Flood ravaged vineyards have donated more than $240,000 in wine, memberships, books and travel packages to the Australian Wine Trade Flood Relief Raffle in an attempt to raise one million dollars for flood victims in Queensland and Victoria.

Three hundred vineyards and wineries have come together for the cause, which was launched by Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer with support from VisitVineyards.com.

Donated prizes include three boxes of Wild Duck Creek Duck Muck Shiraz 2007 valued at $1,320 each, six three litre double magnums of Cullen Diana Madeline 2007 valued at $500 each and an imperial of Kalleske Eduard Shiraz 2008, which retails for $900.

Stelzer said that since putting out the call to the wine industry for support just weeks ago, he can't believe the generosity that has been shown, particularly given they've faced such tough times themselves.

"It hasn't been an easy year, as winemakers face widespread crop damage due to mildew and disease from the humidity, let alone direct damage to vineyards from rain and floods, all in the midst of a particularly challenging time in the market for everyone, so to see this kind of support is simply overwhelming," he said.

Mount Avoca in Victoria, which donated a selection of its award winning wines, lost its entire crop to floods. Despite facing an estimated $1.5 million loss over the next 24 months, director Matthew Barry said the focus now needs to be on Melburnians supporting local vineyards.

"Taking a visit and purchasing wines at cellar door can really make a difference to smaller vineyards. It will help ensure they survive and without that, the future is grim."
 
VisitVineyards.com founder and CEO Robyn Lewis who is providing backend support, online raffle ticket services and donating memberships to its own online wine and food travel guide hopes it will go some way to help drive visitors to cellar doors.

"Working in the wine industry and owning our own vineyard, we feel deeply for those affected by the floods and hope our involvement can in some way not only support flood victims, but go some way to assisting the wine industry through these trying times," she said.

Tickets are $30 and can be purchased from www.winefloodrelief.com.au from 4 February with the raffle drawn on 11 March.