The first Homeless Grapes Project started in 2015 with one little Facebook post. Jock Harvey, from Chalk Hill Wines, posted that he had a surplus block of grapes and anyone was welcome to them if they made a donation to charity. Our co-founder saw an opportunity: why don’t we make a cheeky little shiraz instead and send 100% of the profits to charity? He contacted Jock and the rest, as they say in the biz, took a shitload of hard work and was totally worth it. 

What is the Homeless Grapes Project?

People jumped on board the HGP train immediately, keen to be involved and help in any way possible. The result? An incredible $36,000 donation to the Hutt St Centre in Adelaide. Since then we’ve raised a total of $80k for Hutt St, with another good chunk pencilled in from impending 2017 Homeless Grapes Project sales. 

But in 2018, for the first time, we’re doing three separate wines from three different regional picks, and branching out into local causes.

Homeless Grapes Project Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

In 2018 we picked grapes in the Yarra Valley, Coonawarra, and McLaren Vale - the idea being that each pick supports a local homelessness issue. All proceeds from the Coonawarra Cabernet will go to AC Care, an amazing frontline charity who seek to enhance the wellbeing of rural people through positive social change. AC Care was started by country people and now serves the Limestone Coast, Murraylands and Riverland communities in South Australia.

The partners

Though we have the absolute honour of selling the finished product, we can’t take credit for this vino. This is a community effort for community gain, from the winemakers doing the hard yards to our designer working on the label, to the volunteer mofos out picking grapes. Everyone played or will play a part in this and we give thanks to you all.

The loveliest thing about Coonawarra is the community, and this year sees six (six!) of the tiny region’s makers coming together to make a barrel each, from their own vineyard.

“We agreed as a team that we’d pick the best barrels to make the best wine,” says Emma Raidis, of Raidis Estate, where the mofo pick took place mid-April 2018, in an angelic two-hour break between stormy downpours. So the six makers will be blending as a team. We like to think we’re bringing them all closer together, but it sounds like this is second nature for these excellent folk.

Extra special thanks go to the vigneron teams at: Raidis Estate, Hollick Estate, Patrick of Coonawarra, Redman Wines, Penley Estate, Jim Brand Wines.

Without the donation of grapes, growing and making time, this project wouldn’t have been possible, and couldn’t have hit the highs it has, that we never could have predicted. 

Extra special thanks also go to you mofos. Yeah, you. You who jumped out of bed without much notice (hello fickle nature, we’re looking at you) and headed to a vineyard to spend some time with these homeless grapes. You who bought a case of a previous vintage and helped us do some good. You who shared that wine with friends and spread the message of Homeless Grapes. You, who upon reading this, will buy a case of this vintage and help make a difference. You, who is out there contributing to a better world.

The wine

The only way to make a wine like this taste any better is to make it for a good cause. Luckily, that’s what we’ve done. The result shows densely concentrated berries on a tightly-woven palate, threaded with crunchy savoury notes that bring it to life. There are blueberries and violets offering great aromatic lift and depth of flavour. A firm hand of youthful tannin leaves you in no doubt about what you’re drinking. This is classic Coonawarra cabernet. Charming, enthralling and beyond promising for the future, it’s looking cracking now after a quick spin in the decanter. Otherwise, pop it down for some years in the cellar, and serve up to lucky guests in time. Just don’t forget to tell its story as you pour. There’s quite the tale to tell.

We’re selling the wine for $25 a bottle, which will be bloody good value for some delicious Coonawarra goodness. A lot of love will go into the making of this wine, not to mention how good we’re all going to feel about being involved, as your money will be going straight to AC Care.