Dog Point Vineyard

Dog Point is a prestigious wine producer based in Marlborough, in New Zealand's South Island. As with most producers from the region, Dog Point's most notable wines are made from Sauvignon Blanc – a standard expression and the Section 94, a barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc which acts as the winery's flagship wine. Wines made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir complete the portfolio.

The winery was established in the early 2000s by Ivan Sutherland and James Healy who had previously worked together at Cloudy Bay as viticulturalist and oenologist respectively. The vineyards were some of the earliest to be planted in Marlborough and thus have some of the oldest vines in the region. Dog Point is named for the sheep-herding history of the area.

The vineyards are located between the Brancott and Omaka valleys, on hilly sites with clay loam soils. In the winery, the team use a philosophy of minimal intervention, and bottling is done without fining or filtering. The Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are fermented in stainless steel, while the Chardonnay and Section 94 are fermented in oak. All wines except for the Sauvignon Blanc are then aged in a mixture of new and old oak for 18 months.

The Section 94, which had its first vintage in 2002, has become a benchmark for barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc in New Zealand.