Moon plants stars soil trees microbes fungi mammals bees, we all are, URLAR.
It’s the season for bubbles on the deck and sharing platters with friends you haven’t seen in a while. As summer graces the Wairarapa, we celebrate the year’s successes and bask in the sunshine with all our URLAR friends.
What's On
Lonely Planet has selected Wairarapa’s stargazing, food, and wine experiences as one of the world’s top experiences for 2026. The stars of Wairarapa aren’t only in our skies – they shine brightly in our villages, cafés, restaurants, and especially in our vineyards.
As an establishment that strives to craft wines reflecting the beauty of the environment around us, we’re honoured that our home has received this recognition.
We look forward to welcoming visitors to the region and sharing our story through our wines.
Thank you, Mike Heydon, for this stunning shot of the Cellar Door under the Wairarapa stars.
Cellar Door
The festive season is almost upon us here at the Cellar Door. After a wild spring, we’re pleased to see groups basking in the sunshine once again.
Our summer menu will launch on Saturday 6 December. It’s a colourful, flavoursome line-up featuring the best of our seasonal produce. In the coming weeks, we’ll also be running specials with a festive flair. If you’d like to join us before Christmas, we recommend booking to avoid disappointment.
Our team will be taking a short break over the festive season, but the Cellar Door will still be open for summer tastings or to stock up for the holidays.
Open 11 am – 4 pm:
Friday 26 December – Open Boxing Day*
Saturday 27 December – Open
Sunday 28 December – Open
Friday 2 January 2026 – Closed
Saturday 3 January 2026 – Open
Sunday 4 January 2026 – Open
We’re otherwise open year-round, Friday to Sunday, 11 am–4 pm (except public holidays). Bookings are recommended.
The Cellar Door team would like to extend a huge thank you to all our customers for their support this year. We wish you a happy and safe festive season.
*Limited menu available.
The Winery
Inside the winery, it’s been a season of growth and refinement.
Grace recently took part in two workshops, both focused on deepening our practice and pushing quality even further. The first, centred on biodynamics, brought fresh insight and inspiration that are already finding their way into both vineyard and cellar. Together with the viticulture team, we helped apply BD500, reinforcing the shared connection between soil health and wine character.
The second workshop, hosted by the Wairarapa Winegrowers Committee in Martinborough, focused on Chardonnay. Grace presented our 2025 Chardonnay, currently resting in puncheon, and received encouraging feedback. Even at this early stage, the wine is showing precision and promise, one to look forward to.
In the cellar, activity has been steady and rewarding. We’ve bottled our 2025 Sauvignon Blanc, Noble Riesling, and Brut Rosé, and tiraged the 2025 Méthode Traditionnelle, all showing beautifully. Attention has now turned to the 2025 Pinot Noir, which is displaying vibrant fruit, clear site expression, and excellent batch diversity. Blending will be an exciting process, drawing together these threads into a wine that captures the essence of this year’s work.
The Vineyard
The rush of early spring has eased, and we’re finding our stride again, a steady, satisfying rhythm that arrives once the soil wakes and the vines take hold. The team has been working tirelessly on planting, bringing us to 5,500 vines on our way to 7,500. Each one feels like a small promise, a quiet investment in seasons to come.
This section is now entirely Pinot Noir. We’ve farewelled the Sauvignon Blanc that once grew here and pulled a few older rows to make room for fresh life with a stronger root system. Stakes are in, vines are tucked, and every plant has been given the care it needs to meet the season with strength.
Between plantings, the focus has shifted to the soil. Inter-row sowing has begun, introducing beneficial species that help enrich the earth and support the life beneath the surface. In keeping with our biodynamic rhythm, we’ve also prepared and applied BD500, nurturing root strength, microbial activity, and that deep connection between soil and season. It’s slow, deliberate work, but the kind that rewards patience.
The weather has been kind, too. We’ve escaped frost this spring, and with calm, still nights under the recent full moon, the vineyard feels settled. Row by row, vine by vine, the season is taking shape, full of quiet promise and forward momentum.
