Winemakers

Bismark & Jannie Du Plessis & Richie Gray

Winemakers

RugbyField Vineyard, France & South Africa

Europe

Rugby

Behind

The Wine

A vine block the size of a rugby field Rugby Posts rising up high above the vineyard An exceptional wine exclusively made from this vineyard’s grapes Welcome to the exclusive RugbyField Vineyard

Discover our

Sporting Connection

Bismarck and Jannie, both capped more than 70 times for the Springboks, have combined to build a rugby pitch in the middle of the vineyard. On that pitch certain vines have been grown and been used to create the RugbyField Vineyard wine ‘La Grande Melée’ (The Big Scrum). This project will be replicated around the world – watch this space! We have also combined with the vineyard to raise funds for the Firefighters Charity (Oeuvre des Pupilles des Pompiers) which looks after the children and families of deceased firefighters, of whom one died when combating a blaze on the vineyard. The story bottles all the values we hold dear. Bismarck du Plessis has the highest quality rugby branding you can imagine, a veteran of three World Cups.

Exlporing the

Vineyard

The RugbyField Vineyard concept was born when post-game discussions between the Du Plessis Brothers, of Springbok and World-Cup-Winning fame and Richie Gray, a former Scotland rugby coach now working with Fiji, eventually led to discussions about farming and their shared love of red wine. They dreamed of establishing a vineyard the size of a rugby field, with posts and then create an exclusive wine made only from the grapes from this vineyard. This shared dream soon became a reality, when the Du Plessis brothers visited Chateau de Valcombe in Générac, France. Basile and Nicolas Ricome, brothers and former amateur Rugby players, are the 10th generation to run this family organic wine estate. The Ricomes immediately grasped the concept and agreed to dedicate a very specific block from Valcombe’s estate for the Rugby Field Vineyard project.

Exlporing the

Vineyard

Meet

The Winemaker

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.