Proud to be owned and operated by two Kiwi families – the Neylons and the Wiffins – our connection to Marlborough runs deep.
In the early eighties, the Neylons were the first family to grow, process and export green lipped mussels. Then in 1985, they bought prime vineyard land and joined forces with the Wiffins to grow orchard fruits before establishing a grapevine nursery.
Since then, we’ve put in years of hard graft and given all we’ve got to build our vineyards from the ground up.
Owner / Managing Director
John Neylon
John Neylon
Owner / Managing Director
John can turn his hand to most things. Raised in Southland and, after working in the coal mines and a stint shearing sheep, he shifted North to Marlborough and was an early pioneer in growing and exporting green lip mussels. A childhood dream was realised when John purchased several waterside properties in Spring Creek, Dillon’s Point and Rapaura, ideal for growing apples. The family grew apples and operated the largest apple pack house and export operation in the region. After apples, the Neylon family converted the orchards into vineyards and built a state of the art winery. The Rapaura property became the family home, bordering a beautiful natural Spring which served as the inspiration for Rapaura Springs.These days you’ll usually find John working on the land, in a digger or driving his big yellow dump truck. John likes to tell everybody he got ‘kicked out of the office’ a few years back but we know he loves being outside and doesn’t want to drive a computer for a living!
Owner / Marketing Director
Brendan Neylon
Brendan Neylon
Owner / Marketing Director
Brendan grew up in Marlborough, enjoying the long hot summers and the freedom to roam the wide open spaces. Brendan is a former world class cyclist, representing New Zealand at the Junior World Champs a few years back and lived and raced in the USA where he developed a taste for wine in the early 90’s. Brendan was involved in the family mussel and apple businesses and was instrumental in the transition to the wine industry. Father to three young girls, he loves kayaking (ask him about how he kayaked the Cook Strait one day) and mountain biking.He’ll reach for a classic New Zealand Pinot Noir, a ristretto or a decent chocolate brownie, not necessarily in that order (or together!)
Owner / Finance Director
Ian Wiffin
Ian Wiffin
Owner / Finance Director
Ian has been an integral part of the Rapaura Springs wine business and, along with his family, have formed a very successful 20 year + business partnership with the Neylon family. A keen motorcyclist and diver, Ian enjoys time on the water fishing or diving for scallops and crayfish in the Marlborough Sounds. Ian likes a big grunty Pinot Noir and / or a cold beer.
Consultant Winemaker
Matt Thomson
Matt Thomson
Consultant Winemaker
Matt knew he wanted to be a winemaker from a very early age – 16 in fact. At this time, he was already collecting and stashing cases of wine under his bed. Bordeaux, Burgundy, and anything of worldly repute which his pocket money could reasonably enable him to possess were searched for and gathered.
Accompanying this avid collecting was Matt’s voracious thirst for knowledge: bedtime reading consisted of Parker’s Bordeaux volumes, and when the time for tertiary education dawned on him, he fashioned his own degree to suit a career as an oenologist.
Aside from the prodigious array of accolades Matt has received for his own wines, a professional highpoint in Matt’s career was winning International White Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Competition in 2008. His expertise and success in winemaking extend across an array of varieties with a particular strength in Sauvignon Blanc. Experience consulting in modern winery design and build projects and interests in vineyards and wine companies both in Marlborough and in Italy introduce a genuine reality check about what the wine industry entails.
