Heritage
Starborough Wines is owned and operated by the Jones Family which consists of Bill, Lynette and their two sons Andrew and James.
We have been farming in Marlborough for four generations, dating back to 1865 when William Jones came to Marlborough from Vowchurch, Herefordshire, England. His goal was to purchase a farm in the new found land and improve his future prospects.
William established Grove Farm in the Lower Wairau near Blenheim in 1875 and farmed mainly oats and livestock until his death. The homestead block remained in the family with William’s youngest son Hollis Jones taking over in 1923.
- Roger, Peter and Bill Jones
In 1946 Hollis got an opportunity to lease and later purchase 165 acres of land in Rapaura know as O’Dwyers Farm. The two properties, Grove Farm and O’Dwyers Farm were managed very intensively for the era by Hollis and his sons Roger, Peter and Bill Jones. They produced a wide range of seed crops including ryegrass, white clover, peas, wheat and barley as well as running a flock of breeding ewes.
After the death of Hollis in 1972, Peter Jones took over management and ownership of Grove Farm and Bill Jones O’Dwyers Farm.
Twenty years later in 1992 Bill and Lynette Jones while still successfully farming O’Dwyers Farm purchased Starborough in the Awatere Valley. Bill and Lynette’s two sons Andrew and James are now both working on the properties. Andrew manages the intensive crop farming operation on Starborough and James is viticulturist for all the family vineyards and manages the Starborough wine brand.
Today the Jones family own 110 hectares of vineyards split between the celebrated Wairau Valley and the emerging Awatere Valley. Along with producing fruit for the Starborough label we contract grow for some of the most prestigious wine brands in the region.
While we have diversified with vineyards, we have not forgotten our roots, and continue to farm 200 hectares of our Awatere property (Starborough) with intensive arable crops and livestock.