Growing up in Poland, Jacques spent school holidays on his grandfather’s small farm and vineyard in Poland’s southwest and dreamt of someday owning his own vineyard. Who would have guessed we would end up in Central Otago fulfilling this dream.
Before leaving Poland, we spent many holidays among vineyards of southern Europe sitting in the sun and drinking wine - naturally we thought that’s what owning a vineyard would be like. However, we soon discovered after we brought Gibbston Highgate Estate that there was a lot more hard work involved.
When we took over the vineyard in 1999 there were three main grape varieties being grown; Chardonnay (Mendoza clone), Pinot Noir (Clone 10/5 Danny Schuster Selection), and Pinot Gris (mainly the New Zealand original Mission clone brought from Alsace by first missionaries, but also the German GM 2-15 clone). Subsequently we have planted a further two varieties; Pinot Noir clone UCD 5 (similar to the famous Pommard clone), and the Burgundy clone we call here Abel was planted in 2009.
The original vineyard was established and managed under the direction of Greg Hay, one of the pioneers and best known vignerions in Central Otago. As our experience and confidence grew, with studies in viticulture and oenology gained from the Hawkes Bay Institute of Technology, and with our professional bio-science knowledge, we progressed to having a full and hands on approach in the vineyard.
