Dog Point Vineyard

Ivan Sutherland and his wife Margaret purchased their vineyard in the late 1970s; with a cousin, Robin Sutherland, they bought 52 acres of land on Dog Point Road. Ivan Sutherland joined Cloudy Bay as a viticulturist in 1986, later became a director, and spent 18 years there. While working at Cloudy Bay he met James Healy (d. 2026), and the two founded Dog Point Vineyards in 2002. Ivan and Margaret Sutherland and James and Wendy launched the Dog Point label in 2004 using fruit from the 2002 vintage. Dog Point is family owned, and with succession plans in place, the next generation of the Sutherland family runs the day-to-day operations.

• Founded in 2002 by Ivan Sutherland and James Healy; label launched in 2004 using fruit from the 2002 vintage
• The name Dog Point dates back to the earliest European settlement of Marlborough and the introduction of sheep to the district
• Lost shepherds' dogs bred into a pack that attacked the local flocks; once settlers removed the wild dogs, the area was named Dog Point
• A stylised Ti Kouka, the native cabbage tree, features on the Dog Point logo, label and bottle cap

The next generation of the Sutherland family runs the day-to-day operations at Dog Point. Ivan Sutherland won a bronze medal with the New Zealand eight at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He was a founding member of the Grape Growers Association (now Wine Marlborough) in 1980 and founding chairman, in 2003, of the Marlborough Wine Research Centre board. He was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2011 for services to rowing and wine growing, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the board of Wine Marlborough in 2014, was made a New Zealand Winegrowers Fellow in 2018, and received the 2019 Viticulturist Award in the Gourmet Traveller Wine New Zealand Winemaker of the Year Awards. James Healy (d. 2026) began his career at Corbans Wines in Auckland and Gisborne and joined Cloudy Bay as winemaker in 1991. In 2018 he became a founding member of Appellation Marlborough Wine, and in 2025 he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Marlborough Wine Celebration Evening.

• Ivan Sutherland: joined Cloudy Bay as a viticulturist in 1986 and later became a director; co-founder of Dog Point
• Margaret Sutherland: launched the Dog Point label in 2004 with Ivan Sutherland and James and Wendy
• James Healy (d. 2026): Cloudy Bay winemaker from 1991; co-founder of Dog Point
• Next generation of the Sutherland family: runs the day-to-day operations

The vineyard lies at the confluence of the smaller Brancott and Omaka valleys, on the hill slopes of the Southern Valleys of Marlborough, with first plantings in the late 1970s. It is planted to Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Older, well-established vines grow on free-draining silty clay loams, supplemented by more recent plantings on closely planted hillside blocks on soils with a clay loam influence. Dog Point gives the average age of its Sauvignon Blanc vines as 25 years, with the oldest well over 30, its Section 94 vines as 30 years, and its Chardonnay vines as 30 years on average, with the oldest at 40; its Pinot Noir vines date back to the early 1980s. Vineyard practices include low cropping and hand harvesting. Dog Point produces only estate-grown wines: the Sauvignon Blanc is picked from eight of its own vineyards within the Wairau Valley, and the Chardonnay from its home vineyard.

• Confluence of the Brancott and Omaka valleys, Southern Valleys of Marlborough
• Silty clay loams under the older vines; clay loam influence on the newer hillside blocks
• Section 94: a single vineyard parcel within the Dog Point Vineyard, planted in 1992
• Pasture, landscaped lawn and pond spaces with native plantings and walkways; organic vegetable gardens and orchards with beehives in the north-eastern corner of the property
• Mill Stream winds through the property

Dog Point began organic conversion in the vineyards in 2009 and converted all its vineyards to organic under the BioGro NZ programme. It is New Zealand's largest certified organic vineyard. Vine prunings and winery waste are turned into mulch to make compost, and leachate from this process is applied to the vineyards as fertiliser. In spring, cover crops such as buckwheat are planted between the vines to encourage beneficial insects. Over the winter months, 2,500 sheep and 25 steers are brought onto the property to control grass and weed growth and add organic matter to the soil. No synthetic chemicals are used in the making of the wines. The 2016 Chardonnay, 2016 Pinot Noir, 2016 Section 94 and 2018 Sauvignon Blanc, released in 2018, were the first Dog Point releases that were all certified organic. Dog Point Vineyards received the supreme award in the Cawthron Marlborough Environment Awards.

