Fires, Floods, Fevers.

Friends,

Your welfare is always of utmost importance to us, as is our entire community. Hence why we raise money for mental health and wellbeing through organisations such as MOSH Australia.

Our initial reaction to COVID-19 was to ensure our fundraising event continued and that our supporters and suppliers were not impacted. It soon became evident, due to the announcements from the PM restricting events of over 100 people indoors, that we would regrettably need to postpone the Vintage Ball. This we did.

Onwards. I am immensely proud to announce the Committee isn’t one to rest on their corks. After all, like the wine group, corks have a history! Our ethos is to support those in our community.

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

We are action orientated people who love to socialise.

Let’s unpack COVID in this way:

(C)ompassion, (0)riginality, (V)aliant, (I)mpact and (D)efiance.

There’s a lesson in each of these words. In everything we do, we have compassion for our community. Our events have always focused on originality – as you don’t need a bunch of volunteers running a social club doing what you can do at your local pub or through a major event organiser, but you do need us to inspire you to fundraise for our favourite charities and to look at wine socialising in a new light. It’s what we’ve always done best. To boldly go… it’s our original tag line, written by the one and only Steve Davis – it inspires us to be valiant in our efforts.

Did you know that CorkĀ has been used for thousands of years as a stopper in bottles? It has even been found in the tombs dating back to ancient Egypt. Ancient Greeks and Romans also made good use of it, and it was found use as floats for fishing nets, sandals,Ā wineĀ bottle stoppers and even personal flotation devices for fishermen.

It’s a device we could all turn to for inspiration in times of COVID. Yes, the CORK!

After all, I reckon it’s seen a few human plagues, fires and floods in its time. In a modern world of synthetic materials, cork continues to lead the way. This amazing and natural material has a wide range of applications far beyond the oft thought of wine bottle stopper. With new ways to use it being thought of all the time, it is sure to continue to be an environmentally friendly favourite for many years to come. As is our social group!

But I digress from the Vintage Ball…

To have impact with our fundraising… to not just follow the crowd, we must always look outside the square and consider ā€œwhat else?ā€.

So, it’s with these sentiments of ā€œwhat else?ā€ we will go forth in defiance against this disease and work with all to keep our friends and followers thriving.

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

We have a caterer who just postponed significant revenue for us (and all the meat/veg suppliers behind them), a club who is losing money from lost revenue, entertainers who, while they may love and support our charities, are losing money from their day job.

We are a community and it’s times like these we need the originality of thought to inspire our next steps. So, the committee has produced a calendar of events to consider until our actual Vintage Ball takes place at Halloween… and if you are self-isolating..? Simply join us from home – we will include pictures via Facebook so you don’t feel left out (hey, I may even video again).

Continue reading “Fires, Floods, Fevers.”

RUOK? Good mental health is a sense of well-being, confidence, and self-esteem.

So, are you OK? One day yes, the next day, not so maybe? Being “depressed” or down can be normal for all of us at some time or another, and it is most often a response to grief and loss … Continue reading RUOK? Good mental health is a sense of well-being, confidence, and self-esteem.

This socially responsible group have every reason to celebrate their 10 years in the making… and it’s all in the aide of mental health this time.

The Inaugural Vintage Ball **Note from me – this has been written for an external media audience, however, in the spirit of sharing moments, here is the media release: 10 years in the making… The South Australian founded social club … Continue reading This socially responsible group have every reason to celebrate their 10 years in the making… and it’s all in the aide of mental health this time.

Announcing the Inaugural Vintage Ball Charity for Unearthing WineLovers

The Inaugural Vintage Ball With our true #winelover generous style, we will again be donating to the Chat ‘n’ Chew program, managed by Uniting Care Wesley, Port Adelaide. To date, we have donated approximately $450. Chat ā€˜n’ Chew provides an opportunity for more than 700 people each year to enjoy some independence, make friends and feel connected with others in our local community. One in five Australians will suffer from a mental illness in any given year. Good mental health is a sense of wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem. Advertisement for Chat ‘n’ Chew Volunteer We are seeking an understanding, non-judgemental … Continue reading Announcing the Inaugural Vintage Ball Charity for Unearthing WineLovers

Wine in the bag at the end of the election

Unlike the federal election this weekend – we had two winners.

