For the past decade or more I’ve had the privilege of attending the annual Hospice Vintners’ Brunch. This is Harbour Hospice’s annual flagship fundraising event, usually held on a Sunday every August, that raises significant money for our local hospice. Unfortunately, due to the size of the sit-down event (that also includes crowd movement), it is held over the bridge at big hotels in the city. The 2022 Vintners’ Brunch, held on Sunday August 21st at The Pullman Hotel, raised $385,000 for Harbour Hospice.
The MC and Host for the 2022 Vintners’ Brunch was Devonport local Pippa Wetzell, with Master of Wine Vic Williams also assisting as the Wine MC, talking through the food and wine matches – something he has been doing for Hospice since the inception of the event 25 years ago. The crowd was welcomed by Harbour Hospice Chair Ann Tod. Mickey Smith of Devonport provided attendees with her families experience of Harbour Hospice when her husband Aaron Pollock passed away as a result of brain cancer in 2017. Her emotional address made it very clear to all the important role and fantastic job that Hospice does.
So what is the Vintners’ Brunch?
Harbour Hospice Vintners’ Brunch is an exclusive food and wine matching event that brings people together – including foodies and wine connoisseurs – to enjoy and celebrate some of Auckland’s best restaurants/chefs and New Zealand’s world-class wineries.
In its 25th year, Vintners’ Brunch is a flagship fundraiser for Harbour Hospice, with tickets always selling out quickly, despite having a significant price tag. People know it’s a great event and the money is going to a very important cause. The event sees the 400-plus guests enjoy the privilege of sampling stunning New Zealand wines, matched perfectly to dishes created by top local restaurants and chefs. They are invited to meet the personalities and chefs behind the wine and food matches and also vote to decide who takes home the annual Harbour Hospice Vintners’ Brunch Wine and Food Match Award.
The 2022 supreme Harbour Hospice Vintners’ Brunch Wine and Food Match Award went to Birkenhead restaurant Moxie and Te Motu Wines, owned by the Dunleavy family from the North Shore. This was for a Classic Beef Wellington matched with Te Motu’s 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon blend.
Both silent auction and live auction items are donated to Hospice by generous supporters, and the live auction held after the culinary treats is a real highlight of the event. The 2022 auction was conducted by entertaining auctioneer Robert Tulp and this raised a significant amount of the total funds raised on the day.
About the Harbour Hospice Vintners’ Brunch
Eight of the original North Shore Hospice women’s fundraising committee who were responsible for launching the long-running event were on hand for this special photo at the 25th Harbour Hospice Vintners’ Brunch held in August. The North Shore Hospice (now Harbour Hospice) fundraising committee held their Inaugural Vintners’ Brunch in 1996 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Bill Spence from Matua Valley Wines had attended a wonderful Vintners Brunch for charity when overseas and on his return spoke about it to Aileen, a past Hospice committee member, who suggested that North Shore Hospice could be the beneficiary of this Brunch. Bill agreed and the fundraising committee worked hard to sell this new concept to the community. They successfully sold 34 tables of 10, at $125 per ticket! – a price unheard of in those days for the inaugural Hospice Vintners’ Brunch. A truly amazing achievement. Restaurants who participated in that first event were some of the iconic restaurants of the time – Ramses Bar and Grill, Hammerheads, Katsura, Harbourside, The Hunting Lodge, Iguacu, Cin Cin. Wineries included Matua Valley, Coopers Creek, Nobilo, Villa Maria, Corbans, Montana and Kumeu River.
