Description:

Picked by the moon. Guided by the seasons. Connected by the land.

Te reo Māori has at least 30 words for different types of soil. That is how carefully our ancestors observed their environment, so that people could thrive in harmony with the whenua.
Wine-making takes the same care with its complex ecosystems, and in Aotearoa New Zealand, it is a space that is ripe for mātauranga Māori (knowledge systems and inherited wisdom) to flourish.
Tawhiti Wines was established by Imogen Weir and Matua Murupaenga (Ngāti Kuri, Ngāti Kahu) as an expression of the Māori excellence they see every day in the communities they love, and to explore new ways of honouring Papatūānuku.
Paired with decades of experience in hospitality and the food and beverage industry they forged ahead into the relatively uncharted territory of tikanga-led traditional land use to produce small batch, bio-certified, organic wines.
Tawhiti uses the maramataka, the lunar calendar, to guide picking days and the harvesting of the mahi toi materials used to create its visual identity. This system also takes into account the unique narratives of Te Matau-a-Māui Hawkes Bay and how the seasons, lunar phases, flora and fauna all interconnect with one another. Far from being “myths”, the stories and ancestral landmarks of Ngāti Kahungunu provide a complex roadmap that connects the environment with people and history.
Innovation is an inherent part of Tawhiti’s story, like the collaboration with Thea Ceramics’ Esther McDonald (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai and Ngāti Pukenga) who created an uku vessel in the style of an ancient Greek amphora to experiment with fermentation. Or the collaboration with celebrated artist Raukura Turei (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngā Rauru Kītahi) who creates artworks using natural earth pigments for Tawhiti labels. Her use of sand, clays and soils solidifies the intuitive links between our natural wine, and the unique whenua that sustains us.
Through our making process we are guided by karakia which pays homage to the whenua and the atua. Karakia was integral in the birth of Tawhiti, as tikanga is central to its future.
Tawhiti wines represent more than just a product; it weaves the sacredness of the whenua within all processes from start to finish. It holds abundance within each bottle and the mauri of Tawhiti.
Winemaking is not a Māori process, but our connection to the whenua enhances our process.