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 adding the gravity-fed winery at Mahana in Nelson, these wineries have the capacity to continue producing world-class wine while remaining in Kiwi ownership.

Awatere River Wine Company was the first addition to the group in 2017. Established in Marlborough’s Awatere Valley, the brand is rooted in one of the region’s pioneering winegrowing families, which planted some of the valley’s earliest vineyards in the 1980s. 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 in world-famous Central Otago came with the acquisition of the Bannock Brae brand, adding another top Pinot Noir offering to the Group’s product range.

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

Most recently, the purchase of the Mahana-based, state-of-the-art, gravity-fed wine-making facility (now Gravity Cellars) 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, available to Booster KiwiSaver investors. By combining the strengths of the companies in the Booster Wine Group, Tahi enabled each business to access 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 created for their benefit and set to deliver ongoing value for all.