The Raglan Vine team

Deb and Carlene dreamed up the Wine festival event while sitting on the deck and sharing a bevy. Deb, the former Creative Market coordinator for The Raglan Community Arts Council, and Carlene, a wine merchant and consultant, called on Brian for his IT and marketing smarts. Together they designed a blueprint for this first festival which they hope will grow into a series of events.

“If this proves to be popular, we would love to do a midwinter event as well,” Deb says.

Carlene added, “We’re aiming to make wine a bit more accessible and interesting to people. The whole kaupapa is that it shouldn’t be an elitist thing, it should be one of life’s pleasures. Making people feel comfortable with it is part of that.”.

Several vendors will share their wisdom in helping demystify wine and the Raglan Vine team expect attendees will gain unique insights into the artistry behind each vineyard.

Ticket holders are entitled to a dozen 30ml tastings from a variety of vendors. There will also be wine sales with special discounts, plus attendance at any discussion, and access to the Festival and Foodie Garden Bars.

Raglan residents don’t have look far to find the latest in winemaking with Barrelled Wines offering a taste of their range of small batch artisan wines from vines that were planted in 2018. Also representing local producers, Workshop Brewery will be tempting beer-lovers with a selection of their finest acholic and non-alcoholic award-winning brews.

Brian says, “We are bringing our complementary skills to what we are calling a ‘pilot event’ to test options for food, wine, beer and even BBQ festivals.”