One for the whites, and one for the reds.

Wine that is.

 

But what is a “wine in the bag” or blind wine tasting event?Ā Well, this is howĀ New York Wines have described it,

WeĀ don’t wear blindfolds, or even Lone Ranger masks.Ā  A blind tasting simply means we have no idea what specific wines we are tasting.Ā  We usually know the varietal (or type of wine) and the vintage (year the grapes were harvested), and a few (but not most) competitions include the price category as well.Ā  But we never know the brand, rarely the country or region of origin; and we never see a bottle, even in a brown paper bag (because the capsule could give away the winery’s identity)”

For our event, we knew the brand and type of wine and it went from there. There were three bottles of white – and three bottles of red!

Respect and thanks go to Glen Urbani for his organisation of the #wineinthebag event for us; it’s an awesome concept, and lots of fun!!

And as he said, “A big thank you needs to (also) go to Luke Kelly the manager at the pub (Hyde Park) who bent over backwards to help set up the event. Top bloke! And Stewie on the night for his fantastic service.

The Hyde Park service was perfect indeed. From the specially selected menu, to the help with our wine selection for the “wine in the bag” concept, they helped create a relaxed, fun atmosphere for us winelovers to play, where nothing was too much trouble.

Big congratulations go to Sonia and Litsa for their respective wins…Ā 

Continue reading “Wine in the bag at the end of the election”

Winelovers VIP Tasting; Image Gallery

Premium wine at a good price – who would argue? #winelovers

Charlie says ā€œIt is rewarding to be able to share exceptional deals with our members and to know they are getting good value wines. It’s also been fun creating the characters with my long standing supporters. This is just a journey that continues to unearth. This is just another crossing.ā€

http://www.unearthingwinelovers.com Continue reading Winelovers VIP Tasting; Image Gallery

The Early Grapes and Wines of Maryland and New York

Originally posted on Hogshead – A Wine Blog:
After writing about the 18th century vineyards of Washington County, Maryland I decided to take a look at the earliest accounts of winemaking in Maryland.Ā  Tenis Pale has lately been credited as first making wine in Maryland back in 1648.[1]Ā  He was a member of the New Albion Colony which included land in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.Ā  The original petition of June 1632, which was sent to King Charles I, for the Colony of New Albion included the plan to ā€œsettle there 300 Inhabitants for making of Wine, Saulte and ironā€.[2]… Continue reading The Early Grapes and Wines of Maryland and New York

PechaKucha Adelaide, Presentation Topic: “The social experience of wine.”

Presentation Topic: “The social experience of wine.”. My next major speaking gig will be for PechaKucha Adelaide. My presentation topic etc is explained on the DeadRed blogĀ via this link:Ā Presentation Topic: “The social experience of wine.”. Continue reading PechaKucha Adelaide, Presentation Topic: “The social experience of wine.”

Unearthing a great guest speaker – Ian Berry

Ian Berry is a great motivational spirit/mentor for me… he runs his own online community, travels the world, and constantly inspires people to make a difference. He touches my heart when he speaks and he is firm in his convictions that we can all make that difference we promise. What a legend!! And he will be guest speaking at my Unearthing book launch. So seriously, what a privilege. UPDATE Leigh from Copy Cat Printing has handed over the first digital print of my book (yesterday) and we are just fine tuning a few things with Sally Liu (Frank Creative), my … Continue reading Unearthing a great guest speaker – Ian Berry

It’s wine. Get over it. (via DeadRed WineGroup)

Here’s the blog about the next deaders event. Am very excited to be hosting wake nine. I feel privileged things have progressed this far… it’s taken dedication, effort, tears and a whole lotta help from some very special people. People come and go into my life but as I look to the future with my book, my 11th event on the 11/11/11, and now an event to be held interstate, I can only feel lucky. I know this is going to seem to some like I am tooting my horn… they may even say “again”… however I do feel very … Continue reading It’s wine. Get over it. (via DeadRed WineGroup)

