Winemaker in the Spotlight: Stacy Herbert of Main Ridge Wines, Tobago

When we talk about Tobago’s food and drink culture, our minds often travel to smoky fish broth simmering by the sea, backyard cocoa tea, or a lovingly aged bottle of Punch de Crème shared at Christmas.

Wine, at first thought, might seem like a distant cousin in our culinary family. But Tobago is always full of surprises.

In the lush, mist-kissed hills of Tobago’s Main Ridge Forest Reserve, where hummingbirds flit between heliconias and the air carries whispers of ancestral wisdom, a quiet revolution is fermenting—one bottle at a time.

At the heart of this movement is Stacy Herbert, the soulful force behind Main Ridge Wines, and a woman redefining what Caribbean winemaking means.

This is not wine as the world usually imagines it. There are no sprawling grape vineyards and no French oak barrels resting in cool caves.

Instead, there are local fruits. Tamarind. Pineapple. Sorrel. Jamun and even provisions like Dasheen. Fruits that carry the stories, flavors, and rhythms of Tobago’s land; turned into carefully balanced wines that feel like sipping the island’s memory.

A Winemaker with Roots and Vision

Stacy Herbert isn’t just a winemaker—she’s a Caribbean wine educator, motivational speaker, and cultural alchemist.

Stacy didn’t come into winemaking because it was easy. Winemaking in Tobago is, in many ways, a marvel of patience, experimentation, and an intuitive understanding of flavor.

Her process is deeply hands-on: selecting fruit at its peak, fermenting slowly, adjusting for sweetness, acidity, and aroma, and letting each batch develop its own voice.

Where some might see limitations, Stacy sees possibilities. Tobago is filled with fruit that has been part of our lives for generations yet rarely given the attention of fine craft beverages. She approaches each wine as both a flavor story and a heritage conversation.

Her philosophy is simple but powerful: Tobago doesn't need to imitate; Tobago can innovate.

Wine as Cultural Storytelling

One of the most striking things about Main Ridge Wines is its commitment to honoring place. These wines don’t attempt to taste like Napa or Tuscany. They taste like home.

Sorrel Wine carries notes of celebration, Sunday dresses, and festive December breezes.

Pineapple Wine sits bright and playful on the tongue, reminiscent of warm market mornings.

Ginger-Tamarind Wine offers a sweet-tart complexity that sparks memory: childhood tamarind balls, aunties laughing in the kitchen, the warmth of ginger in our teas.

Stacy’s most celebrated creation of all is the Dasheen wine. This wine comes from a starchy root transformed into a surprisingly refined and aromatic beverage. It’s a testament to her creativity and technical skill, proving that Caribbean produce can rival traditional grape-based wines in complexity and elegance

She has found a way to bottle nostalgia—without being sentimental. Her wines feel like an expansion of Tobago’s identity, rather than a reinterpretation of it.

Sustainable Craft, Tobago Pride

Local fruit wine is inherently a more sustainable craft. There is no need for long-distance grape imports, refrigeration-heavy storage, or high-emission supply chains. The fruit grows here. The flavor begins here. The value stays here.

By supporting local farms, using what the land gives, and creating a product rooted in regional identity, Stacy’s work contributes to something bigger: a local food and drink economy that feeds itself.

Her winemaking invites us to rethink what “luxury” means. Maybe luxury is not imported goods or prestigious foreign labels. Maybe luxury is knowing the story behind what we sip.

A Taste of the Future

Stacy is part of a growing wave of Caribbean makers who are reshaping the region’s culinary and beverage identity, and not by borrowing from elsewhere, but by doubling down on what is ours.

Main Ridge Wines is not just a business. It is a conversation between tradition and imagination, land and craft, memory and possibility.

And this is only the beginning.

As Tobago continues to grow its voice in sustainable food and beverage storytelling, Stacy stands as a reminder that innovation often starts quietly in a small kitchen, with fresh fruit, patience, and belief.

If you find yourself in Tobago…

Seek out a bottle of Main Ridge Wines. Pour a glass slowly. Let the first sip sit. Taste the sunshine, the soil, the laughter, the coastline, the history.

Taste home.