Blind taste test
Guests were first treated to a blind taste test of wines from Eastern Ontario Vineyards. Eliminating the sense of sight, the sense of smell and taste can be heightened to really explore the different flavours. Glover photo

Unleashing creativity
After the wine and whiskey tasting, it was time to eliminate both sight and hearing to allow a full burst of creativity to flow onto everyone’s painting canvasses.
Courtesy photo

RUSSELL – A full house of 120 guests gathered at Russell Public High School Sat., Sept. 28 to test their palates with different flavours of wine and whiskey, while also doing some painting in the “dark” at DeafBlind Ontario’s first ever Savour the Senses event.

“Hosted by wine and whiskey sommeliers and a sensory art professional, guests at Savour the Senses had the unique opportunity to learn from experts in the field and create their own work of art, while making a difference for people with deafblindness.” said Susan Manahan, director of development and communications at DeafBlind Ontario Services in a media release.

Guests started their journey of discovering the power of their senses with a blind exploration into their wine glasses with Sommelier Noreen Hyatt-Gervais of Morrisburg’s Stone Crop Acres Vineyard guiding everyone. First a sniff to get an idea of what’s to come and then a swig around the mouth to get the full extent of flavours the Eastern Ontario Vineyard’s wine has to offer.

By simply blindfolding the guests, they can better experience their other senses during the tasting process. This same process was done during the gourmet dinner when King’s Lock Distillery owner, Laura Bradley, led guests through the tasting of their three-time award winning Canada’s Whiskey-jack Rye.

Later in the evening, everyone took part in a popular art exercise involving covering eyes and ears to paint something on a canvas from the heart. It’s a challenging simulation that allowed everyone to fully unleash their creativity.

“Deafblindness, a combined loss of hearing and vision, impacts access to information, communication and mobility. About one per cent of Canada’s population or approximately 368,400 people are deafblind,” the release noted, with an estimated 147,736 in Ontario.

“DeafBlind Ontario Services provide accessible residential and customized support services across the province, including in Ottawa, Embrun and coming soon, a new location in Vars. Their holistic approach to Intervenor Services empowers people with deafblindness to achieve their goals and dreams,” the release further stated.

Money raised from this fundraiser will go toward the support of specialized services for individuals with deafblindness.