Capricorns Birfday Lunch

Rick, Karen, Jennie, Josie, Jim, Sharon, Francis, and Charlie On 14th January 2011, eight capricorns got together to celebrate their birfday (celebration of birth). With what could become an annual event, these all very unique individuals gathered with friends and enjoyed stunning weather, chatty conversation, a relaxed location and yummo food. The week had been huge for Australia given the flooding in Queensland and so as the games and fun began, Josie (one of the eight) commenced raising money by having us guess the collective ages of all eight capricorns. Without revealing the result, I will say Josie collected and … Continue reading Capricorns Birfday Lunch

thanks SA In-Business (via Dead Red Wine Group)

wanted to share this with you as i am just chuffed that SA In-Business came to the fore and have supported me during this time. their heard of my plight and came to the rescue. T H A N K Y O U xx its great to know that when you need support south australian businesses are there to help. with all the recent facebook dramas ie my account being suspended and me not being able to contact wine group members, SA In-Business came to the rescue to help promote the next "dead reds event" for me. here's the story … Continue reading thanks SA In-Business (via Dead Red Wine Group)

Hard lessons in life… and facebook

Its a week since I last blogged here but it’s been a big week. I’ve written proposals, fulfilled contracts, continued moving house, lost access to my Facebook account and generally had a busy time of it. So, do please be patient!! On Tuesday 8th June, my personal profile (Charlie Helen Robinson) was suspended by Facebook until they worked out an anomaly with an “unusual payment activity” that occurred. Unfortunately it meant everything associated with this personal profile’s email address (charlie@charliedesign.net.au) had been suspended as well. This included all Facebook Pages created by my personal profile that were as sole trader … Continue reading Hard lessons in life… and facebook

reBlog from Charlie: DeadRedsWineGroup

Image via Wikipedia I found this fascinating quote today: … we find this amusing as the Dead Reds Five winner was in fact the 1958 version of Yalumba Galway Claret… on a road to bigger and better things and certainly not dead yet (ie to be named after Menzies).Charlie, DeadRedsWineGroup, Sep 2009 You should read the whole article. Continue reading reBlog from Charlie: DeadRedsWineGroup

What to say when there’s not much to say?

I think we all have these moments in life. I have been so preoccupied with the house move that my mind hasn’t been dwelling on the inner workings of social new media or blogging or corporate communications. To confess, I have been a tad auto-pilot. The auto-pilot works quite well though thanks, so I’ll survive my day job. But when I came to write my freelance blog this week, I came up blank. What to write when there’s not much to say other than ā€œthe move went well but we’re all exhausted!!ā€?. I guess just that. So there. Have to … Continue reading What to say when there’s not much to say?

Dead Reds Wine Group, Wake 2

DSC00050 Originally uploaded by charlierobinson1966 So the next dead reds wine group event is nearing. Have you RSVP’d? It would be good to do so. Next event booked for Friday 25th July from 7pm After scouring Adelaide for the next dead reds event location, we settled on the David Evans Gallery. The gallery is located in Rundle Street, just above Alfresco’s and it’s a great spot – nice and central. Not only will we be able to test and taste the wine, we can also admire the very excellent views – the photography and artworks that are on display! Now … Continue reading Dead Reds Wine Group, Wake 2

dodging the rain on a great day out

P1010241 Originally uploaded by charliedesign relaxing over a glass of wine, with friends is a great way to spend any day. you’d have to agree. this particular day was spent on the seppeltsfield road, at a fund raiser for 2 blokes on bikes, who departed to travel the countryside for Childhood Cancer. they will be back in three weeks. i’ve posted photos to Flickr. it was a typical cold and wet winters day. an interesting note – we learnt that Fosters sold seppeltsfield winery last November to 4 private owners. one is Janet Holmes-a-Court. Since the takeover, the winery has … Continue reading dodging the rain on a great day out