Winemaker Tamra Kelly-Washington grew up in Marlborough during the region’s viticulture explosion. Spending school holidays working in vineyards and winery restaurants sparked Tamra’s fascination with winemaking as a young adult and she’s never looked back. Tamra went on to complete a degree in Viticulture and Oenology after which she set to work in vineyards in California, Italy and New Zealand gaining experience and honing her own style. After over a decade of working for others, Tamra returned to her roots to launch Kelly Washington wines with her husband, a premium negociant project working with impeccable sites in Marlborough and Central Otago.

Tamra runs Kelly Washington in collaboration with her husband, Simon. He worked in Risk Management, IT and Finance for large corporates before quitting the corporate world, after which he decided to travel the world and immerse himself in wine, doing everything from vintages, vineyard work, fine wine sales, sommelier, distribution, whilst also obtaining the WSET Diploma. Most recently he has been exporting NZ wine around the world and importing wines of provenance from great estates in Europe and the US. These wines are part of the inspiration to start this new journey.

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