Kelly Washington

Kelly Washington Wines was established in 2016 by Tamra Washington and Simon Kelly. Tamra started out her career at Seresin Estate in Marlborough before making wine for various estates in the USA, Australia, and Italy, where at the tender age of 25 was appointed Head Winemaker for a winery in Sicily (with others in Puglia and Tunisia) where she lived for seven years full time. After setting up a large new winery in New Zealand, and many awards, it was time to get back to her roots, starting a family, and Kelly-Washington wines. Never one to choose the easy path, Tamra also returned to Seresin Estate, as Consultant Winemaker. For Kelly-Washington wines, Tamra and Simon seek the most unique and diverse parcels of high-quality fruit, translating this into their elegant and honest wines. Old vines, high density planting, vineyards of altitude, organic and biodynamic farming – these are the attributes they seek from the growers they work with. They enforce strict hand harvesting and make use of alternative fermentation and maturation vessels – such as concrete eggs, large barrels and amphora to ensure they only enhance the natural elegance, texture and balance of the fruit they source.