Charteris Wines

Owners Peter James (PJ) Charteris and partner Christina Pattison met at Brokenwood in the Hunter Valley in '99. PJ was the chief executive winemaker at Brokenwood, and Christina was the marketing manager. Together they have over 3 decades of experience. For NZ-born PJ, finding a top pinot noir site in Central Otago was a spiritual homecoming (they claim to have searched both Australia and NZ for the right combination of site and variety). They also have a vineyard with the gold-plated address of Felton Road, Bannockburn, planted to clones 115, 777 and Abel. PJ carries on a consultancy business in Australia, with some, though not all, of his focus being the Hunter Valley. -JAMES HALLIDAY