CHAMPION wine maker Tom Davis is auctioning off an amazing 400 bottles of his famous home made plonk to raise money for the two Forest hospitals.
Mr Davis (89), a former miner at Eastern United Colliery, religiously turned everything that grew in his garden or in local hedgerows into wine.
It was almost a cottage industry which was carried on for years at his Blakeney home.
Now he is moving out and his son, Chris, uncovered the fantastic collection neatly racked and stored in the cellar beneath Coldbrook House.
The oldest wine Chris has discovered is two bottles of apple dated 1947. The youngest is elderflower dated 1996.
"All told there are 400 bottles of wine. Dad was quite an expert and turned everything you can think of into wine. Potato, beetroot, sloes, marrow, plums, grapes, you name it Dad made it. But I have to say it was a shock to find quite so much stored away in the cellar," said Chris.
He has carefully catologued and listed the wine and after talking to his father it has been decided to auction off the collection to raise funds for the Dilke Memorial and Lydney hospitals.
"I can tell you there is some pretty potent stuff down there. The oldest I can find is the apple wine which was made 54 years ago. There are two bottles of that," he said.
The massive auction of wine will take place at the Miners Arms at Whitecroft on Sunday October 21.
"We hope there will be a lot of interest. The auction will start of 2pm but, of course, there will be samples available for people to try beforehand so they can make informed selections," he said.