Nestled in the Hauraki Gulf is Waiheke Island, a world-renowned wine-lover’s destination. However, it wasn’t always that way. Claire Dunleavy steps into the vineyard and hears the stories of the enterprising, determined people who transformed the island into an internationally-acclaimed wine region. The stories add another element to the wines, giving the reader an insight into the personalities behind the vines.

The profiles are accompanied by portraits by acclaimed New Zealand photographer Marti Friedlander, who died in November 2016 as the book was being edited.

Clare is one of the Dunleavy family who figure as part of the fabric of the Waiheke Island wine scene. The Dunleavys established Te Motu in 1988, third after Goldwater and Stonyridge. Naturally, she worked on the family vineyard and at a number of other Waiheke Island wine producing properties in varied roles. She is currently the cellar door manager at the new Tantalus Estate. Clare is well-qualified in wine , studying under the WSET course and has worked in wine retail, and hospitality jobs, mainly on Waiheke Island. This involvement has given her the opportunity of knowing the people and their history in the Waiheke Island scene as very few would do. And also, her depth of knowledge and understanding ensures that the book is written with the detail for serious wine buffs.

Raymond Chan Review: "Clare Dunleavy’s book ‘Waiheke Island – A World of Wine’ is a book that I’d like to have written as it is what I do for a living in part. But I know I wouldn’t be able to match her command of language, balance of accessibility and expression of imagery provoking prose. And more importantly the amount of detail that only comes from knowing her subject intimately."