Winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis has celebrated his 20th vintage at Central Otago vineyard, Rockburn.
The 2025 vintage at Rockburn has marked a major milestone for Central Otago winemaker Malcolm Rees-Francis, who has celebrated his 20th vintage at Rockburn.
His journey began far from the vineyard rows in the rural heart of Waimate, a South Island town known more for sheep and cattle than Pinot Noir.
At the age of 18, determined to take a different path, Rees-Francis left rural life behind to study microbiology at Otago University. But it wasn’t long before science gave way to a newfound passion: winemaking.
After university, Rees-Francis immersed himself in the New Zealand wine industry, working cellar roles in Marlborough and Central Otago. His big break came in 2001 when he joined Felton Road as Assistant Winemaker to Blair Walter. Four years later, having further broadened his Pinot Noir horizons with multiple vintages in Oregon, USA, Rees-Francis took up the reins at Rockburn, where over the next two decades he would help shape the winery’s signature style, representing elegant, expressive, and benchmark Central Otago.
Fittingly, Rees-Francis’s 20th vintage was one for the books. The 2025 season began with a rare one-in-20-year frost hitting in early November, striking at a critical moment in vine growth. A swift and successful recovery plan was enacted to stimulate secondary shoot growth.
The remaining growing season brought near-perfect conditions. Above-average temperatures through the growing season allowed the vines and fruit to thrive. While overall yields were down in 2025, the hand-harvested fruit is of exceptional quality, and Rees-Francis and the team are excited to craft wines with outstanding concentration, finesse, and regional expression.
Over the past two decades, Rockburn has proven to be one of New Zealand’s most consistently awarded Pinot Noir producers, earning numerous trophies, gold medals, and five-star ratings for their wines globally. It’s a true testament to Rees-Francis’s deep understanding of the vines, soil, climate, oak, and the winemaking process, skills perhaps only a microbiologist-turned-winemaker could truly master.
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