Our Story

A man with white hair, glasses, and a white shirt, wearing an apron, sitting at a table with several bottles and glasses, in a room with large windows, shelves, and various containers.

Our journey has been anything but ordinary. From South Africa to Bordeaux, Tokaj and finally Sicily, each chapter has shaped the way we understand wine, place and the life built around them.

Two elderly men walking hand in hand through a vineyard in a rural landscape under a cloudy sky.

Our Story

Peter and Susie Vinding-Diers have spent more than five decades moving through some of the world’s great wine regions, guided by curiosity, instinct and a restless desire to understand what makes a place truly distinctive.

Black-and-white photo of a man in a straw hat and a woman with a short haircut holding hands outdoors, with trees and a pathway in the background.

Peter’s journey into wine began in South Africa at the end of the 1960s. After working at the experimental research institute in Stellenbosch, he moved into hands-on winemaking at Rustenberg Estate. Newly married, Peter and Susie had embarked together on what would become a life defined by vineyards, cellars, distant countries and new beginnings.

Throughout it all, Susie has been the heart of the family — the constant presence behind their life together and the many adventures that carried them across continents. Peter would later describe her as an “absolute rock” through some of their most challenging years.

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A woman wearing a white hat and a man with dark hair and a mustache, both dressed in light-colored clothing, are standing outdoors near a grill with food. The woman is looking at the man, who is looking slightly to the left. There is a window and some outdoor furniture or objects in the background.

Peter’s life in wine began in South Africa at the end of the 1960s.

After working at the experimental research institute in Stellenbosch, he moved into hands-on winemaking at Rustenberg Estate. It was there that he began developing the curiosity and independence that would later define his approach to wine.

Newly married, Peter and Susie were also beginning a life of travel together — one that would take them through vineyards, cellars and countries across the world.

South Africa was more than a first job. It was where Peter learned to question, observe and trust the vineyard.

South Africa, Bordeaux and beyond

Black-and-white photograph of a rural landscape with two men walking and pulling a wooden cart, with horses attached. There are small buildings in the background, and the scene is set against a wooded hill.

From South Africa, Peter and Susie moved to Bordeaux, where they would spend more than two decades.

Working across estates including Château Loudenne, Château Rahoul and Château de Landiras, Peter refined his approach to winemaking and began pioneering work with indigenous yeasts and natural fermentation — ideas that would remain central to his philosophy throughout his career.

But Bordeaux was only the beginning of a much wider journey.

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Peter’s work later took him to Tokaj, where he helped revive one of Europe’s great historic wine regions, as well as to Spain, Chile, Brazil and beyond. Each place brought new soils, climates and traditions, but the same instinct remained: to understand what makes a vineyard distinctive and allow that identity to come through in the wine.

For Peter and Susie, these were not simply professional chapters. They were part of a shared life shaped by family, movement and discovery.

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A black-and-white photo of a rural landscape with a dirt road on the left and a row of trees on the right, under a partly cloudy sky.

In 2005, after decades spent making wine across some of the world’s most important regions, Peter Vinding-Diers and his wife Susanne chose south-eastern Sicily for the next chapter of their life in wine. Near Syracuse, they found a stretch of uncultivated land overlooking the Ionian Sea — a former pasture with abandoned olive and almond trees, set on the remains of an ancient volcano.

Nothing beats Sicily

What drew them in was the land itself. On one side of the estate, volcanic soils dominate; on the other, former seabed and marine fossils emerge through the ground. Sea breezes, mild winters and marked shifts between day and night complete a landscape capable of producing wines with freshness, structure and mineral tension.

Peter spent years studying the site before planting. In 2010, two single vineyards of Syrah were established with massal selections from Hermitage in the Rhône Valley: Vigna Grande to the west and Vignolo to the east. Their contrasting soils soon revealed two distinct expressions of the same grape and became central to the identity of Montecarrubo.

Since then, the estate has grown to around sixteen hectares, with vineyards, olive groves, lavender and Mediterranean vegetation forming one interconnected ecosystem. Organic farming, biodiversity, indigenous yeasts and a restrained approach in the cellar remain at the heart of the philosophy, allowing the wines to reflect their origin with clarity and precision.

Today, Montecarrubo is where Peter’s international experience has found its most personal expression: a small Sicilian estate shaped by volcanic soils, the Ionian Sea and a deep respect for place.

Nothing beats Sicily.

Two men are standing in a room filled with wine barrels, examining a chart or book.
A man wearing sunglasses and a suit, smiling, standing next to a woman with short curly hair, smiling, and holding his jacket in a casual outdoor setting.
A vineyard with grapevines supported by stakes in the foreground and a hillside town with buildings in the background, black and white photo.