Lucy Nankervis – Hackersley Estate Wines
In this interview, Lucy Nankervis, Manager of Hackersley Estate Wines, discusses moving into the wine industry and the changes this brought about.
What do you do?
My job is to manage the vineyard and, the winemaking process, and sales and marketing for Hackersley Estate.
How did you get into the industry?
I got into the industry only a few years ago when my husband, Murray Tognela, decided to buy the property in 2021. We both have a diverse background in business and other pursuits, but both have a rural background, so despite a very steep learning curve over the past few years, we have adapted well to our new passion!
Share a story from behind the scenes.
Sometimes, farm life can be a bit like an episode of Clarkson’s Farm at Hackersley Estate! Examples are when I was working in the vineyard and didn’t latch the vineyard gate properly, and I let 100 head of sheep into the vineyard at Budburst in spring. It took me two hours running around in the vineyard to get them all out by myself, and I lost both my voice and my mind in the process. Another time, Murray drove the farm buggy too near to the edge of the dam and got bogged, then got the bigger tractor bogged and had to get a third tractor from a neighbour to pull them both out with a chain.
What food memory from your childhood or travels stands out?
travelling to places such as Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia, Italy, Greece, and many countries in Southeast Asia has given me so much experience and taught me so much.
What’s the best/ worst part of your job?
The best are the views of my workplace – it definitely beats my old office-bound corporate lifestyle.
The not-so-great part is putting bird netting on vines. This job is ‘the’ worst!!!!
What’s one of your favourite food and beverage pairings?
My favourite food combination is a cheese platter and wine. I love making my own pickles and chutneys from seasonally available products and experimenting on my friends with a picnic and a lazy afternoon.
What’s one of the funniest things you’ve seen behind the scenes?
Probably watching Murray try to get the three vehicles out of the bog in the dam in front of the restaurant would have to be a highlight. Particularly since the restaurant was scheduled to be open the next day and Murray couldn’t bear the humiliation of the guests seeing the various vehicles stuck in the mud when they arrived for lunch.
The perfect day off would be…
A picnic on the grass in front of the restaurant with my favourite people
A day in the life of a Lucy Nankervis is…
It is full of lots of different tasks on the farm and in the office, depending on where we are in the season.
What does Lucy Nankervis do for fun?
I love horses, so I love riding when I get a chance. I also love ocean swimming, looking at the stars (cheesy, I know), and bonfire nights with friends from the local wine industry at the end of harvest. I think our sense of community is something really unique and special in the Ferguson Valley, as we are all owner-operated farms and often rely on each other for help during the growing season.
What would you like guests to know about Hackersley Estate?
Hackersley Estate is an authentic brand that is constantly evolving, and we are very excited about the future, in particular the improvements that we have made to our winemaking practices and the new range of alternative varieties that we have introduced into the vineyard in the past few years. My favourite quote that has inspired me lately is from Madame Clicquot of the famous Champagne dynasty in France: “The world is in constant perpetual motion, and we must invent the things of tomorrow.”
How have you grown in your profession? What have you learned from your start in the industry until now? Are there any misconceptions?
So much! People who think that owning and managing a vineyard is all picnics and looking wistfully over perfect green rows of vines, I feel are almost comically mistaken. I don’t feel very glamorous at all a lot of the time, but I feel great satisfaction in seeing the fruits of our labour nonetheless.
What is one of the biggest challenges you’ve overcome?
Overcoming labour shortages in the COVID era and surviving and adapting to the impacts of the China tariffs on the Australian wine industry in the past few years.
What would you like people to know about being a vigneron as a profession?
The wine industry is a tough one and it’s easy to feel like people don’t really understand the passion and effort that goes into producing wine for the marketplace.
What’s your view on the wine scene in the Ferguson Valley?
The Ferguson Valley is a hidden gem and has so much potential to shine in the Australian wine industry and beyond into the future.
What are the top three things you like to do in the region you live in?
Swim in the ocean and even with dolphins occasionally, explore our beautiful national parks and enjoy fine wine and new food experiences.
What practices do you currently implement or hope to implement to work towards social responsibility and sustainability in the future?
We have converted to lightweight glass bottles to improve our efforts towards sustainability and in doing so have reduced the volume of glass used by almost half a tonne each year. We are also working towards achieving national Sustainability Certification.
We also support local events such as the Chefs Charity Long Table Lunch each year and also other fundraising initiatives such as Camp Quality which is an organization that supports children living with cancer.
What future plans do you have for your brand?
Our main goals for the future is to evolve our business to be as sustainable as possible, while constantly improving our wine and food experience for our customers and guests.
Read more interviews like this one with Lucy Nankervis and learn about careers in the hospitality industry here, and stay up-to-date on the latest gourmet and travel happenings around Asia via The Yum List on Instagram and The Yum List on Facebook.