Braille on bottles grape news for blind: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 24 Nov 2006: 10.
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Mr [NICK Gleeson], 45, has been blind since the age of seven, after an accident when he ran into a supermarket door. Among his achievements has been climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, but until now, selecting the right wine for the right occasion has been beyond him. "Every time, when we have a bottle of wine, I have to rely on asking somebody else," he said. "It is lovely to be able to pick up a bottle and know it is a chardonnay.
NICK Gleeson and his wife Heather are blind, so when they go to the cupboard for a bottle of wine, they have had to rely on their two sighted children to tell them what they are drinking.
If the kids are not around, they take pot luck.
All that's about to change.
A Hunter Valley winery, Sandalyn Wilderness Estate, in association with charity group Vision Australia, announced yesterday it would be releasing some of its wines with braille labels.
The partnership evolved after an associate of Sandalyn's lost his sight and the staff realised the difficulties he had in retaining his independence.
Mr Gleeson, 45, has been blind since the age of seven, after an accident when he ran into a supermarket door. Among his achievements has been climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, but until now, selecting the right wine for the right occasion has been beyond him. "Every time, when we have a bottle of wine, I have to rely on asking somebody else," he said. "It is lovely to be able to pick up a bottle and know it is a chardonnay.
"There are enough blind people out there to support this. It makes a difference, and I hope it will expand to other products."
His friend Michael Simpson, 51, has been blind since he was 18, after two separate accidents, the last when he was shot in his left eye at a country dance.
"Red and white bottles used to be very different in shape -- the reds had a shoulder and a dent in the bottom -- but now red and white are very similar shapes," he said. "Being able to select wine from the rack and serve my friends will be a huge bonus, especially for my friends. I can be the perfect host."
Sandalyn spokesman John McGain said the company had printed a trial run of 1000 braille labels and the response was entirely positive. "We are unsure of how we will go with sales," he said. "There have been some attempts at putting braille on to wine bottles, but we're the first Australian company to do it in conjunction with the vision-impaired community.
"We've been buoyed by the response. You can tell by the look on the faces of people who are blind how great this is for them.
"They all say the same thing -- they go to open a bottle of red and end up opening a bottle of white. I am surprised at how much it means to them."
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