By Jenny Dobson is the personal label of one of Hawke’s Bay’s most respected winemakers — a project defined not by scale, but by insight, precision, and the quiet authority of experience. With a career spanning over four decades across Bordeaux, Waipara, and Hawke’s Bay, Jenny Dobson has long been a guiding presence in New Zealand wine. Her own wines, bottled under her name, reflect a deep understanding of structure, varietal purity, and the measured pursuit of elegance.

Sourcing fruit from trusted growers in Hawke’s Bay, Jenny focuses primarily on Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc — varietals she knows intimately from her early days in the Médoc and her long work with Bordeaux-style blends in New Zealand. All vineyards are sustainably farmed, with close attention to canopy balance and optimal phenolic ripeness. Her grower relationships are based on trust and shared standards — the foundation of her minimal-intervention philosophy.

In the winery, Jenny works with restraint and purpose. Fermentations are natural or gently inoculated, extraction is gentle, and oak is used to support rather than shape. Cabernet Franc, the cornerstone of her portfolio, is treated with particular care — harvested at perfect ripeness to show its aromatic lift, freshness, and fine tannic frame. Whites, including barrel-fermented Sauvignon Blanc, are textural and mineral, showing the same composure and detail as her reds.

The wines are elegant, structured, and quietly expressive. Cabernet Franc is lifted and savoury — violet, dried herb, graphite, and red cherry with taut acidity and refined tannins. Merlot is plush and earthy, while Sauvignon Blanc — fermented and aged in older oak — offers lemongrass, white florals, and flinty texture, far removed from the variety’s louder styles. Each wine is composed and articulate, crafted for those who value finesse over flash.

What defines By Jenny Dobson is the sense of control behind the calm — wines shaped by a winemaker who listens, observes, and knows how to let great fruit become its best self.

These are wines that speak in full sentences — composed, measured, and grounded in a lifetime of thoughtful, confident craft.