Winemakers / Bismark & Jannie Du Plessis
Bismark & Jannie Du Plessis
The story behind
The Wine
A vineyard the size of a rugby field. Rugby posts rising above the vines. And a wine born from a shared love of rugby, farming and great wine.
RugbyField Vineyard began in the vineyards of southern France, where Springbok legends Bismark and Jannie du Plessis joined forces with former Scotland coach Richie Gray and the Ricome family of Château de Valcombe to create something genuinely different.
The idea was simple but ambitious: create a vineyard exactly the size of a rugby field, complete with goalposts, and produce a wine exclusively from its vines.
What started in France has now travelled to South Africa — bringing the RugbyField concept back to the home of the Springboks — with an even bigger ambition ahead: to establish RugbyField Vineyards in rugby-playing nations around the world.
Discover our
Sporting Connection
Where rugby and wine meet.
Bismark and Jannie du Plessis are Springbok legends and Rugby World Cup winners, while Richie Gray brings decades of international rugby experience as a player and coach.
Their shared passion for rugby, wine and farming sparked the original RugbyField idea — a vineyard that could quite literally be measured in rugby-field dimensions.
The concept is now evolving into something much bigger: a global RugbyField family connecting rugby nations through vineyards, wine and the people who love both.
From France to South Africa, the journey has begun.
Exploring the
Vineyard
From France to South Africa — and beyond
The RugbyField story began at Château de Valcombe in Générac, near Nîmes, a family-run organic estate with a winemaking history dating back to 1740. The Ricome family immediately embraced the vision of combining two great passions: rugby and wine.
A dedicated block of vines was selected for the project, with genuine rugby posts standing proudly above the vineyard — creating the first RugbyField Vineyard.
The first vintage, La Grande Mêlée, was made from an old Syrah block at Château de Valcombe. Syrah has a particularly important place in the estate's history, having been planted there by Charles Ricome after the Second World War.
Now the RugbyField concept has reached South Africa, with plans to continue taking the idea into other rugby-playing nations around the world.
One field. One sport. Many vineyards.
In their
Own Words
“The Rugby Field Vineyard, La Grande Mélée 2018”, is the first vintage of this adventure. It is made from an old Syrah block from Chateau de Valcombe. Syrah is the historical varietal at Chateau de Valcombe, as my grand-father Charles was the first winemaker in Nîmes to plant Syrah, right after the Second World War. It is the backbone of our wines and embodies the family’s pioneering spirit.”
Bismark & Jannie Du Plessis
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