Central Otago

Central Otago’s viticultural history began with John Desire Feraud, who was attracted to the area during the Dunstan gold rush of 1862. Feraud came from a French winemaking family, quickly recognized the potential of the area for grape growing, and planted the first wine grapes in Central Otago in 1864. Over the next twenty years he made a variety of wines, some winning prizes in Sydney wine competitions. When he left the region, commercial winemaking ceased and wasn’t revived until experimental plantings were farmed by Rolfe Mills in 1975 in the Wanaka area. Mills later planted the Rippon Vineyard ...

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