Longhouse Wines

Longhouse Wines began when architecture student Jo Baker decided to teach architecture students to move beyond the classroom and give them practical experience in building. The Palmers Lane property was purchased, and the Longhouse designed. Over the next 2 years, students from across Australia and overseas came to the building site, picked up tools, and put the three-unit building together. There was also a neglected chardonnay vineyard around the Longhouse, and Jo (with a dual architecture and horticultural background), Greg Schipp (a Newcastle lawyer studying wine science at CSU) and James Clarke (a Newcastle doctor) set about the revitalisation of the vineyard. -JAMES HALLIDAY