The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Wine trail that travels back to city emigrant
David Herd who first made wine on New Zealand’s Auntsfield Estate was a Dundonian who emigrated there in 1852.
When David Webster at The Butcher The Baker began stocking wine from the estate, little did he know that the story behind the wine would lead back to the city.
After taking delivery of some bottles from the brand to sell in his shop in Annfield Road from wine consultant Neil Robertson, he was amazed to discover that the first person to make wine in that area of New Zealand was a Dundonian.
David Herd headed to the other side of the world in the 1800s and Neil has unearthed an amazing story about the man believed to have been from the city’s Hawkhill area.
“I have been in the trade for about 28 years selling wine and I also come from the Dundee area, so when I heard about the link between Auntsfield Wine and Dundee it was a story I wanted to follow up,” he said.
“I run a business in the Scottish borders, but I still have family up here so I am visiting regularly. We were taking on wine businesses that were family-run and had a bit of provenance and a story to tell.
“This came up and I went through it and found out that David Herd was born in Maryfields, which is not the hospital, but it’s possibly an area in Dundee or the farm that is out
Strathmartine way because he came from farming stock. His father was from Kincaple, St Andrews.”
Investigating further, Neil discovered that David Herd had gone out to New Zealand in the mid-1800s.
“Marlborough Wines are huge, massive, and he was the first to grow vines in that area to make wine,” Neil continued.
“He had gone out there in 1852, had stopped off at Melbourne, didn’t quite like it and had gone on to New Zealand’s North Island. 1873 was when the first vine went in and he made that until about 1905, passed it on to his son-inlaw, and then in 1931 they dug the whole thing up and went back into sheep farming.”
David Webster of The Butcher The Baker said: “It gives you real enthusiasm for the wine. Who would have thought that it started from a guy in Dundee from such a massive world that the wine world is?”
Neil is still researching the story. Anyone with further details can email him at by n.robertson@ terroirvines.com