Starborough Wines is a Marlborough estate shaped by family, coastline, and the cool precision of New Zealand’s South Island. Located in the Awatere Valley, one of the region’s most distinctive subregions, Starborough offers a more focused, mineral-driven interpretation of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc — a style informed by wind, elevation, and the stony soils of the eastern slopes. Owned and operated by the Jones family for generations, the winery reflects a deep, rooted connection to place, and a quiet confidence in expressing it, one vintage at a time.

The fruit is sourced predominantly from estate vineyards in Awatere, with additional parcels in the Wairau Valley contributing balance and roundness. The Awatere’s cooler, wind-swept conditions and gravelly soils lend natural acidity, herbal lift, and a flinty backbone to the wines. Vineyard work is thoughtful and sustainable, with an emphasis on soil health, low-input farming, and harvesting at optimal ripeness for tension and vibrancy.

In the winery, the focus is on preserving purity and freshness. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel using a combination of neutral and aromatic yeast strains, with cool temperatures to lock in aromatics and natural acidity. Lees ageing is minimal, and the approach throughout is clean, modern, and unforced — a philosophy designed to showcase the character of site and season, rather than shape it.

The wines are clean-lined, vivid, and expressive. Sauvignon Blanc is the flagship, offering a taut, citrus-driven profile with notes of lime leaf, passionfruit, white currant, and a whisper of saline minerality. There is texture without weight, fruit without sweetness — a reflection of the Awatere’s clarity and coolness. Pinot Gris and Rosé round out the portfolio, each crafted in the same light-handed, detail-oriented style.

What defines Starborough Wines is its quiet precision — a producer that lets landscape and lineage guide the wine, without distraction or excess.

These are wines that walk lightly yet leave a mark — coastal in spirit, composed in execution, and shaped by a deep understanding of place.