Domaines Jacques Thienpont buys into Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard

Written By Campbell Mattinson
The Clarendon Vineyard in McLaren Vale.

This is a fascinating, and arguably important, acquisition in anyone’s language. Domaines Jacques Thienpont – the owner of Le Pin in Pomerol, L’If on the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, and L’Hêtre in Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux – has today acquired select parcels of the Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard in McLaren Vale from Jackson Family Wines.

The Clarendon Vineyard is one of McLaren Vale’s most historic and respected sites. This acquisition includes 22 hectares, nine hectares of which are planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, and Shiraz.

Effectively then we have a major Bordeaux-based producer buying into an outstanding McLaren Vale vineyard. This is particularly interesting given that Domaines Jacques Thienpont is currently developing Pocket Gully as an Adelaide Hills estate. These parcels of the Clarendon Vineyard will become part of the Pocket Gully endeavour.

“Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard is an extraordinary site with a rich history,” fourth-generation winemaker, Georges Thienpont, said. “As relative newcomers to the region, we are honoured to become stewards of these select parcels and are committed to preserving their integrity."

Chris Jackson of Jackson Family Wines was equally enthusiast about this Thienpont move. “These are exceptional vineyard blocks, and we are pleased to see them entrusted to one of the world's great wine families. The Thienponts share our commitment to quality and stewardship, and together we look forward to further elevating the reputation of the vineyard on the global stage.”

The Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard was planted by the Hickinbotham family in 1971. The property has been owned by Jackson Family Wines since 2012.

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Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com
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