Rochecombe 
Vineyard

The JAC Group’s first operational business investment in 1994 was Rochecombe vineyard and winery at Pipers River in Northern Tasmania. 

Rochecombe was purchased out of receivership after its crops had been wiped out by frost three years in a row. The vineyard was at risk of being grubbed and returned to pasture, however Josef’s team traveled to vineyards in Coonawarra and Padthaway and visited the Australian Wine Research Institute in South Australia to determine the best frost protection systems for vineyards. An impact sprinkler system was installed with a 300 megalitre dam and three diesel pumps spraying one million litres of water per hour on the 22-hectare vineyard during frost events to save the crop. As temperatures fall below zero the sprayed water constantly wets the canopy leaves and freezes releasing latent heat of fusion from the water molecules which insulates the cells in the leaves from freezing and dying. 

Rochecombe became part of a larger wine group formed by the JAC Group with the purchase in late 1994 of Heemskerk vineyard and its Jansz sparkling at Pipers Brook before they were sold to Pipers Brook Vineyard in 1998. Rochecombe vineyard and winery remains viable today due to Josef’s vision and is now owned by Accolade operating as Bay of Fires and House of Arras sparkling.