Every lasting love story begins not with grand gestures, but with a moment, often an ordinary one that quietly changes everything. For Judy and me, that moment arrived when we met on a misty path by Loch Lomond in the Scottish Highlands. I offered her of a simple cup of tea and that somehow led to our lives of courage, laughter, and partnership together that neither of us could have planned.
Our story, told in “The Tiny Vineyard That Defied the Odds”, is about far more than farming or wine. It’s about what happens when two people align their hopes and decide to build something that really matters, together.
Two Souls, One Dream
When I met Judy, I was an English plant pathologist in need of fresh air and purpose. She was a Kiwi horticulturist with an adventurous streak and a grounded sense of optimism. We came from different worlds but shared the same quiet conviction that life should be lived with intention.
A few years later, we left everything behind and moved to New Zealand’s Waimata Valley, near Gisborne, to chase a dream of self-sufficiency. It wasn’t about success or luxury, just the simple, stubborn desire to live in harmony with the land and with each other.
The 9.2-hectare property we bought was more wilderness than farmland, but it gave us what every couple needs: a shared purpose. That sense of “us against the odds” became the heartbeat of everything that followed.
Weathering Life’s Storms, Together
No vineyard grows without struggle, and neither does a marriage. There were things that undid months of work, frosts that wiped out entire crops overnight, and the kind of financial juggling that would have impressed a circus act. Yet through it all, the one thing that endured was our ability to laugh and take disappointments in our stride.
We laughed when irrigation pipes failed at the worst possible moments, when beetles arrived en masse for a banquet in the vines, and when exhaustion made us delirious enough to see the humour in it all. That laughter became our lifeline.
In a world that often glorifies independence, we discovered something better, interdependence. A shared dream doesn’t just divide the labour; it multiplies the joy.
The Dance of Balance
Partnership, we learned, isn’t about perfection. It’s about rhythm. Sometimes one leads, sometimes the other, and sometimes both of you stand still to regain your footing.
I brought the science, Judy brought innate intuition, creativity, and a steady belief that things would somehow work out. Where I saw risk, she saw possibility. Where she felt doubt, I found the practical reassurance to steady us both.
That balance turned Tiritiri Estate into something more than a vineyard. It became a living reflection of teamwork. Each vine, each bottle, a reminder that love and perseverance, when mixed in equal measure, can grow almost anything.
The Beauty of Shared Purpose
Over time, the vineyard thrived. We earned recognition from top wine critics, restaurants and lodges, the French Ambassador, and even Royalty. The real rewards were far closer to home: our two beautiful sons growing up among the vines, swimming in our river, building camps, evenings spent watching the sun dip behind the hills, and the quiet satisfaction of building a life from the ground up.
We discovered that shared purpose is the glue of lasting love. It transforms hard work into meaning, setbacks into stories, and ordinary days into shared adventures.
Takeaway
Love, like a good vineyard, is cultivated over time. It deepens through storms, strengthens with laughter, and ripens in its own season.
In “The Tiny Vineyard That Defied the Odds”, our story unfolds as a tribute to partnership, to the simple, enduring truth that the best things in life are grown, not given.
Pour yourself a glass of inspiration and explore our journey today.
Available now in paperback, eBook, and hardcover, because love, like good wine, is meant to be shared.