Hong Kong’s wine trade is rallying support for wineries in Southern Australia that have been ravaged by the devastating wild bushfires, donating wine sales proceeds to affected communities.
Shady Acres, a wine bar and restaurant in Central, united with suppliers including La Cabane, Northeast Wines & Spirits, Wine Brothers, Pinot Shop, Cuvees, Oz Terroirs and pledged support for wineries, families, volunteer firefighers and communities that are affected by the raging bushfires that have swept through Australia.
The event raised over HK$40,000 from sales proceeds of Adelaide Hills wines on December 29.
Bettane + Desseauve is also hosting a wine tasting event on January 16 in Hong Kong, where 100% of the proceeds raised from Adelaide Hills wine sales will be donated to fire-affected wine communities.
The unprecedented bushfires in Australia have claimed 18 lives so far and forced mass evacuations. Wineries particularly in parts of Adelaide Hills, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania are among the hardest hit ones.
Vinteloper Wines, a winery in Adelaide Hills and one of the wines featured at the fund-raising event, lost all of its vineyards during the fires. Its owner David Bowley wrote on Instagram,”The worst day in our history. I am completely broken” after losing his 29-acre property to the raging blaze.
The blaze in Australia is the worst on record so far for the country and has burned for several months now since September last year, worsened by high temperatures, winds and ongoing drought.
The fires have razed 14.6 million acres of land in Australia — more than twice the area that burned in the Amazon rainforest in August 2019, according to Insider report.
In Adelaide Hills, about 30% of the region’s vineyards are affected by the fires but the damage is yet to be fully assessed, Kerry Treuel, executive officer at the Adelaide Hills Wine Region industry association, told Wine Spectator.
Here are some ways you can help affected communities in Australia.
- New South Wales is among the hardest hit regions, and the NSW Rural Fire Services has a donation page to support fire fighters here.
- You can donate to support firefighting efforts in Victoria here and South Australia here.
- Australian comedian and instagram star Celeste Barber is also running a fundraiser for the Trustee for NSW Rural Fire Service and Brigades donations fund. So far, she has raised AU$28m. You can donate on the fundraiser’s Facebook page.
- Reportedly since September, nearly 500 million animals in NSW alone have been killed by the blaze. You can donate to WIRES, a wildlife rescue nonprofit that is rescuing and caring for thousands of sick, injured and orphaned native animals, and World Wildlife Fund Australia, which is fighting for koala conservation.
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