When it comes to wool, Ron Jones admits he is "a bit of a perfectionist".
Mr Jones and his wife Juliet are looking forward to displaying their sheep to a wide audience of merino breeders during the Central Otago Stud Merino Breeders stud merino tour next week.
Their property, Matarae, between Outram and Middlemarch, will be the first stop next Monday on the three-day tour.
While Matarae sheep have been on display on the tour in the past, it was the first time the tour had visited their property. The tour was last held in 2004.
The Jones family was keen to show fellow merino enthusiasts how their breeding had developed since the Matarae Stud was established in 1984.
It was founded with about 100 ewes from the well-known Malvern Downs and Moutere studs in Central Otago.
Among the sheep on display will be stud rams and their progeny. There will also be a wool display.
For more than 20 years, Mr and Mrs Jones have used the services of Tasmanian sheep classer and stud master Ken Arnold.
Mr Jones met Mr Arnold when the pair were both judging at the Upper Clutha A and P Show in Wanaka about 25 years ago and a friendship developed. Mr Arnold was classing some other studs in New Zealand. Mr and Mrs Jones invited him to their property, and he has now been coming to Matarae for more than 20 years.
Now, he was training the next generation to be a stud master: the Jones' son, William.
The Jones family's merino wool was produced for Italian spinners and the cloth was used for elite women's fashion, a "very prestige market", Mr Jones said.
They had hosted Italian visitors at their property and also been to Italy and visited a 400-year-old mill where 380 staff were working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
They worked closely with Lindon and Jenni Sanders, from Little Valley, and their flocks were very similar. The Sanders' property is also on the merino tour.
In addition to running 5000 merino ewes, Mr and Mrs Jones run Romney sheep, founded on Turanganui bloodlines.