A RISING STAR...

Mount Michael is a rising star amongst the vineyards of Central Otago – the world's southernmost wine region. It produces delicious, premium wines, mainly Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, which are sold through select outlets nationwide.

Mount Michael's original vineyard overlooked the township of Cromwell from its vantage point on the lower slopes of Mount Michael, one of the peaks in the Pisa Range at the foothills of the great Southern Alps.

Mount Michael vineyard was set up by Sue and Martin Anderson in 1994. Well, to be fair, Sue did most of the setting up. Martin commuted from Dunedin to Cromwell at weekends while Sue worked hard to plant the first vines. Within three years, they were picking their first grapes.

The early harvests weren't large enough to make their own wines so they sold their grapes to another local vineyard, Chard Farm, which used them in its top tier wines – vindication of Sue and Martin's hard work and an early sign of things to come.

Having set up the vineyard, increased production to 1,500 cases a year and enjoyed the fruits of their labours (awarded three or four stars in every wine competition entered), Sue and Martin decided to move on.

Coincidentally, a group of astute wine enthusiasts had been searching for a suitable Central Otago vineyard for four years and a deal was soon done.

In late 2004, the new owners took over, giving them a foothold in the Pinot Noir grapes of Central Otago.

The Otago Daily Times quoted a well-known wine maker at the time as saying, "The future is very, very bright for Central Otago wines. Marlborough has grabbed the aromatic wine market and now Central Otago is in a position to grab the Pinot Noir market."

The new owners set about turning Mount Michael into a significant player amongst the wine makers in the region. They sourced three new blocks of land and wasted no time in planting new vines, securing supply from some of the finest sites in Central Otago.