Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

Despite denials to the news by wine whiner Neil Pendock that his ‘favourite’ target, Wines of South Africa (WOSA) CEO Su Birch, was to resign, said resignation has now been confirmed by WOSA.  A fitting ‘going-away’ award for Ms Birch is the 2013 UK The Drinks Business Lifetime Achievement Green Award, it was announced earlier this week.

The Drinks Business Lifetime Achievement Green Award is the world’s largest programme to raise the awareness of the importance of environmental issues in the beverages trade, in recognising those that are leaders in sustainability and environmental performance.  The Lifetime Achievement Green Award recognised Ms Birch’s dedication to ‘environmental and/or ethical causes’.

Ms Birch is previously been namd The Drinks Business Woman of the Year, received the International Wine and Spirit Competition’s Women in Wine Award, while Wine Intelligence named her one of the ten most influential wine personalities in the world.

After thirteen years at the helm of WOSA, Ms Birch will vacate her position in September.  Her last activity will be the ‘The Beautiful South’ tasting in London, a platform for wines from South Africa, Argentina and Chile.

One wonders if Pendock will target Ms Birch’s successor too, with his regular unprofessional abuse!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

A delegation from Systembolaget, a Swedish liquor monopoly according to a media release issued on behalf of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), has declared itself to be ‘very impressed’ with the social responsibility work being done by our local wine industry.

Led by Chairman  Dr Cecilia Seidegård and CEO Magdalena Gerger, the Systembolaget delegation visit earlier this month included the full board  of directors of the company, a visit to the Cape Winelands which had been planned a year ago, and was not initiated as a result of the more recent farm worker strikes. The Western Cape Minister of Agriculture Gerrit van Rensburg accompanied the visit to the wine farms by the delegation.

Sweden is an important export market for the South African wine industry, buying 33 million litres of wine a year, across ‘several hundred labels’. Two years ago our country was Systembolaget’s largest supplier.

Ms Gerger said that her company wants to promote a supply chain of wines that is ‘fair and honest towards people and the environment’, important requirements for Swedes. Faitrade registered wines are well supported, and our country was praised by her for its strong support of Fairtrade and for being at its forefront internationally. The reasonably new WIETA accreditation may become a Systembolaget tender criterion, she said. She did however add that there is room for improvement, encouraging wine producers to improve conditions for their workers.

Systembolaget conducts audits regularly on its source countries, and the delegation conducted their audit while in the Winelands. Ms Gerger said that should a wine estate’s audit result not be satisfactory, an action plan would be developed and it would be re-audited twelve months later.  Should the owner not make the required changes, the relationship would be terminated. She added: “We believe anyone involved in the making of the products we sell should earn a living wage. We are at present involved in the revision of the Code of Conduct for the Nordic countries, and there is every indication that the revised code, which is expected to come into effect in 2014, will contain a ‘living wage’ condition.”

Minister van Rensburg welcomed the visit by the delegatiom, and said that his government believes that ‘real improvement in social conditions can only be brought about through economic growth’. He said that his government welcomed the ‘trade relations with Sweden’.

Strikes of farmworkers, including those working on wine farms, in January this year and November last year, severely damaged South Africa’s image as a tourist destination. The effect on wine sales is not yet known, COSATU Western Cape leader Tony Ehrenreich having called for a boycott of South African wine purchases by overseas wine lovers as well as by retailers at the time of the strikes.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

The call last week by the Black Workers’ Agricultural Sector Union (BAWUSA) for consumers in the United Kingdom to boycott South African wines and fruit reminds one of apartheid days, when now-British MP Peter Hain was vocal about boycotting South African products in our dark days prior to the change in our government in 1994. Such a boycott could only worsen the situation for the half a million South African farmworkers, and is counterproductive to negotiating an increase in the minimum farmworker wage, and in the improvement in the general well-being of the farm workers.

The trade union federation COSATU is led by its Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich, a known trouble maker and loud mouth who has regularly put his foot into his mouth in attempting to destroy our tourism industry, and is now focusing on destroying our wine and fruit (including apples and grapes) export business. Ehrenreich is a City of Cape Town ANC councillor, and one wonders why he does not do his day job for Cape Town, regularly having been seen in the past two months in De Doorns, the epicentre of the farmworker unrest, and why the City does not censure him.  He and his trade union federation mates had to concede defeat, when the workers asked for the strike and unrest to be called off last week, as the workers were running short of money, not being paid for their days off whilst striking!  Many say that the unrest was instigated by the ANC to make the Western Cape ungovernable, the province being in the political hands of the opposition Democratic Alliance!

