A well-known Australian winery is looking to bring wine tasting to retirement communities, after seeing its cellar door business collapse.
Port Macquarie’s Cassegrain Wines is proposing a Cellar to Door initiative which will bring its cellar door wine tasting experience to nearby retirement village and lifestyle communities.
"This is a way for us to offer a service for people who would usually come to the winery," Cassegrain Wines' national business development manager Philippe Cassegrain told the Port Macquarie News.
"We would usually have bus loads of people on day trips to the area who would come in and purchase some wine, but that has stopped due to travel restrictions.
"Because of lockdowns and restrictions, we started thinking about what we could do differently and came up with the idea of bringing the product to locals."
The COVID-safe and licenced events will be organised by the villages and community centres and aren't open to the general public.
"It won't be exactly the same as an onsite tasting, but it allows people to enjoy an event in the safety of their own environment," Mr Cassegrain said.
"Because of restrictions, it has been hard for lifestyle villages and centres to hold events for residents and this is a way to bring something fun to do directly to them.
"Many of these residents may be new to the area; others may not have easy access to transport; or they are locals who haven't yet visited the winery."
"We will see how it goes here to begin with because it is an initiative that has the potential to morph into other similar events."
Cassegrain has been based in Port Macquarie since 1980.
Retirement villages and lifestyle communities have organised a range of events for residents during the COVID-19 period, including concerts or bingo for residents on their balconies or driveway drinks.
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