While travelling around Europe in the early noughties, Tim Lightbourne secured a gig at a Burgundy vineyard as “that guy carrying the grapes in a big basket on his back!”
Three years after founding Invivo Wines in 2008, Tim and Rob learnt that Graham Norton was a fan of their sav, so chanced their luck by suggesting a collaboration. Their Graham Norton range – which includes sauvignon blanc, rosé, prosecco and gin – has since secured more than 200 awards, including gold medals. Dozens of other accolades – including more gold medals – have also come by way of their collaboration with Sex and the City superstar, Sarah Jessica Parker, who signed up with Invivo in March 2019.
“We wanted to replicate a similar model in the States to the one we had with Graham,” says Tim. The Invivo team decided SJP would be the perfect fit and approached her agent only to discover that she was already a fan of their wines. “That was just brilliant! Rob and I had a phone call with her, then jumped on a plane to New York to sit down for a glass of wine and talk about what we wanted to do. She loved our approach. We had a big launch in Manhattan which was amazing, Sarah’s husband, Matthew Broderick, was there, and morning TV show, Good Day New York.”
The Auckland entrepreneur readily admits to knowing nothing about wineries at the time, but, a few years later, then armed with a “grass roots understanding of the industry”, co-founded what would become not just one of Aotearoa’s leading labels, but one of its most innovative brands.
“After France, I was working in marketing and advertising for L’Oréal, Heinz and HP Sauce in the UK,” Tim tells Verve. “But I had this desire to do something different. I was visiting mainland Europe a lot and would see how popular New Zealand wine is, our unique flavours, and it made me feel quite proud. It also got me thinking.”
As luck would have it, an old school friend and winemaker, Rob Cameron, was also working in Europe at the time, and the two arranged to meet in a London pub. Both shared a vision of winery that was modern and progressive and “cut through the fluff” favoured by many a traditional vineyard.
“I started talking about implementing things I’d learned from the likes of L’Oréal into launching a wine business and Rob was really keen.”
“Last year we celebrated selling 10 million bottles of his wine – so, to that, from that first meeting, wow, it’s been some journey.”
How involved are Graham and Sarah in the process?
“They’re very much involved from start to finish. They definitely each like different styles, which is great for us. We approach Graham quite regularly with different types of wine and he’ll reject ones he doesn’t like. His range has really expanded, soon to include a vodka, and the He-Devil red from Argentina, and he’s just doing the blending for his eighth vintage.
“Sarah had never done a blending or tasting before, but once Rob started talking her through it, within minutes she was picking up on acidity levels and really quite subtle things within each sample.”
Renowned for doing things differently, last month the winemakers launched their first batch of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to coincide with the release of Graham Norton’s He-Devil. The limited-edition tokens – available through Opensea – unlock ‘first release’ bottles of new wines along with physical static prints of their artworks signed by Tim and Rob, and membership to the Invivo Federation of Friends (IFF) which enables future discounts, exclusive virtual tastings, and even invitations to exclusive experiences such as a virtual wine-tasting with Norton.
Invivo were also the first and only southern hemisphere winery to crowdfund, breaking a national record along the way to raising the maximum amount allowed by law of $2 million. I ask Tim why he believes the crowdfunding was such a success.
“We did a lot of work behind the scenes in the six months prior, travelling the country, and discussing our numbers and strategies with the public. Lots of people also like the idea of owning a piece of a winery! And when you crowdfund, there’s true equity. We had a lot of female investment – one of the highest ever at the time – which was awesome, and having just got Graham Norton onboard really helped raise awareness. People just seemed to really connect with the way were trying to do things.”
Was it always your intention to collaborate with big names?
“Not in the early days, we were just open to all opportunities. Other wineries in New Zealand or around the world could talk about their soils or multi-generational winemaking histories, but we didn’t have that, so we needed to find a space to do our own thing. We started working with graffiti artists, and one year, we were the official wine of the Eurovision song contest. Then, obviously with Graham, we got tremendously lucky about the kind of person he is and how he wanted to come onboard long-term.”
Are New World labels more open to embracing the likes of NFTs, and do you see it as the future of the wine industry?
“I think it does help to not be weighed down by history in some ways. But some of French wineries are looking into that kind of thing, so I certainly wouldn’t rule out the old guard having a go into it because you do have to change and evolve in this industry now.”
What’s next for Invivo?
“As well as our big Argentinian red, He-Devil, we’ll also be releasing a marmalade gin in the new year, also in collaboration with Graham, which we’re really looking forward to. We’re also really excited about the return of Sex and the City and are planning projects around it with our SJP brand. So yeah, lots of fun stuff.”
I finish up by asking Tim about his favourite wine and festive recollections. He has fond memories of travels and barbecues with loved ones in New Zealand, he says, as well as with friends in snowy far-flung destinations sharing a bottle or two of champagne. But one that especially stands out is the first time he and Rob shared a glass of vino with Graham Norton, backstage at his show.
“That was pretty special,” he recalls. “Last year we celebrated selling 10 million bottles of his wine – so, to that, from that first meeting, wow, it’s been some journey.”
“I was visiting mainland Europe a lot and would see how popular New Zealand wine is, our unique flavours, and it made me feel quite proud.”