Sensationalist The Guardian has led British newspapers in pushing for the boycott, and even ran an opinion poll about the topic, 59% of the poll voters supporting such a boycott, reported The South African.

Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), wrote an open letter to the newspaper: ‘The coverage unfairly targets the South African wine industry and has the potential to do unimaginable damage to an industry that is working hard, through its support of the Wine and Agricultural Industry Ethical Association (WIETA), and also Fairtrade, to ensure the ethical treatment of workers‘.  Ms Birch highlighted that the strikes were not connected to the wine industry, but to the fruit farming industry.  She also reminded the readers of the newspaper that South Africa is the ‘largest producer of Fairtrade wines in the world‘, and that the WIETA initiatives are making ‘real, tangible progress that puts South Africa at the forefront of ethical, social sustainability‘.  WOSA-antagonist Neil Pendock could not help but take a swipe at WOSA about the poll, yet admitted that he had voted against the boycott!

It is too early to tell what damage, if any, The Guardian poll and resultant publicity for the farmworkers’ cause will generate, and whether it will impact on wine and fruit exports, at a time when South African wine producers are facing tough times in generating sales in the UK!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter:@WhaleCottage

Two magnificent events took place in what could be called Wine Week last week, CapeWine 2012 and the Nederburg Wine Auction running back to back, bringing the world’s leading wine writers, buyers, sommeliers and wine lovers to Cape Town and the Winelands. For an industry prone to criticism and politics, there was all-round applause and recognition for the hard work that Wines of South Africa (WOSA) put into organising CapeWine 2012, in making this what some called the best wine show ever held in the world!

Even the ever WOSA-critical Neil Pendock, who had begged to be invited to the opening CapeWine 2012 Green Tie Event when he was understandably left off the invitation list initially, was meek and mild in his reporting during the week, and no salvos have been fired at WOSA this past week, which is a tremendous achievement in itself, the reason for his boring repetitive attacks on WOSA not being understood by most.

German wine writer Mario Scheuermann is known as a critical writer, and wrote about the German media group’s disastrous SAA journey to CapeWine 2012, but he has waxed lyrical about his week-long visit to Cape Town and the Winelands, which included dinner at The Round House; lunch at Waterkloof; taking a leaf out of Mike Veseth’s Nederburg Wine Auction keynote address emphasising the importance of Braais in marketing South African wines, a braai was prepared by Eat Out Top 19 Restaurant Finalist George Jardine at Jordan, which he described as ‘the best Braai I ever had in my life’; a show at another Eat Out Top 19 Restaurant Finalist Bertus Basson’s AmaZink; wine tasting at Glenelly; visits to sustainable organic and biodynamic wine estates Backsberg, Avondale, and Reyneke; visits to Babylonstoren and to Leopard’s Leap; lunch at Pierneef à La Motte; and a meal at new Green Point located Café Dijon.  He highlighted the following wines/wine estates on his Facebook page: David, Paradisum, De Toren Fusion V, Philippi, Hamilton Russell Chardonnay, Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc, Allee Bleue Isabeau, Springfield’s Méthode Ancienne Cabernet Sauvignon and their Wild Yeast Chardonnay, and Rickety Bridge’s The Foundation Stone. Scheuermann Tweeted about the power of Social Media as follows:“Cape Wine 2012 is the first big wine fair in the world driven and powered by social media”. The cherry of praise for our country’s wine industry was the following Tweet: ‘After this 3 days of Cape Wine 2012 we must clearly say: South Africa is today the most interesting wine country in the world’!

Scheuermann’s German writing colleagues Michael Pleitgen and Angelika Deutsch have been equally complimentary, while Eckhard Supp complained about the long queues for food at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, and the meagre snacks served at a function on 25 September, consisting of a few pieces of sushi and dim sum, not enough to soak up all the wines tasted, he wrote.  The complaint about the Convention Centre food was echoed by a number of attendees at CapeWine 2012, and was the only criticism of the event.

Locally, Melvyn Minnaar described CapeWine 2012 on Grape as a ‘jolly good wine show’, which left him feeling ‘pretty upbeat about the local wine industry’.  He praised the ‘experience, talent and adventurous dynamic out there in the winelands’.  Even greater praise went to WOSA: if they ‘can organise such a fine event, we can clearly trust the team to take the business into the world’. And the final accolade: ‘Feedback from visiting journalists and agents - many who know the business pretty well - confirmed my own impression that this was a jolly smart event. Viva SA wine’!

