The story of Longbush Wines is a story of family. A family with a passion for working together, crafting, restoration, entrepreneurship and nature.
John Thorpe has been a local Gisborne winemaker for over 35 years. He started Longbush Wines in 1990 with his oldest brother Bill, at the fruit packing sheds that are now Waimata Cheese on Riverside Road, but his winemaking journey actually began with bees. He started keeping bees as he wanted to learn the art of crafting honey mead. He embarked on a winemaking course to learn how to make the honey mead and during the course he fell in love with the winemaking process and realised that he might as well be making wine!
When John was young, he and his siblings would go for long bike rides down Riverside Road. They would take picnics and swim in the swimming hole in the Waimata River. They all loved the area and felt a real connection to it. In the year 2000, John’s sister Dame Anne Salmond and her husband Jeremy purchased land down Riverside Road that included the small remaining strip of native bush known as Longbush. Much of the land was in dire need of restoration, so that is what they started doing. They fenced, trapped, planted and controlled weeds. Longbush Reserve is now a magnificent slice of paradise, as much for the birds and native plant species as for the public who are welcome to walk the track and soak in the nature. The gorgeous labels on Longbush Wines are from the historic Buller’s Birds of New Zealand and symbolise the growing native bird life at the reserve.
The Waimata Cheese Company is the creation of John’s twin brother Rick and his wife Carol. That business is also a family affair, with Rick and Carol’s children now involved. Such is the connection to Longbush that cheesemaker Rick named a cheese after it for a time, offering a link to the family affiliation with the bush reserve.
John’s son Ash has been involved with the winery for years, doing vintages with his Dad and managing bottling runs. Ash has now moved into the business side of things, working in marketing, accounting and sales. Covid and inflation made things difficult for a time, but they have managed to maintain competitive pricing, and sales are now on the rise. A new winemaker, Claudia Hintz, has also come on board, successfully working alongside John for the past Vintage.
Gisborne is well known for its chardonnay and Longbush Wines place a focus on this with their ‘Bird Series Chardonnay’ and their barrel fermented reserve. They also make a traditional method blanc de blanc called Cosmos. Not many wineries make this as it’s a lot more hands-on, but working with his hands is John’s passion. Cosmos is Ash’s favourite. It is something a bit special and it’s the perfect bottle of bubbles for an occasion. If chardonnay is not your tipple, they also produce a delicious rosé, pinot gris, gewürtztraminer and merlot. All wines in the Longbush range have been rated very highly by Wine Orbit and can be purchased at supermarkets and liquor outlets locally, as well as through their website longbushwines.nz where you can purchase boxes of wine such as the ‘Box of Birds’ which has an assortment of 6 Longbush Wines, or the ‘Three shades of Chardonnay’ box.
The 2024 vintage was the best they have had for nearly 10 years, which Ash says is pretty exciting! They don’t have their own vineyard. Instead they source grapes from other local vineyards such as TW Wines and Bond Block and bring them to their winery at Solander Street in the subdivision. “John comes alive when the vintage comes through and the grapes are coming in,” says Ash.
Aside from winemaking, John Thorpe is a force to be reckoned with. Ash says “he and Rick are real go-getters.” John has worked incredibly hard over the past few decades to help ensure that Gisborne remains a fantastic place to live and call home. He was instrumental in the restoration and refurbishment of the sheds at the wharf which became The Wharf Bar and Restaurant and the building which has become Lone Star. He was also involved in the restoration of the historic Works building into the restaurant it is now and he had his winery based out the back of it for a time. These buildings are a major part of Gisborne history and without John's foresight and hard work they may have been lost altogether. John has also been involved in bringing events to life for our region, such as Tuia 2000 and the iconic Wine and Food Festival.
Ash is really interested in promoting Longbush Wines, and other Gisborne wines, to have more of a presence in our region. There is less choice for local wine these days, which is a big reason to support it. The winemaking course which used to be offered in Gisborne is now only offered in Hawkes Bay and this has led to less locally-trained wine makers. Supporting local is an important philosophy to Ash and one of his recent ideas was to utilise the label making facilities they have to produce ‘Gizzy Local’ product stickers. He has already added them to Longbush Wines locally and he envisages them being used on all sorts of incredible locally made products. Keep an eye out for a bottle of this amazing local wine - you won’t be disappointed.