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. We saw an opportunity: why not make a cheeky little shiraz instead and send 100% of the profits to charity? We contacted Jock, and the rest - as they say in the biz - took loads of hard work but was totally worth it. 

Three hours later, we had pickers, tractors, a winemaker, barrels, bottles and labels all lined up. The whole community came together to make the wine a reality, and the Homeless Grapes Project was born.

The Homeless Grapes Project Semillon 2019

In 2019, we’ve picked grapes and made wine in the Yarra Valley, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and Hunter Valley - the idea being that each pick supports a local homelessness issue. All proceeds from the Hunter white will go to OzHarvest in Newcastle. OzHarvest do amazing work, collecting quality excess food from commercial outlets and delivering it directly to over 1300 charities supporting people in need across the country. They rescue over 180 tonnes of food a week, and have delivered over 100 million meals since they started in 2004! We’re stoked to be a part of such goodness.

The Partners

Though we have the absolute honour of selling the finished product, we can’t take responsibility 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. 

Extra special thanks go to all the makers and growers of the Hunter Valley, including Hungerford Hill, Brokenwood, Margan, David Hook and De Iuliis.

And also...

You

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, beautiful mofo, who is out there contributing to a better world.

The Wine

Tantalising, understated and evocative, like all the best Hunter Valley semillons, this is a cracking wine. You’d expect little else, with no less than five of the region’s premier wineries coming together in collaboration to make a fantastic wine for a great cause. The nose opens with the gentle perfume of lemongrass, a hint of citronella candle, and a chalky minerality. It’s clean and fresh as you could wish for. The palate is unmistakable. Mouthwatering acidity, with notes of lemon zest, talc, slatey minerality and grapefruit pith. It’s poised and elegant, restrained in spite of its youthful vibrancy. But there’s limitless promise for the future. Greatly refreshing now, it’ll be earth-shatteringly complex given time. The challenge will be trying to forget about it for a decade when you’ve got something so good staring at you every time you delve into the cellar. 

We’re selling it for $25 a bottle, which is bloody good value for some delicious Hunter Valley 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 OzHarvest.