WineNZ Summer 18-19 (1)

feature | wine people’s places
The parterre behind the house is filling out.
olive grove. Behind them are an orchard
and a truffiere, then the terrace slopes down
to the Lake Dunstan reserve, making for
easy access for Mathilde and Madeleine
to swim and boat.
Joan, an archaeologist, has found a lot of
relics on the site, from spoons and knives
to ploughs and other farm tools.
“The first owner of this property was a
Chinese gold miner so we have found lots
of bits of Chinese pickle pots and things,
evidence of Ah Que. And I’m quite excited
about the fact he was here because he started
a market garden in 1880 so it’s had a long
process of people growing things here.”
After Ah Que’s death in 1904, the
Stephens family farmed in the area, so
the Lawrences are only the third owners
after they broke up the big sheep farms,
she said.
The Lawrences grow most of their own
vegetables in the potager behind Lucie and
Brook’s house, and they keep chickens.
Against the sunny house wall is an 11-year
old espaliered fig that ripens several weeks
before the freestanding tree, Lucie says.
One of the garden features at the Lawrences’ home.
But the grounds are not all about selfsufficiency.
Joan says she always wanted a
parterre and decided that if she didn’t plant
one now she would never have one, so the
neat pattern of box hedges interspersed with
white gravel is filling out on the southwest
side of the house.
Behind the tasting room is an enormous
old walnut tree and Joan has planted old
fashioned roses and perennials as well as
spring bulbs round the restored cottage.
“It’s a good life,” she says.
The first owner of
this property was a
Chinese gold miner
so we have found lots of bits
of Chinese pickle pots and
things, evidence of Ah Que.”
62 WineNZ Magazine | Summer 2018-19