• Organic conversion from 2009 under the BioGro NZ programme
• Winter grazing by 2,500 sheep and 25 steers
• Compost from vine prunings and winery waste; leachate applied as fertiliser
• First all-certified-organic releases: 2016 Chardonnay, 2016 Pinot Noir, 2016 Section 94 and 2018 Sauvignon Blanc

Dog Point makes four wines: a Sauvignon Blanc and three barrel-fermented wines made with natural (wild) yeasts, namely Section 94, a Sauvignon Blanc fermented in older French oak barrels, a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir. The wines are vegan, vegetarian and gluten free. A limited quantity of each vintage is set aside for later release through the estate's wine club, The Library; the 2016 Library wines were scheduled for release on 1 June 2026.

• Sauvignon Blanc 2025: picked from eight of the estate's own vineyards within the Wairau Valley, cropped at an average of 10 tonnes per hectare; whole bunch pressed and cold settled, a portion fermented with indigenous yeast, 5 months in stainless steel tanks, bottled without fining
• Section 94 2021: a single vineyard parcel within the Dog Point Vineyard, from vines planted in 1992; hand-picked, whole bunch pressed, fermented and aged in older French oak barrels for 18 months, bottled without fining
• Chardonnay 2023: two-thirds Mendoza and one-third B95 clones, hand-picked from the home vineyard at 2.5 tonnes per hectare from vines dating back to 1984; whole bunch pressed directly to French oak barrels (10% new), indigenous primary and malolactic fermentations, 18 months in barrel, bottled without fining and with only minimal filtration
• Pinot Noir 2023: six Pinot Noir clones from vines dating back to 1983, cropped at 5 tonnes per hectare (35 hl/ha), hand harvested and hand sorted, 25% whole bunch; fermented by indigenous yeasts over 2 to 3 weeks in small stainless open top fermenters without pumping, then 18 months in French oak barrels (30% new)

Dog Point describes its winemaking as reflecting a low interventionist ethos, with a primary focus on producing wines of uncompromising quality that will cellar well. It calls its Sauvignon Blanc its version of the classic dry aromatic style of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and Section 94 a complex alternative full bodied style of Sauvignon Blanc. In December 2018 Jancis Robinson called Dog Point one of the most admirable of the more than 500 grape growers in Marlborough, gave the 2016 Chardonnay 17 points out of 20, and noted that the Section 94 2002 was a wine of the week in 2004. The Drinks Business wrote in 2026 that Section 94 soon garnered a reputation for being one of the most complex whites in New Zealand.

• Low interventionist ethos, in the estate's own words
• Jancis Robinson (2018): 2016 Chardonnay, 17 points out of 20

Dog Point does not have a cellar door, so tastings are only available by prior appointment. Tours and tastings are held Monday to Friday at 11am and include a tour of the property, a drive through the vineyard and a seated tasting of the four current release wines plus a 10 year aged Library wine. The cost is $50 per person, for groups of two to six people. The French Barn, a self-contained two-bedroom villa built mainly from recycled timbers on the western hillside in the Omaka Valley, offers accommodation on the property.

• Tastings by prior appointment only, Monday to Friday at 11am
• Groups of two to six; $50 per person
• The French Barn: two-bedroom villa on the property

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://dogpoint.co.nz/pages/the-place, https://dogpoint.co.nz/pages/organics, https://dogpoint.co.nz/pages/visit-us, https://dogpoint.co.nz/pages/the-library, https://dogpoint.co.nz/products/sauvignon-blanc, https://dogpoint.co.nz/products/section-94-2020, https://dogpoint.co.nz/products/dog-point-chardonnay, https://dogpoint.co.nz/products/dog-point-pinot-noir. Secondary sources: New Zealand Winegrowers (Sauvignon Stories: Ivan Sutherland, 15 April 2021), https://www.nzwine.com/en/media/our-people/ivan-sutherland/; Jancis Robinson (21 December 2018), https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/dog-point-chardonnay-20156-marlborough; The Drinks Business (Sarah Neish, 2 February 2026). Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.