Domaine Thomson

A friend of ours (who shall remain nameless) who works in Aussie wine and knows Domaine Thomson reached out to me when he first heard we were talking about importing this winery. This is what he said: “The wines and the people are first class – if you’re planning an expansion to embrace the 7th state of Australia, they’d make a great partner.”

And he was right!

Domaine Thomson is the product of partners David, now deceased, and PM who met in 1980s Hong Kong over a love of Burgundy. Acquiring land in both Gevrey-Chambertin and Lowburn, Central Otago, their love affair with drinking, growing and making Pinot Noir spans both hemispheres.

The Estate’s name is derived from David’s great-great-grandfather, John Turnbull Thomson, known as “Surveyor Thomson”, who explored and mapped the region in the 1850s. Today it comprises a 14-hectare vineyard on gentle slopes overlooking Pisa Moorings lakeside settlement. There are four distinct blocks – the North Block, the Terraces, the South Block and the Moon Block – each with its own special characteristics.

Their Pinot Noir is a mixture of Davis and Dijon clones, planted in 2000 in deep gravel with some loess and clay. The relatively frost-free, warm mesoclimate and free draining soils provide ideal grape-growing conditions, producing an excellent concentration and intensity of flavours.

Organic since 2011 and operating biodynamically since 2013, the property is vibrantly alive and its dynamism is reflected in the grapes and the wine.