Wellington woman Gemma Brown is in for a hen's party with a difference - thanks to her aunty Kristine McLachlan whose first-time attendance of the Hot Red Hawke's Bay wine show in the capital last month ended in her winning a "hot red" party.
The prize is made up of fine wines and goodies from the Bay, along with the guest appearance of two leading winemakers. Mrs McLachlan was delighted to get the call to say she had won the prize, which she decided to use as her niece's pre-wedding party next February.
She had attended the Hot Red Hawke's Bay event for the first time in the company of other members of the Western Hills Wine Club.
"It was a really horrible winter's night, but the warmth and enthusiasm of a room of passionate people with wonderful personalities was amazing," she said. "It was a great night, much bigger than I had imagined. There was so much wine to sample that we strategised first as a group to work out how to make the most of the opportunity - and then to get the call that I had won was magic.
"I squealed and had to be hushed up," she laughed, pointing out she worked in an open-plan office so everyone was in on her good fortune.
The Hot Red events, hosted by Hawke's Bay Winegrowers, were held in Auckland and Wellington over the winter and, in a departure from a prize that normally brings the winner to Hawke's Bay for a weekend of wine indulgence, the organisers arranged for the company of two party-loving winemakers, and two dozen Hot Red Hawke's Bay wine glasses and other treats to create a party in the winner's own home.
And that will be in Wellington, where Mrs McLachlan's niece will be marrying Apa Chapel in February.
A date for the Hot Red hen's party is yet to be set as it will need to fit in with the schedules of the guest winemakers, Tim Turvey from Clearview Estate Winery and Miles Dineen from Crossroads Winery.
Hot Red Hawke's Bay is a wine expo road show event that has been held for the past eight years, to highlight Hawke's Bay's prowess as New Zealand's leading red wine-producing region.