Dog Point Pinot Noir, Wairau Valley, Marlborough

Dog Point Wines derive their name from the earliest European settlement of Marlborough and the introduction of sheep to the district. “These were days of few fences, of boundary riders and boundary keeping dogs”. Shepherds’ dogs sometimes became lost or wandered off and eventually bred into a marauding pack which attacked local flocks. Their home was a tussock and scrub covered hill, overlooking the Wairau Plains, designated by the early settlers as Dog Point. Marlborough’s Wairau Valley is the major grape growing region of New Zealand, a confined geographical area at the northern tip of the South Island. Abundant sunshine, low rainfall and cool autumn nights characterise our long growing season, enabling the slow evolution of a rich array of vibrant fruit flavours.