12-Oct-2017
The ‘Starborough’ Marlborough wine brand is a success story of how to make the transition from crop and stock farming to winegrowing. The Jones family own the 255 ha Starborough Station near Seddon and planted vines on the terraces overlooking the Awatere River to become contract grape growers. Since establishing their own label, they now own three vineyards, these being the ‘O’Dwyers Farm’ site in Rapaura, the ‘Starborough Terrace’ vines on the station in the Awatere Valley and the latest acquisition, the ‘Long Lane’ vineyard on Redwood Pass Road in the Dashwood sub-region of the Awatere. The growth of the wine business has meant the James Jones, who oversees the wine side of the business, and in particular, the viticulture, has taken on Kerry Hammond, formerly of Mount Riley, as Awatere Vineyard Manager. The wines are made by the talented Dave Clouston, who has made increasingly high quality bottlings, especially as he has become more intimate with the vines and the fruit they yield. Here, I review the new release 2017 Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris, and 2016 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. www.starborough.co.nz
