The first Kelvin Club wine lunch of the year is a chance for members to support the dozens of winemakers who lost vineyards, property, wine, and livelihoods in the awful January bushfires.

You can help by buying some wine from one of the affected producers (see link below) and then bringing a bottle along to share with other members over lunch.

Max Allen hosts our special guest for the day, Gilles Lapalus, of Maidenii vermouth and Maison Lapalus and Bertrand Bespoke Wines, whose winemaking equipment, barrels, vermouth ingredients and personal cellar were lost in the Harcourt coolstore fire. Gilles will give us an insight into what it means to be impacted by such a life-changing event.

Cost for lunch is $55. A special extra corkage fee of $20 per bottle will go into the fundraising pot. Please bring more cash and/or your credit card for other fundraising opportunities on the day.

All proceeds will go to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal: www.vic.gov.au/2026-Victorian-Bushfire-Appeal

Wine Victoria’s list of producers affected by the fires can be found at:
https://winevictoria.org.au/pages/supporting-victorian-wineries-impacted-by-recent-bushfires

It’s best to buy direct, through the producer’s website, but some also have a retail presence in Melbourne – for example:

Fowles Wines – the Ladies Who Shoot Their lunch brand is available from Dan Murphys, Liquorland, Cloudwine and others
Maidenii vermouths – Dan Murphys, Cardwell Cellars
Sutton Grange and Fairbank Wines – Cloudwine, Blackhearts and Sparrows, Rathdowne Cellars
Bress – Cloudwine
Joshua Cooper – MW Wines
Blackjack Wines – Cloudwine and other independent retailers

You can search for stockists using www.wine-searcher.com

Date: February 13th,2026
Time: 12:30PM
Where: The Kelvin Club

BOOK HERE