History in the making

Northburn Station was originally an 'outstation' of Morven Hills, which was taken up by the McLean Family in the 1850's.

In 1910 the Middleton family purchased Northburn Station, which included Leaning Rock Station for £1000. In 1911 they then sold off what they called the 'Small Grazing Run' of Leaning Rock, a mere 4,500 hectares.

The Lake family purchased Northburn in 1973 and fully developed it with extensive 'over sowing' and topdressing as well as tracking and fencing. When Lake Dunstan was raised in the early 1990's, some of the productive river flats were lost.

The Pinckney family bought Northburn in 1993 and added Leaning Rock back to the property in 2001. Currently they run 10,000 Merino sheep and 120 cattle on the station.

Looking to the future

Tom and Jan Pinckney diversified from the traditional 12,000 hectare grazing operation by planting grapes in 1999, realising their first crop in 2001. On glorious, sheltered, north-west-facing slopes overlooking Lake Dunstan, they now have 17 hectares of Pinot Noir, four hectares of Riesling, one hectare of Pinot Gris and one hectare of Sauvignon Blanc.

Tom Pinckney was brought up on Glenaray, a high country station in Northern Southland. After travelling overseas and then working at Glenaray for a year in the early nineties, Tom decided to leave the running of Glenaray to his older brother David, and moved to the somewhat drier country of Central Otago.

As well as his farm role, Tom inherited his father's vintage Tiger Moth aircraft that is currently used to take tourists on scenic trips from Wanaka. He's also recently acquired a small helicopter which he uses for mustering the sheep and cattle on Northburn, vineyard frost-fighting on occasion as well as the odd day's high country fishing!

Jan Pinckney has a passion for wine, food and hospitality. Following an advertising career in Auckland, she moved to Queenstown in 1993 where she established and ran a catering business and owned a restaurant before meeting Tom and making the move to Northburn. Over the years, in between raising three children, she has organised and catered for a number of successful weddings and functions both on the site of 'The Shed' and elsewhere using a mobile kitchen. With the establishment of the new building she has finally got the commercial kitchen of her dreams, affectionately known as 'Jan's helicopter' in reference to Tom's passion for the skies!

Richard, Pam, Jan & Tom with Greg Turner who officially opened "The Shed" on 19th December 2008.

Richard Broadhead is Jan's brother and is the company wine operations manager and makes the white wines. Formerly Technical Services Manager for Trimble Navigation Ltd in Christchurch, he has backgrounds in agricultural engineering, computer network services and desk-top publishing. Richard has also recently helped manage a boutique wine shop and wine importing business and has been involved in a non-commercial wine-making venture for over 20 years.

Pam Forster has been working alongside Jan since 1994 in her various catering businesses and was one of her bridesmaids. She has more firmly cemented her role in the Northburn 'family firm' as Richard's partner. Pam was formerly Food and Beverage manager and Conference and Incentives manager at Queenstown's five-star Millbrook Resort and has a wealth of knowledge within the hospitality industry. She has a strong background in events and F&B management, and is Northburn Station's cellar door and function manager. Pam is your first point of contact for your special event.