On a hot evening right at the end of January I headed out to the Old Highercombe Hotel Museum at Tea Tree Gully, where I had the honour of officially opening the Museum’s latest exhibitionVines to Wines. The exhibition looks at the history of grape growing and wine and spirits production in the Tea Tree Gully region and features a number of objects from the nearby Angoves Winery.
Ray Goodes was on hand to cut the ‘ribbon’ across the exhibition room door, which was a length of grapevine (bunches of grapes still attached). Ray commenced his 40 years of work at Angoves Wines in 1944 as a 15 year old and brought along his own pair of trusty secateurs for ‘ribbon’ cutting.
Vines to Wines adds a new element to the amazing transformation that has been taking place in the grounds of the museum over the last few years, with one other new exhibition already done and a third underway. The building whereVines to Winesis housed is new – before it there was an open-fronted shed in fairly poor condition, so the new building is a real step up. The soon-to-come whirly-gig on the roof will help with the heat of summer too!