High Garden Vineyard

Situated at between 420 and 490 metres of altitude, High Garden is one of the highest vineyards in Gibbston, Central Otago’s coolest sub region. It has great exposure to long sunshine hours. During the critical ripening month of April, sunshine hours are roughly 90 minutes longer than at the bottom of the valley. The vineyard slopes down towards the north allowing for the free draining of both air, which minimizes frost risk, and water; although the vines are now dry land farmed.

  • “Medium-deep, bright ruby colour with a strong tint of Purple; the bouquet is fresh
    and fruit driven, with bright raspberry, red cheery and balsamic herb nuances,
    showing impressive detail for such a young pinot, and the palate is concentrated and
    powerful, with impressive depth of flavour and detail, line and length, wonderful
    sweetly ripe berry fruit flavours and tremendous persistence. This is a stunning pinot
    noir with terrific detail allied to power, length and serious structure. Great drinking
    now, and will surely age superbly.

    Huon Hooke
    The Real Review

  • “““Hi Robin,
    Loved the wine!
    Fragrant, elegant, complex Pinot Noir with a “peacock’s tail of appealing floral restrained herbal, spice and red berry flavours supported by fine, peppery tannins and gentle acidity.
    It’s a pleasure to drink now but has a promising future.

    Bob Campbell
    ONZM  MW

  • “Having tasted all the HG releases to date this wine is just as good, in fact better.
    The 2024 vintage has left an indelible mark on this wine with a bouquet and palate of
    ripe bright fruit scents, a core of mineral and sense of site and aspect, and a soulful
    heartbeat of pinosity. A satin touch, lots of polish and style, fruit concentration and
    perfect level of oak. Taut, focussed and dry. Complex and age worthy.

    Cameron Douglass
    MS

  • “In the coolest subregion of Gibbston, the Pinot Noirs evoke descriptions like: ethereal, transparent, pretty, floral, and herbal; Gibbston is typically the last place to harvest its grapes- it can be late as May and yet alcohol levels rarely breach 13.5% ABV and acidity is mouth watering.

    Rebecca Gibb MW
    Author of The Wines of New Zealand

  • “At their best Gibbston Pinots are the most complete Pinot Noirs in Central Otago, delivering a dense midpalate and great length as well as admirable austerity thanks to Gibbston’s coolness.

    Matt Kramer
    In the Wine Spectator

  • “High Garden is the highest vineyard in Gibbston, on schist rock soils sloping towards the north with very long sunshine hours, making it one of the warmest sites in the coolest subregion for Pinot Noir.

    Robin Tedder MW
    Vigneron

About us

Planted in 2001, with a combination of clones on low vigour rootstock, the vineyard is hand tended with great attention paid to canopy management and individual vine health in order to focus purely on grape quality.

The High Garden vineyard is owned and the fruit grown by Robin Tedder. Robin has been growing grapes and making wine since 1993. He became a Master of Wine in 1997. The Viticulturist is Gary Crabbe, a highly experienced Viticulturist and a graduate of Lincoln. The consulting oenologist is Jennifer Parr, NZ Winemaker of the Year 2020.