Our story…..
Marc started fermenting in his parent’s garage when he was a teenager, dabbling with beer and cider making and selling it to his friends. It set-in-stone a lifelong passion for the craft of brewing and fermenting. Several jobs on vineyards in Central Otago and Hawkes Bay and a degree from Lincoln allowed Marc to hone his craft both as a viticulturist and winemaker and in 2001 he and his father purchased a small block of land between Alexandra and Clyde. Marc was convinced the Alexandra Basin was the optimum place in Central Otago to produce exquisite, expressive pinot noir and the flat site, sheltered by Old Man range to the west and Haehaeata to the north was ideally positioned. It was a year after the opening of the Otago Central Rail Trail and bike tourism was just starting to grow.
Marc spent his day job planting vineyards and installing irrigation in Bendigo and Bannockburn and would spend evenings planting out the home block. The uncultivated land that had previously been the domain of merino rams and rabbits began to feature meticulously straight rows of young plantings and shiny stainless-steel posts. A few years were spent spent getting to know the site, planning which clones he wanted in order to give a diversity of flavour in the wine. In time he developed the section building a house and a small batch winery.
In 2011 the first vintage was produced under the ‘Dunstan Road’ label. His talented graphic designer cousin was enlisted to produce some labels inspired by the hues on the hills on Haehaeata.
In time Sarah joined the fold and began selling wine at local farmers markets. As greater numbers of bikers made their way to this area the tasting room was established. As the Hatfield clan grew (there are now three young and eager apprentice viticulturists/winemakers in the mix) the passion to create vibrant, expressive wines in this beautiful environment has only grown.
The 31 rows of grapes are predominately Pinot Noir with a single row of each Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, and Riesling. There is also Rosé and a Méthode Traditionnelle and from time to time a delicious mead wine. All our wines are produced with grapes from this vineyard.
Our philosophy
We like to keep it simple. Yields are kept low and the vineyard is managed with sustainable practices.
Existing on the edge of what is possible when growing grapes, Central Otago is a climate of extremes. Long hot summer days, the variance in diurnal temperatures, and dry autumns and very cold winters mean that the vines are tough.
This challenging climate means that the wine has a unique flavour profile, the small berries and very ripe fruit mean than all the work has been done in the vineyard and we can adopt a ‘minimal intervention’ approach in the winery.
