Cyclone Gabrielle: Hawke’s Bay winegrower Lesley Wilson toasts gradual recovery

Many Hawke's Bay growers were faced with a big cleanup after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Warren Buckland

February 14 is etched in many Hawke’s Bay residents’ minds and Dartmoor orchardist and winegrower Lesley Wilson is no exception.

As an industry representative, wife and mother, getting on with life after Cyclone Gabrielle has not been easy, but she is, at last, seeing a light at the end of the tunnel - or perhaps more accurately, her orchard floor has finally been found - 18 months ahead of what she thought it would take.

When the Tutaekuri River flowed through her property, not only did Wilson and family lose their home and belongings but they also lost other houses on their property, all their orchard machinery, and half their apple orchard on two blocks.

They also watched the rest of their orchard, as well as their grape vines, go underwater.

Wilson, however, is not one to let the silt gather between her toes.

In fact, she is looking forward to rebuilding her life, her orchard, and making some good wine from her vines.

“I had to keep lying in front of the vines after the flood, everyone wanted me to pull them out, but I was determined to save them and make good wine again.”

It looks as though this might be one battle that she has won, the vines are clear of silt and are bursting into leaf.

The grapes from this vineyard, established in 2019 and trading under Milton Villa Wines, are all harvested by hand, with the wine reflecting the quality generally associated with the Hawke’s Bay region.

Wilson contract-grows wine grapes and uses some of the fruit to produce enough grapes for 1000 bottles of chardonnay and Bordeaux blend.

While their wine stock was ravaged by the cyclone, Wilson said Wineworks in Hastings came to the rescue, picking up, cleaning, relabelling and returning all the bottles.

“They worked wonders and we are so grateful to them,” she said.

Half the apple trees on two orchards were washed away and the rest of the orchard was covered in silt and thousands of cubic metres of debris.

With support from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and PanPac, the large logs have been taken away, chippers brought in to process the debris, and silt removed.

The remaining trees are fighting on.

Already a spraying regime has begun and life is returning to the orchard. A decision will be made on what variety of apple will replace the washed-away trees.

So where to now?

Wilson said her aim was to get cleaned up and back up and running as fast as possible.

Much of her time is spent checking what funding is available for growers in her situation.

Dealing with insurance companies saps her energy and, with decisions to be made about replacing her home and everything in it, she still is a long way from being back to some sort of normality.

“The community has been just amazing, the meals delivered, notes in the post, the Puketapu hub, the Puketapu pub, right down to family sending clothes,” she said.

“They have all helped us keep going and we so appreciate it.”

Wilson said she was looking forward to the day the orchard was in full production, her new home was built and she could enjoy a balmy Hawke’s Bay evening with a glass of ‘Paradise Regained’ chardonnay from her own vineyard.