Devils Staircase

Devil's Staircase is a range from Rockburn, a Central Otago winery established in 1991 when heart surgeon Dr Richard Bunton planted the first vines near Lake Hayes. Winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis has led the cellar since 2005, arriving from nearby Felton Road and going on to be named Young Antipodean Winemaker of the Year, and he continues to shape Rockburn's wines around a minimal-intervention, site-first philosophy suited to Central Otago's varied terroir within New Zealand.

The range takes its name from the Devil's Staircase, a narrow road cut into the cliffs above Lake Wakatipu between Queenstown and Kingston, opened during the Great Depression to replace the steamer ferry that once carried passengers along the lake, with the name itself older still, drawn from local stories about the rough track that came before it. Devil's Staircase focuses on Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris sourced from vineyards across the district.