Jane writes……we established the vineyard from scratch in 1998 after long careers as soldier and nurse. We wanted to leave city life behind and to work for ourselves; grape-growing in Marlborough sounded pretty good too.

Initially we planted 20 acres (8 hectares) of Sauvignon Blanc and set about learning how to manage them. To help fund the venture Peter would often be working in Wellington during the week leaving me to train the 22,000 new vines on my own. Then we would work together all weekend, usually sleeping in an old caravan. Tiring stuff but very satisfying.

All was going well with promising harvests in 2001and 2002 but then an unmitigated disaster – our 2003 crop was completely destroyed by a late spring frost. So no grape income for 18 months and more travel for Peter.

But 2003 also saw our son Simon join us after completing his BVO at Lincoln and working vintages at Yalumba in Australia, Dr Loosen in Germany and Grove Mill in New Zealand (where he met his wife Donna).

That was a busy year. We relocated an old villa from Blenheim to the vineyard (and finally occupied it in 2005); and we achieved Sustainable Wine Growing New Zealand accreditation.

By 2006 we were able to install two ‘wind machines’ for frost protection and to begin expanding the vineyard to its current size: 25 acres Sauvignon Blanc, 5 acres Pinot Gris and 2 acres Riesling.

At the same time we took the next step up the value chain and produced our first brand, just 600 cases of Boreham Wood Sauvignon Blanc, named after the village north of London both our families came from.

In 2007 our family team was strengthened further when elder daughter Sarah joined us in the sales and marketing role. Her sister Jen also now helps with wine dispatch. We doubled wine production and sent modest exports to the UK and Australia. The remaining grapes were sold to a nearby Awatere winery.

Then for the 2008 vintage we took the bold step of converting our entire crop into our own wine. With two brands, six labels, 12,000 cases and a global recession we had to get better at selling but by early 2009 this had paid off with major new export customers in the USA and Australia together with markedly increased domestic sales.

That is still a work in progress. Meanwhile, the 2009 harvest is now complete, the weather gods were very kind and everything indicates the wines will be superb. Our journey continues...