Fundraising for hospice in style

The 20th annual Hawke's Bay charity wine auction was held in spectacular style at Elephant Hill on Saturday night, raising more than $144,000 for Cranford Hospice.
Over the past 19 years the event has raised more than two million dollars for the facility and it is the longest running charity wine auction in New Zealand.
Several local wineries donated unique and exclusive wine lots in support of the auction and Cranford, which relies heavily on community support to fund the hospice's in and out patient work.
The winemakers offered tastings of the auction lots at Elephant Hill during the afternoon before moving into the stunningly dressed winery for a five-course dinner. The dishes were crafted by chef Ashley Jones and featured an entree of Akaroa cured salmon and a main course of Hawke's Bay Lamb Shank pie.
The night was hosted by Brendon Pongia and Alison Leonard with Chris Tremain acting as auctioneer. Not only is the annual event a chance to support one of the region's most important facilities, for wine buffs it is a chance to sample and purchase wine unavailable anywhere else.
The first lot was six magnums of Frizzell Reserve Chardonnay, with bottles hand painted by Dick Frizzell, which went for $1400. Some of the biggest earners were a lot by Matariki, which included dinner for eight accompanied by a selection of their wines, that sold for $5000 and a half barrique of Trinity Hill 2010 Gimblett Gravel Syrah, which fetched $6700. The night's top earning wine lot was a 12 Litre bottle of Te Mata Coleraine 2009 along with a half barrique of Coleraine 2010 that went for $7700.
Executive officer of Hawke's Bay winegrowers Lyn Bevin was thrilled with the auction. "It was another fantastic evening, the Elephant Hill winery looked amazing. There were some incredible auction lots and the people who bid for them got some fantastic wines."
In keeping with the event's tradition, a painting was auctioned - this year a unique collaboration between Martin Poppelwell and Dick Frizzell - Study of Red Rough - which fetched $22,000.
The auction was on the same weekend as Hot Red Hawke's Bay the annual showcase of regional wine, which was held for the first time in Hawke's Bay at Black Barn Vineyard on Friday evening. The event showcased 24 wineries and more than 160 wines, many being tasted for the first time.