Overcoming Covid with the help of Angels
If you gott'a get it - this is how you deal with it!
In March 2020 an Australian news article reported an American tour group testing positive for Covid-19 and quarantined at The Louise, a Barossa Valley luxury hotel. The group was our 2020 Oz Odyssey wine club travelers.
Some in our group believe sharing breakfast with Tom Hanks at Sydney’s Park Hyatt was where our infection originated.
Two days after that breakfast event it was reported that Tom tested positive for Covid-19.
Covid then surfaced within our group several days later as we were visiting South Australia’s beautiful Barossa Valley.
The Barossa is the heart of great Australian wine and a place where the people also have great hearts.
Fortuitously in our group were several doctors including a consultant in Infectious Diseases and a Hospital Epidemiologist.
We were well equipped to work hand-in-hand with the local health authority and colleagues at The Royal Adelaide Hospital Covid-19 Medical Team.
A dedicated team of doctors and nurses were assigned to us and they consulted with us individually every day testing each of us and providing access to prescription medication as required.
Unable to travel, our group needed to isolate in place.
We worked with the management team of The Louise, a Barossa Valley Relais & Châteaux luxury hotel where we would remain in complete safety and luxury for the duration of our isolation.
Local Barossa sister wineries sent us cases of wine. Local restaurants sent different dishes and the hotel staff were amazing.
The hospitality of the Barossa Valley wine country people to this group of American tourists was outstanding.
Without regard to personal risk several of the hotel staff volunteered to stay in the hotel supporting our group during our isolation period.
While in isolation a fellow wine club member Warren Chandler painted the image of Mel, one of the hotel employees, all of whom will remain in our hearts forever.
Back home safely we decided to create a special limited bottling with Mel's image on the label to honor our "Louise Angels" and Mel Pfeiffer, the inspiration that produced this wine.
In order to send a big "Thank-You" to Warren and his wife Clarissa we decided to label a limited run of our 2018 “Clarissa” wine which co-incidentally is their favorite and one of our most requested wines.
Angel Mélange
Angel Mélange is a limited production Bordeaux style wine to honor our Louise Angels.Just like Mel, this wine has a gentle nature but will easily step up to a complex situation. Try it with a three meat pizza or a fully loaded hamburger. We hope our "Angels" will find it incredible when paired with an Aussie meat pie.
As a winemaker, we recall our 2018 growing season was seamless with heavenly hang time and phenomenal phenolic development in the grapes.
The wine was matured in French Oak for 22 months and only fifty cases were produced as a private release for the Louise Angels and our Oz Odyssey travelers.
The Happy Ending
One year later . . . in March 2021 the wine club members who were on the 2020 Oz Odyssey (Covid trip) all came together to celebrate our year of health and happiness.
