Our family

Murray Bishell

Murray is a fourth generation descendent from David Bishell and father to Scott and Simon. He has endured both the good and the tough times on the land, and in doing so has built up a wealth of knowledge from more than 50 years' experience working the land.

Murray is a pioneer and an innovator. In partnership with his late wife Diana, they seized the opportunity in the 1980s to diversify Caythorpe into cherries and viticulture alongside sheep, process cropping and cereal production.

Today he keeps a keen eye over the farm and his knowledge and past experience prove invaluable to both Scott and Simon.

Murray still lives on Caythorpe — a unique situation where all direct family members reside on the estate.

Scott Bishell

A fifth generation descendant from David Bishell, Scott is proud to continue the tradition of mixed cropping at Caythorpe, managing our cropping, stock and hay operation.

While being a champion for technology and modern farming processes, Scott still respects the historical values that have allowed Caythorpe to prosper for more than 140 years.

Scott has a reputation as a producer of premium lucerne, meadow and equine hay products. Once a common sight throughout the region, lucerne is now only grown on a handful of local properties and his expertise in this area has resulted in Caythorpe lucerne being a preferred product for many buyers.

Scott, his wife Rachel and their young son live on the Caythorpe property.

Simon Bishell

Also a fifth generation descendant from David Bishell, Simon is our viticulturist, responsible for management and supply of fruit for the Caythorpe wine brand.

In 2008 Simon was awarded the title of both Marlborough and New Zealand Young Viticulturist of the Year. He has served in a number of industry governance roles and is passionate about all things Marlborough.

Simon also oversees cherry production at Caythorpe and is proud to be one of the few remaining orchardists in the region.

Along with wife Sara and two young sons, they occupy the distinctive Caythorpe homestead that has been the family home to three generations preceding them.

Jeremy McKenzie

A man of many talents, Jeremy is the winemaker responsible for our portfolio of wines. He began his association with the Bishell family 20 years ago and has since worked for several iconic Marlborough wineries that have sourced grapes from us.

Jeremy has intimate knowledge of the vineyard. His ability to produce fruit driven wines of distinction has resulted in many accolades throughout his career, with a highlight being the prestigious Champion Wine of Show award at the 2017 Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

We feel very fortunate to have a winemaker of such calibre as part of our team.

Phil Balcombe

Phil is our Farm & Fleet Manager. He grew up “just down the road” and picked cherries as a teenager at Caythorpe in the early 1990’s, and joined the Caythorpe family fulltime in 2015.

Phil has an extensive background in engineering and mechanics and he quickly developed a detailed understanding of day-to-day vineyard and farm operations.

Our wide range of farming activities requires a significant inventory of plant and machinery, and Phil ensures everything is kept running smoothly.

There is nothing that Phil cannot build, fix, repair or just generally make better!