Lots of Distinction on Offer at this Weekend’s Charity Wine Auction

There’s a flurry of activity around Hawke’s Bay wineries as final preparations are made to the wine lots being donated to this year’s Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Charity Wine Auction on this Saturday (2 June).

Labels are being affixed, bottles polished, and the wares carefully packed ready for delivery to Orton @ Sileni Estates, where up to 200 guests will attend the Auction event that has for 21 years, been raising funds for Cranford Hospice.

Among the 33 lots, which can be found listed on www.charitywineauction.co.nz, are some very special and distinctive wines and artwork, with a number of offerings being a combination of both.

Lot 16 is a case in point. Two three litre bottles of Squawking Magpie 2011 Stone Crow Syrah, the latest vintage from a string of award-winning vintages, are adorned with labels especially created by Hawke’s Bay artist, Martin Poppelwell.

During inspiration from his gardener’s magpie named Bird, the label depicts the magpie swinging upside down in his cage, along with his story in print. The drawing has been screen printed in a very small run of around 15 copies and then hand coloured by Poppelwell. The remainder of the edition becomes part of a series created over the years for Squawking Magpie.

Online bidding is a feature of this year’s event, and the first item to receive a cyber bid was the Junction Wine offering of six magnums of 2010 Body & Soul Pinot Noir, one of which is signed by All Blacks rugby legend, Richie McCaw.

Owned by former All Black, John Ashworth and his family, the Junction Wines vineyard that yielded the grapes is in Central Hawke’s Bay next to a cemetery, hence the name. According to winemaker Leith Ashworth, this wine is made from a selection of the best grapes and then matured in new French Oak barrels.

A small volume wine, made for the first time in 2010, it was a gold medal winner at this year’s Royal Easter Show.

Lot five is a repeat of one offered last year that the successful Auckland syndicate bidders subsequently described as “really yummy.” A Blanc de Noir 2007 Methode Traditionelle and Blanc de Blanc 2007 Methode Traditionelle are produced and offered by Corozo Estate, a winery with vines in Matapiro.

The former is made from handpicked pinot noir and the largely unknown meunier grapes, and both have been aged in the bottle for three years. The lot comprises one magnum and a dozen 750ml bottles of each.

Six 750ml boxed bottles of Bridge Pa Atanga Syrah 2007 make up Lot 14. Atanga translates as exquisite in Maori. The wine has been double-oaked and a total of 500 numbered bottles will be available in its inaugural release this year.

The six bottles will be packed into special curved boxes especially created by Bridge Pa Vineyard for its auction lots over the past seven years.

This year the format of the auction has changed from a formal dinner to an interactive cocktail style 3pm to 7pm format and these four lots, along with 12 others, will all be auctioned in the first bracket of the day. A second bracket of the remaining 17 lots, will be held later in the proceedings led by auctioneer, Chris Tremain MP.

Tickets are still available for the Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Charity Wine Auction being held on Saturday 2 June, 2.30pm at Orton @ Sileni Estates. For tickets and more details please see www.charitywineauction.co.nz.

ENDS

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