Dog Point, New Zealand
“This is a seriously admirable wine estate that manages to produce great Pinot Noir as well as Sauvignon Blanc in Marlborough – and, also unusually for an NZ producer, takes Chardonnay seriously.”
Jancis Robinson
Dog Point Vineyard is my favourite Marlborough producer and has been for quite some time. It’s a hugely well-respected winery in the Southern Valleys of Marlborough, New Zealand. Established in the late 1970s, it is one of the oldest privately owned vineyards in the region. The vineyard is family-owned and operated, with a strong commitment to organic farming practices, making it New Zealand's largest certified organic vineyard by Biogro NZ.
Dog Point produces a range of wines among the best in the region, including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Their wines are crafted using low-intervention techniques, including the use of wild yeasts and hand-harvesting. They plant cover crops such as buckwheat and phacelia between the vines to encourage beneficial insects for the biological control of insect pests rather than using sprays as many would. Thousands of sheep are brought into the vineyards over winter to control grass and weed growth and to ‘reintroduce organic matter’ into the vineyards. It really is a fascinating approach and the attention to detail in the vineyards and winery are certainly expressed in the finished wines.
The vineyard's unique location at the confluence of the Brancott and Omaka valleys provides ideal conditions for grape growing, with a significant diurnal temperature range that allows for the slow ripening of grapes. This, married with low yielding, older vines provide greater complexity and better balance than you may otherwise expect from these varieties in Marlborough. In my view, the ‘standard’ Sauvignon is the leader in the market for a typical, but higher quality style of the grape. The ‘Section 94 Sauvignon Blanc is a single vineyard and barrel-fermented example, which, in my view, is one of the most distinctive wines on the planet.
The founders, Ivan and Margaret Sutherland, along with James and Wendy Healy, have played a pivotal role in the evolution of the Marlborough wine industry. They met while working at Cloudy Bay, playing a key part in Cloudy Bay’s success, then launched Dog Point in 2004 to return to a more hands-on approach. Their dedication to sustainable viticulture and uncompromising quality has made Dog Point a respected name in the world of wine.
