About

Peter’s grandfather Milne Gibson had vineyards and orchards at Mc Laren Vale in S.A
Word of Mouth Wines (WOM) was born out of an amalgamation of two neighbouring vineyards, the former Donnington est. 1991 by James Gordon and Sharyn Pussell and the former Pinnacle Wines est. 1999 by Peter Gibson. This partnership operated successfully for more than 10 years achieving a 5 star rating from James Halliday in 2010. In 2013 when one half of the partnership wished to retire the amalgamation was dissolved and the former Donnington vineyard was sold. Peter has continued on with the WOM brand now located at his 1k high vineyard on Wallace Lane.

Peter retired from Fine Art teaching at Tafe NSW and established this vineyard to compliment his other art related activities. Part of his motivation was the continuation of a family tradition, both his father and grandfather had been vignerons and horticulturists.
Peter’s grandfather Milne Gibson had vineyards and orchards at Mc Laren Flat in S.A and was a pioneer of the dried fruits industry in Australia establishing the first wood fired dehydrator and his brand Moray Park.

Peter’s father Ninian grew up on these farms and went on to be farm manager before enlisting for WW2. On his return he purchased a vineyard and orchard in Clare S.A. and was one of the founding members of what became the Clare Valley co operative working and drinking with the likes of Jim Barry. Unfortunately after more than a decade of toiling his health never recovered from his time as a POW in Changi, and he had to give up working the land he then became a wine merchant for the Clare Valley Wine Co operative and its Sydney and NSW distributer. His health never really improved and he died when Peter was just 3.

This small vineyard (3 hectare) site sits at a cool 1013 metres above sea level thus the name. It was the first to plant Pinot Gris in the Orange Region then adding Viognier in 2003 and then Petit Manseng in 2010. Since 2013 small parts of the vineyard have been grafted over to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling. 2015 saw the addition of Albarino,  Mencia ( Spanish red ) and Gruner veltliner (Austrian white ).

Our approach to farming and winemaking is sustainable. We have never used fertilizers or insecticides and have developed alternative practices to eliminate the use of herbicides. All our wines could be labelled Vegan or Natural wines though we choose to not use these terms. Maybe careful winemaking, traditional winemaking would best describe our processes.
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