British freelance and award-winning wine writer Rebecca Gibb praised the quality of the wines she tasted during CapeWine 2012, writing ‘I’ve been really impressed with the quality across the board’, and she highlighted our country’s Cabernet Sauvignons, and the Oldenburg 2009 in particular. She also praised the Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blends, and Tokara Director’s Reserve 2011 in particular. The Swartland also received praise, and The Sadie Family Palladius 2010 in particular. Other wines on her ‘top 10 wines of Cape Wine 2012‘ list are Cartology 2011, The Sadie Family Pofadder Cinsaut 2011, Glenelly Lady May 2009, Mullineux Syrah 2010, Vergelegen GVB 2005, Miko Chardonnay 2009, and Porseleinberg Shiraz 2010.  She did criticise the reaction to her question about the future of Pinotage in a seminar, which waxed lyrical about Pinotage’s past rather than address its image problem and export decline.

Swedish wine writer Erica Landin described South Africa as ‘flippin’ heaven on earth’ on her blog and asked why so much of South African wine sold in Sweden is bulk wine going into ‘Bag-in-Box’. She enjoyed the Shiraz and oaked Chenin Blancs in particular. British Master of Wine writer, broadcaster and judge Sarah Jane Evans described CapeWine 2012 as ‘Best ever!‘, and Tweeted a photograph of Cartology, referring to it as ‘a wine that got everyone talking’. Swedish blogger Anders Öhman Tweeted ‘The WOSA organisation at #capewine2012 is amazing. So many guests, bags, places, buses, tours and parties. Running flawless’. Dutch wine dealer and writer Lars Daniëls Tweeted: ‘Grote complimenten aan WOSA en in bijzonder Sara Chanell voor geweldige beurs en programma!’. Award-winning UK wine blogger Jamie Goode attended the Chenin Blanc Association’s ‘Cape Chenin Unveiled’ seminar and lunch at Nobu at the One & Only Cape Town the day before CapeWine 2012 started.  He posted a number of blogposts during his stay, and no doubt there will be more. He is a great supporter of our wine industry: “Cape Wine 2012 has been brilliant. I have discovered some very exciting new wines, caught up with some cool people (and made new friends)”. He braved the crowds to attend the Hermanus Whale Festival over the weekend.

Tyler Colman, an award-winning American blogger writing as Dr Vino, praised the Western Cape, as a ’stunningly gorgeous region that has exciting local vintners as well as an international flair’. He raved about the calibre of wine VIP’s he had bumped into in Stellenbosch prior to CapeWine 2012, including Charles Banks, Bruno Prats, and Hubert de Bouard.

WOSA’s media release praised itself in hosting its ‘best ever’ international trade exhibition, the sixth in its history, quoting its Chairman Johann Krige. The number of producers attending had increased by 15% since the last CapeWine 2008, and had the highest number of delegates ever, and especially from Asia, Eastern Europe, and other countries in Africa.  This makes CapeWine the ‘most successful international wine business show in the Southern Hemisphere’. This praise was echoed by Amorim Cork CEO Antonio Amorim of Portugal, who described the event as ‘one of the finest wine industry events in the world‘.  The South African quality wines, and its leadership in eco-sustainability and energy efficiency, has been recognised internationally, added Krige.  Kuseni Dlamini opened the CapeWine Business Seminar, and focused on South Africa’s poor infrastructure in getting to African countries, some only reachable via Europe. If there was more investment in innovation and product quality, South Africa could become the world’s top wine producing country in the world, he said.  The provincial Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gerrit van Rensburg, said that 3600 wine farms have 100000 hectares of vines in the Western Cape, reported the Cape Argus.

The CapeWine 2012 website provides a break down of the show’s 3000 visitors: 588 South African trade, 464 international trade, 317 importers, 140 South African media, 106 wine educators, 80 international media, 32 MW, 31 international sommeliers/chefs, 12 hosted press buyers, and 12 press media.  The balance of attendees was ‘unclassified’.

The Nederburg Wine Auction held this past weekend was attended by some of the international CapeWine 2012 guests, but was mainly a local affair.  It raised close to R 4,7 million, down by 30% relative to 2011. Forty percent of wine sales went to international buyers, and wine buyers from African countries and Mauritius represented 22% of sales.  One third of the sales went to local supermarket groups, led by Tops at Spar.  Buyers played it safe, by buying ‘mainstream varieties’ such as Cabernet Sauvignon, and avoiding lesser-known cultivars. The star of the Auction was the case of Chateau Libertas, with 12 vintages ranging between 1959 - 1970 selling for R16000, in the year which celebrates the brand’s 80th anniversary.

