Our Story

Booster Wine Group was established in 2019 by merging a number of family owned and run wineries. By joining these Wine producers and with the addition of the Gravity fed winery at Mahana in Nelson it gives these wineries the capacity to continue producing world class wine, while being able to stay in kiwi ownership.

Awatere River Wine Company established by Louis Vavasour was first to the group in 2017. Louis is part of the pioneering Vavasour family who built and planted the first winery and vineyards in the 1980’s in Marlborough’s Awatere Valley. Waimea Estate followed closely behind and as one of Nelson’s largest wine producers the winery was given an immediate boost in scale while offering an impressive aromatic flavour to the portfolio.

A foothold into world famous Central Otago came with the acquisition of the Bannock Brae brand and adding another top Pinot Noir offering to the Group’s product range.

The largest of the additions to the group was Hawke’s Bay based Sileni Estates. Founded by the Avery family, the addition boosted scale and, importantly, contributed established global distribution channels in over 60 countries around the world – a key success factor in an industry that is export focused.

Most recently, the purchase of the Mahana based, state-of-the-art, gravity fed wine-making facility (now Gravity Winery) completed the original strategy, and the Booster Wine Group was formed. The goal is to create innovative, unorthodox wines that bring the unique flavours and entrepreneurial spirit of New Zealand to the world.

Booster Wine Group is part of a larger investment group within the Tahi portfolio on offer to Booster KiwiSaver investors. By combining the strengths of the companies in the Booster Wine Group, Tahi was able to give each business access to resources and synergies that money alone couldn't buy. Now operating together as one, these successful Kiwi businesses have the scale, capability and resources to supply the world with their ultimate line up of New Zealand wines.

The formation of the Booster Wine Group means that Booster investors now own a slice of an asset which was created for their benefit and is set to deliver ongoing value for all.