Goldpine
Herringbone Wine
Set amidst the rolling green hills and red stony soil of Hawke’s Bay, Karen McLeod and Troy Doherty welcomed us to their small but mighty 11-hectare vineyard. The couple owns TK Vineyard, located in the Bridge Pā subregion of the Heretaunga Plains. The vineyard supplies grapes to several different brands, within and outside Hawke’s Bay, and grows four different grape varieties alongside being home to Karen and Troy’s very own brand: Herringbone Wine.
What makes these vineyard owners unique is something completely unrelated to wine; Karen and Troy are dairy farmers and live on their dairy farm in Awakeri on the outskirts of Whakatāne, a four-hour drive from the vineyard. While it may seem an unlikely pairing – dairy and wine – Karen says the two fields complement each other remarkably well.
Whakatāne natives Karen and Troy have been dairy farmers for decades. For Troy, who had little experience in the vines, buying a vineyard was a big leap. “My background in viticulture was zero. We’re dairy farmers from Whakatāne, and we wanted to get into a different industry and try something new. Karen has a background in viticulture, so we thought it might be good to own a vineyard one day. When we saw this vineyard come up for sale, we thought, why not?” Troy said. “Let’s do it now, rather than later, and in 2016 we bought this property.” Even the name Herringbone Wine is a nod to their dairy roots – named after the traditional Herringbone shed.
Karen, who studied oenology and viticulture at Lincoln University in 2006, had always planned to enter the wine industry. Her interest was first piqued when she went overseas to do a vintage in Bordeaux, and saw how popular New Zealand wines were on the international stage. Still, with the farm in Awakeri and bringing up their daughter, Ani, the timing was never right. “We just got busy with life in general, until we saw the vineyard come up for sale down here. It was the perfect size and had the perfect grape varieties, so we took a leap of faith and put an offer in. And here we are,” she said.
The vineyard is in a highly regarded wine-growing region, Karen said. “The red metal soils underground are very gravelly, light and well-drained, so that, combined with the climate – we’ve got like a little micro-climate going on, where we get a lot of heat to ripen the grapes through the season – this area produces some high-quality wines.”
Troy said the transition into the industry was a bit of a surprise, but enlisting the help of vineyard manager and experienced viticulturist Bridget Wilton and her partner Miles Leicester to manage the vineyard while they were in Whakatāne helped them through. Bridget and Miles own Greatvine Services, a vineyard contracting business in Hawke’s Bay.
“Industry-wise, there were some big differences. We’re used to working in a co-op with Fonterra and having a lot of support from the wider dairy industry and other dairy farmers that we work closely with – not saying there’s no support in the viticulture industry, but it’s a different industry completely. We aren’t living onsite. So that was a big leap for us because we employed a manager, Bridget Wilton, when we bought the property and worked closely with her. She has been so important to making the vineyard what it is today,” he said. “The big difference for us is probably not having the day-to-day learning on the property like we would on the dairy farm and relying on a manager to do most of the day-to-day work.”
Even though Karen and Troy live off-site in Whakatāne, they still spend a few months per year onsite at the vineyard, helping with harvesting and planting. Seasonally, dairy farming and vineyard-owning work well together.
“The dairy farm can get consuming at certain times of the year, and it is a 10-month business. It works well with the vineyard, because the harvest season in summer occurs in the vineyard when the dairy farm isn’t so busy. In the winter, things at the vineyard are slow, but it’s all-go on the farm. So that complements it, although what used to be our downtime is now another busy time, hand-picking or helping where we can on the vineyard.”
In summer, when the farm is a little quieter, Karen, Troy, Ani and their wider family head down to the vineyard for a few weeks to help with harvesting. “During harvest, we try and make it sort of a social activity. We often bring family members down with us to harvest. We’ve had Troy’s mum, my parents, nieces, nephews, aunties and our daughter. We also use some contracted staff just to get the numbers up, so that we’re not in here for 12 hours a day. It’s a real social sort of family time,” Karen said.
The vineyard produces 110 tonnes of grapes annually across their 25,000 vines. They produce fruit not only for the Herringbone Wine label, but also for other companies across Hawke’s Bay and throughout New Zealand. Troy says they have shifted their sales approach from large corporate buyers to more boutique companies, which is a success so far. “The boutiques we work with, they’re interested in what’s happening on the vineyard. They’re really involved in their own brand, their own winemaking and the product that they’re making. We have a good relationship with those guys, and it works well,” he explained.
With nearly a decade of owning a vineyard under their belt, Karen and Troy have grown their own wine brand, Herringbone Wine, into a premier boutique brand. While still new – production began in 2021 – the Herringbone label has a bright future ahead of it. “We’ve been producing our own label since 2021, so we are still fairly new. But this year we entered a wine in the Hawke’s Bay wine awards. It was our 2022 Merlot-Malbec, and we came away with a silver medal, which we were really happy with,” Karen told us. With the recent planting of Chardonnay in their vineyards, they have expanded their line to include that alongside some old favourites: Herringbone Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Syrah.
Keeping on top of the trends is a big focus for the TK Vineyard and Herringbone Wine label. They are continuously trying to stay up-to-date with what consumers want. They have top-grafted some of their vineyard blocks, transitioning from Syrah to varieties like Cabernet Franc, which have become more popular. They are also growing Sauvignon Blanc, which is a crowd favourite, Karen says, for their own Herringbone Wine label. Adapting to changing consumer preferences and industry trends is an important focus for them, she said.
Alongside this, sustainability is key to running Herringbone Wine. “When we took over this block, it was all growing conventionally. We’ve now converted half of the block to organically grown grapes, and we’re continuing on that journey,” Karen told us. The pair have also implemented an underground irrigation system, reducing the vineyard’s water usage. “It’s just a lot more efficient,” Karen explains. “We’re continually looking at ways we can improve our footprint.”
Looking ahead, Karen and Troy remain dedicated to the growth of both their dairy and wine businesses. By embracing innovation, sustainability, and adaptability, they’ve built a model that proves that these two seemingly different industries can thrive together.