There can be no doubt that CapeWine 2012 rejuvenated the local wine industry, created new challenges, identified new upcoming wine and winemaker stars, created new connections, and attracted heaps of praise for WOSA’s flawless organisation of showcasing our country’s prime wines! Vindaba, held at the same time as CapeWine 2012 in an open space opposite the wine exhibition venue, was an unfortunate failure, in what was an excellent wine week.

POSTSCRIPT 7/10: Mario Scheuermann has documented his impressions of CapeWine 2012, on his blog The Drink Tank.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

On Monday evening I rubbed shoulders with Mike Veseth, a wine economist from the USA he said, and keynote speaker at the Nederburg Auction yesterday.  We were sharing a table at the Wines of South Africa (WOSA) Green Tie Event to celebrate the opening of CapeWine 2012.  His address to the elite of the wine industry at the Nederburg Wine Auction must have made WOSA proud of its ‘Cape Wine Braai Masters‘ book, regularly slated by Neil Pendock, in recommending to the South African wine industry to ‘make every day National Braai Day - they will toast your success with your own wonderful wine’, and so win the ‘Wine Wars‘ in the USA.

Veseth based his talk on the book he published last year, entitled ‘Wine Wars’, and reflected on how to apply its principles to the marketing of South African wines in the USA.  ‘Terroirism’, according to Veseth, or ’somewhereness’, creating a link to time and place, is the key to a successful wine industry, and selling wine in the USA.

Veseth showered praise on South African wines, yet said that the ‘Wine War’ for our local wines will not be an easy one in the USA, calling for strategy and tactics, and some luck, as one goes into the marketing battle, given that the USA market is ‘crowded, intensely competitive, and structurally difficult to penetrate’, in part due to globalisation.

To market South African wine successfully in the USA the wine brands need to connect personally with wine influencers.  Marketing the wines as ‘South African‘ will not be successful. Each varietal must be marketed against others in the category.  Wine labels should be the arsenal of the wine marketer, and not country of origin.  Pushing a ’signature varietal‘ like Pinotage or Chenin Blanc for the country is like a ‘one note samba’, Veseth said.

New well-to-do wine American drinkers, which Veseth calls ‘Millennials’,  have an open book on South African wines, and ‘are not just buying a wine, they are building an identity’.  Their brand purchases are lifestyle related.  To reach them, a marketing communication mix of story-telling, social media, and ‘first person wine experiences’ by the wine farms and their American distributors, with WOSA ’shaping perceptions’, is recommended.  It is in this context that Veseth recommended the Braai as a cultural marketing weapon, reflecting our country’s culture, and helping to create the connectedness to the consumer.  The Braai is part of South Africa’s food culture, but also is a reflection of South African’s ‘generosity and hospitality’, a braai invitation ‘opening your heart and your hearth to them’.  An ‘Afrocentric winelands braai’, says Veseth, ‘can be a gateway to a fuller appreciation of South African culture and lifestyle and to the diverse wines that have evolved along with it’!

Making every day National Braai Day is the way to win the Wine Wars in the USA, Veseth concluded!

POSTSCRIPT 2/10: At the recent Chenin Blanc Association ‘Cape Chenin Unveiled’ seminar, Ken Forrester asked Allan Mullins of Woolworths why the retailer’s 8-page Heritage Day Sunday Times ‘Everyday is Braai Day at Woolies’ insert did not contain a single bottle of wine.  Mr Mullins was very diplomatic in his reply, saying that he would have a word with his Marketing department.  He did not appear to be happy with this state of affairs.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

The Sweet Service Award goes to Wines of South Africa (WOSA) and its team of staff, as well as all the wine estates, that put the best of our important wine industry on show at CapeWine 2012 in the Cape Town International Convention Centre earlier this week. The exhibition hall design brought the Winelands into Cape Town, and the exhibition looked attractive, was well organised, and had very friendly ambassadors for the wine industry. CapeWine 2012 will be of long term benefit to both the wine and the tourism industries, having attracted top international wine writers, buyers, sommeliers, and wine lovers to this top trade show.

