At that time, grape plantings in Central Otago were showing promise, as were cherries. The romance of grapes won out and with the help of Greg Hay (at that time with Peregrine Wines) we set about planting a vineyard. It was almost impossible to know whether this was a viable economic proposition and there were some significant set-backs but slowly the vineyard progressed to the point of producing high quality fruit, particularly the Pinot Noir for which Central Otago is now world famous. The fruit largely still goes into the Peregrine stable of wines, apart from a small amount, chosen from the very best grapes in the vineyard, and crafted by local winemakers for the DUNBAR ESTATES label.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Dunbar Estates has grown from very simple beginnings. We found ourselves in the fortunate position of being able to purchase 9ha of bare land on the Cromwell-Wanaka road in 2000. This is now our Shine Basin Vineyard. Our motivation stemmed largely from our love of the natural beauty of Central Otago and in particular, John\u2019s desire to be able to \u2018walk\u2019 on a piece of land. We also respect the land in the sense we like to see it used wisely, productively and left in a better state for future generations. We have some degree of creativity in the sense of enjoying the challenge of seeing what we can create from a parcel of land.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t