Te Arai Vineyard was originally the bull paddock and later a citrus nursery. Thie block was planted in 1984 and it also houses the winery, offices , gardens and Annie and James' home.

It sits right on the riverbank bounded on three sides by the Te Arai River, which originates way back in the hills of the Waingake Valley. Through the ages this river has cut a deep rut in the land that makes up the valley floor. A rut so deep that, in former times, it proved to be impassable.

The native Tuhoe Maori, when they would venture from the Lake Waikaremoana to the sea to trade seafood for wood pigeons with the local tribes who lived on the sea coast, would camp on this land until they had permission to cross the river. It is quite an amazing piece of ground really, almost sacred.

This vineyard is planted with Chenin Blanc, Malbec and Merlot. Outside James and Annie's kitchen they planted a small parcel of Muscat grapes, mainly for eating. When the millennium came James made the wine Muskats @ Dawn (antiquity into the modern era) from these grapes and now, the success of this wine means there are very little left to eat.

Through the middle of this vineyard, and in keeping with the diversity theme, James planted a nature habitat of gravilleas and bottle brush trees, wanting to attract the native birds including bellbird and tui, both nectar-eating birds and very territorial, therefore tending to scare off other fruit-eating birds. Bees are also attracted to these beautiful red flowers and it is also where they house the beehives.