Big Hill Vineyard

A partnership headed by Nick Cugura began the re-establishment of Big Hill Vineyard on a site which was first planted to grapes almost 150 years ago. That was in the height of the gold rush, and there was even a long-disappeared pub, the Granite Rock Hotel. The modern-day plantings began with 2.5ha of shiraz in 1998, followed by 1ha each of merlot and cabernet sauvignon, and a tiny planting of pinotage, one of very few in the country. -JAMES HALLIDAY