Highlight of the weekend; being at the Hawke's Bay Charity Wine Auction in a room full of people who were happy to give to the Cranford Hospice, including the purchase of one lot of wine (Te Mata Coleraine), only to gift it back for re-auctioning. This meant that the particular lot of wine was effectively auctioned twice, raising $34,500 of the grand total of $335,697 that will go to the Cranford Hospice this year. This amount is the total that the hospice will receive. All operating costs of the auction itself are met by sponsors.

This is Aotearoa New Zealand's longest running, most successful wine auction and the only one I know of that takes place every year, solely for charity. It has grown significantly in stature over the past 30+ years (31 at last count) and it was humbling to attend this year. 

More to come this week. 

Watch this space.