Vicarage Lane Wines was founded in 2002, when UK-based Kiwi John Kennard purchased 4 hectares of land on St Leonards Road, Marlborough, which was partly planted with 2 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc vines.

In 2003, half the new company was sold to established Christchurch winemakers Brent and Shirley Rawstron, giving the fledgling business greater knowledge of the industry, plus equity to allow vineyard expansion.

John, along with partner Satu Lappalainen, returned to New Zealand to run the business and develop a further 4 hectares of vines on adjacent land.

This vineyard has supplied the fruit for Vicarage Lane’s award winning Sauvignon Blanc since the first vintage in 2004.

More recently, in 2018 Satu and John returned to full ownership of the company and have purchased an 8 hectare vineyard in Old Renwick Road, while still operating the St Leonards Road vineyard.

The new vineyard has a mix of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc vines, but part will slowly be developed to obtain the right blend of vines to meet our future needs.