Shedding their corporate business suits the pair set sail on a 48-foot yacht named Chanticleer. Their daughter Samantha would spend the first six months of her life on board the yacht.
Sheltering from the Pacific hurricane season Greg, Sue and Samantha ended up in the beautiful waters of the Marlborough Sounds. Inspired by the beauty of the region, the couple decided a Marlborough winery was the sort of project to see them return to dry land.
So, in 1994 they established Whitehaven – named for the importance of family, and memorialising the calm port ‘haven’ they’d found while anchoring in Marlborough. The distinctive anchor insignia seen on the Whitehaven label forever connects Whitehaven to its nautical beginnings and is a marque of the wine label’s quality, consistency and integrity.
Today Whitehaven remains proudly family owned and is headed by Sue who continues the dream she and her late husband Greg shared. In 2020 Samantha (with Sue below) joined the family business, along with her husband Josh Barclay, to follow in Sue and Greg's footsteps and continue the family vision.
In their respective roles of Kōparepare Brand Manager, and Sustainability, Samantha and Josh will become the next generation to safeguard the family business and ensure its relevance and quality into the future.
