The auction will feature over 350 bottles of wine to raise money for wineries and growers affected by the 2019 Cudlee Creek bushfires.
With floods dominating recent news, bushfire couldn’t be further from the public mind’s eye but many Adelaide Hills wineries are still suffering badly from the devastation of the 2019 fires.
“The fire wrecked 30 years of work in a day," says Darren Golding of Golding Wines, who saw 90% of their vineyard burn.
"We had to start again, and it’s not easy to do that. It’s not just the physical hard work but the huge emotional cost of starting over.
“We are part way, probably about 50% through replanting our vineyards. It will take another five years to get back to full production.”
After the fires, Dave Bowley feared the end for his Vinteloper brand.
"With no grapes to make wine, and no discernible vineyard left standing on our property we had to buy grapes for the 2020 vintage and continue to buy grapes for many more seasons," he said. "Getting some funds from the Fire Appeal has enabled us to rebuild trellis and infrastructure and just keep the business going.”
The Adelaide Hills Wine Region, which is the body representing winemakers and grape growers in the Adelaide Hills, established the Fire Appeal to support local growers and producers and fund recovery efforts.
Wineries that have responded by donating wines are Vasse Felix, Yalumba and Rockford, through to local Hills wineries such as K1 and La Prova.
“A big thanks and huge gratitude to all those who donated money or wine for the auction and supported us in some way,” said Mark Kozned from Nova Vita.
The fundraising auction will be held from April 18-25 by Wickmans Fine Wine Auctions.
Anyone can join but must register online. See www.wickman.net.au on the morning of April 18.
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