. And this is how we make a difference. As true artisans working with our land to craft stunning wine to share with you.

Our People

Kaitiaki is a Maori word meaning ‘custodian or caretaker of the land’. This is a perfect expression of our lifestyle and relationship we have with our slice of the Awatere Valley. Kaitiaki is one of the cornerstone principals of our business, an important part of creating truly exquisite artisan NZ wines. Tūpari is our business, our lifestyle and our home. We guard carefully against polluting our land, keeping it pure and safe for our animals, our children, the whole family…and you, the ones enjoying our wines. Tūpari wines are the labour of our love, and it is our pleasure to share this with you.

Our Place

Formerly an apricot orchard, the Tūpari vineyard sits at an altitude of 150m-200m atop magnificent cliffs with some of the best views in the valley. These cliffs inspired our name - Tūpari meaning "cliff" in Maori. It is from our vineyard, nestled between our farm and the swift flowing Awatere river, that we bring the essence of our land to the world in our collection of wines. Tūpari is our business, our lifestyle and our home. We guard carefully against polluting our land, keeping it pure and safe for our animals, our children, the whole family… and you, the ones enjoying our wines. Tūpari is a labour of love, and it is our pleasure to share our wines with you. Our land and vineyard offers some of the best and most unique growing characteristics you can find. Our winemaker Glenn has hand selected the planting areas for their unique flavour profiles. To intensify the flavour of the grapes, we use the shoot and bunch thinning technique to produce low-cropping levels. When harvest approaches, Glenn is found in the vineyard tasting the grapes to pinpoint the perfect moment to harvest. And this is what makes all the difference. The grapes are picked when they taste right and our wine quality is a reflection of that attention.  Tūpari wines carry New Zealand Wine Growers sustainability accreditation and we are committed to sustainable viticulture and winemaking practices. We are proud to boast a 0% chemical residue rating – bringing you the promise and taste of pure wine that is growing from a genuine care and friendship with our land. 

Coming to New Zealand and visiting Marlborough? The Tūpari Wines Cellar Door offers an authentic Awatere Valley artisan wine tasting experience on the main road south SH1 in Seddon, only 20 min from Blenheim. We'll personally take you on a journey through our beautiful Awatere Valley wines.