Ivan and James met while working at Cloudy Bay Vineyards and quickly established an enduring friendship along with an appreciation of good wine. Ivan was Cloudy Bay's viticulturist for 18 years and in the latter years a Director while James was the Company's Oenologist for 12 years. Together they ran the vintages for a number of years and played an integral part in the evolution of the Cloudy Bay brand. After working together at Cloudy Bay and finding they shared the same aspirations, James and Ivan decided to return to a more ‘hands-on’ approach to winemaking. Using fruit from the 80 hectare Dog Point Vineyard established by Ivan and Margaret, the pair launched the Dog Point label together with wives Wendy and Margaret in February 2004 using fruit from the 2002 vintage. The two couples bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Dog Point brand, and are unanimous in their quest to make regionally distinctive wines with a point of difference. Totally hands-on, the partners are involved from the vineyard to the winery and market place valuing tremendously the loyal vineyard team who work closely with them. All the winery work is carried out by James and Ivan, who prefer an attention to detail and hands on approach utilising old world philosophies and new world technology in their winemaking.