SA wine brings comic relief to fundraising

23 Jul 2009

SAAM Mountain Vineyards, produced by Perdeberg Winery, has joined forces with Comic Relief, a British charity organisation in association with Red Nose Day UK, to create the first ever Comic Relief Wines known as Wine Relief and helped in the efforts to raise a record almost £80-million (more than R1-billion).

SA wine brings comic relief to fundraising

The quality of the 2009 Comic Relief Wines was however no laughing matter, as it was created by the topnotch winemakers at Perdeberg Winery. The Red Nose White Chenin Blanc and the Red Nose Red Pinotage/Shiraz were selected by two reputable UK wine masters, Jancis Robinson and Tim Atkin. They were confident that wine lovers, connoisseurs and amateurs alike, would find the wines of distinct quality, and would provide an enjoyable way of supporting Red Nose Day.

Red Nose Day is a special event in the United Kingdom that involves British celebrities doing their bit to create awareness around poverty and community upliftment, with a special night of comedy broadcasted on BBC one to put the 'fun' back in 'fundraiser'.

Left to right: Simon Farr (Bibendum Wine Ltd), Justin Howard-Sneyd MW (Waitrose), Jancis Robinson MW (Wine Relief), Karl Reynolds (Comic Relief Head of Fundraising), Michele Settle (Comic Relief Marketing Director), Tim Atkin MW (Wine Relief), Kirstie Papworth (SAAM Mountain Vineyards).

The Comic Relief Wines, with its unique wine labels and special red screw caps, were sold in most major retail outlets across the UK at £4.99; of which £1.00 per bottle was donated to Comic Relief.

£736 376.00 (Almost R10 million) was raised, which was the third biggest contributor to the Comic Relief Campaign 2009.

The CEO of Perdeberg Winery, Gerhard van der Watt expressed, “It is a great privilege to be part of the Comic Relief Campaign 2009. The main beneficiaries of the initiative are charities in the UK and Africa, with a substantial number of these charities situated in South Africa. This gave Perdeberg even more reason to offer our resources, as we would be helping out fellow South Africans in the process. We are thrilled with the resounding success of the project”

Red Nose Day is an innovative initiative that demonstrates just how much fun raising money for needy communities can be - simply by clowning around! Although Red Nose Day has one annual 'event', the Comic Relief Team works all year round to help improve the conditions in poverty stricken areas in the UK and Africa. This is no funny business, as it requires full-time dedication to the cause. They also set a Guinness World Record by having the biggest virtual call centre with 20 000 people taking pledges on a televised event in March 2009 on the BBC.