Awatere River Pinot Noir

Carved out by ancient glaciers long ago, the valley surrounding Awatere River is rich in alluvial deposits. These remnants of the ice age gave our wines a minerality and flintiness which, coupled with the crisp, pure water flowing down the Awatere (‘swift river’ in Maori) from Mount Tapuae-o-uenuku, create a unique expression of the land. Our Awatere Valley hill country sites are bathed in Marlborough sunshine and elevated more than is typical of the region - the result is exceptionally flavoured grapes and wines. Our approach is one of minimal intervention, we use our intuition in our vineyards and then let the flavours do the talking.

Awatere River wines are made by Louis Vavasour. The Vavasour family has toiled and triumphed with Awatere Valley land for over 100 years. In the 1980s, Louis Vavasours parents, Pete and the late Anna Vavasour, were the first to grow grapes and make wine here. Growing up, Louis saw the river as the valley’s lifeblood and so named his super-premium wine range after it, reflecting the minerality and alluvial finesse it brings to all his wines. A flagship range, Awatere River wines have great complexity and flavour intensity.