Description
About Wooing Tree
Wooing Tree is owned by Stephen and Thea Farquharson and Stephen’s sister and brother-in-law, Jane and Geoff Bews. We are all committed to producing top quality grapes and wine and are a truly family owned and run business. Originally from farming backgrounds in North Otago, more recently we worked in IT both in Wellington and overseas.
Wooing Tree is a family owned single vineyard, situated next to the town of Cromwell in the heart of Central Otago, New Zealand.
We’re lucky enough to be nestled into a stunning glacial mountain valley. Not only is our location scenic – it is perfect for ripening pinot noir. This grape is notoriously fussy about where it likes to grow! Cromwell’s dry climate and cool nights allow pinot to ripen slowly, developing layers of complex flavour pinot lovers adore.
We purchased the land whilst living overseas so we didn’t know anything about the Wooing Tree, we got an email from Robin Dicey who was developing the vineyard that there were a whole lot of trees that would have to be removed. We replied that was ok.
Unbeknownst to us there was a tree on the land called the Wooing Tree and it had long been a popular place for locals to woo their lovers.
Central Otago is New Zealand’s coolest wine region, and with its location almost at the bottom of South Island, it is the world’s most southerly wine region. The centre of the region is on the 45th parallel, which is the same as Bordeaux, but the climate is similar to Burgundy. Pinot noir seems to do well when it is right on the cusp of viability, and that is certainly the case here in the south.
The VinPro Winery was established in Cromwell in 2004, and produced its first vintages in 2005 under the leadership of winemaker Carol Bunn. It has a total processing capacity of 800 tonnes and around 85% of that is for Pinot Noir.
We envisage Wooing Tree Estate to be a high-quality living space, with a mix of low- to high-density residential and light commercial, The new ‘light commercial’ zone would complement our existing Wooing Tree Vineyard cellar door and function centre, and could potentially include boutique, high-end accommodation, restaurants, cafes and art galleries.