The Sour Service Award goes to SAA, for the dreadful service extended to the invited German wine media representatives, flying with the official CapeWine 2012 carrier SAA from Frankfurt to Johannesburg on 23 September, to attend CapeWine 2012.  The wines ran out 2 hours into the flight. The wines were dreadful, especially given the calibre of the passenger list, and the four wines offered represented a Platter rating range of 2 - 3 stars, one not even in Platter!  The food was described as bad, and consisted of cold chicken plus a drink, or hot chicken and no drink, sour salad, dry and hard macaroni, rubbery Gouda, and a dry roll. Only the dessert was acceptable. The drinking water had run out in the morning before landing.  The service was described as unfriendly. A number of flights arrived at OR Thambo simultaneously, which meant a congestion at passport control and baggage collection. The whole group on this flight missed the booked connecting flight, and had to wait for three hours to catch the next available flight to Cape Town.

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.

The world’s leading winelovers, wine experts, wine traders, sommeliers, and wine journalists have started arriving in Cape Town for the three day Cape Wine 2012, being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from tomorrow until Thursday, and Vindaba running alongside it.

More than 5000 wines from 300 wine estates are on show at CapeWine 2012, and more than 30 international wine journalists are expected to attend, having a tourism benefit for Cape Town and the Western Cape.  Delegates are attending from Europe, the UK, the USA, other African countries, South America, China, and Japan.  For the first time SA Tourism, in conjunction with WOSA (Wines of South Africa), have organised Vindaba, an exhibition of wine tourism products in the Western Cape.

CapeWine 2012 is held every two years, but was not held in 2010 due to the soccer World Cup, and is one of the largest marketing events organised by WOSA.  For the first time WOSA has gone green to reflect ‘the South African wine industry’s environmental consciousness’.  This includes booking guests into hotels within walking distance of the convention centre; only recycled paper will be used for printing, if printing is required at all; the stands are made from recycled boards; most stands will not use electricity, but rather LED lighting; all bottles, corks, and screw caps will be recycled; no bottled water will be available;  cork supplier Amorim will create a lounge made from recycled cork; media information will be made available in bamboo memory sticks; VIP bags have been made from recycled advertising banners; lanyards have been made from ’sunbaked paper’; all fish served at the Green Tie event will be SASSI certified, and all eats will be made from local produce; the ‘green ties’ which allow entry to the event have been made from discarded plastic; solar lighting will be used for the Green Tie event; furniture for the Green Tie party has been made from recycled wooden pallets, and will be donated to a crèche afterwards; the plates at the Green Tie party are those from CapeWine 2008, and the cutlery is made from bamboo.

CapeWine 2012 will reflect the development of our local wine industry in wine growing, wine making, and wine marketing since South African wines were opened to international trade almost 20 years ago.  Tastings, seminars, workshops, and a Producer’s Soapbox will focus on changes in wine styles, reaction to climate change, the management of scarce natural resources, and the protection of old vines.

Su Birch, CEO of WOSA, said that interest in CapeWine 2012 was growing, as ‘South Africa has distinguished itself both in terms of quality and pioneering programmes to promote eco-sustainability. This has earned global recognition for the country on both fronts, from the market and environmentalists, particularly in recent years’. Mrs Birch added that CapeWIne has a solid reputation as a trade exhibition.

The organisation of the first ever Vindaba has been driven by SA Tourism, having sponsored the exhibition, and is project managed by Susannah Holz.  SA Tourism has identified that wine tourism is ‘one of the fastest-growing and most lucrative sectors of the global tourism market‘, says Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Tourism.  Wine tourism can make an important contribution to the country’s economy, the Minister said.  International as well as local media focusing on wine, travel and lifestyle are expected to attend.  The objective is to increase the income of wine tourism, only $41 per capita in our Winelands, compared to $188 in Napa Valley in the USA.  Seminars at Vindaba will focus on gastro-tourism, and tailor-made wine tours to the 17 wine routes in the Western Cape will expose the international visitors to the diversity and quality of their offerings.  The eco-friendly green focus of the Vindaba exhibition reflects that of CapeWine 2012.  The Vindaba exhibition organisation has not been without controversy, SA Tourism having been blamed for not being proactive enough in spreading international media across the different wine routes, having instead allowed them to choose where they want to visit, meaning that the majority have opted for Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.  Lesser-known wine routes, such as those in Paarl and Wellington,  will therefore remain exactly that!

Tonight WOSA is hosting a ‘Green Tie Event‘ for the opening of CapeWine 2012, and even this function is going green, in that invitees have been asked to park at the Cullinan Hotel, and will be bused in collectively or will be guided by a ‘Green Guide’ in walking to the function venue in the V&A Waterfront.  The evening promises a ’sampling of our finest wines, paired with the freshest and most delicious local cuisine, and accompanied by a showcase of local music, song and dance‘.  The wine week will be concluded with the prestigious Nederburg Auction, which takes place on the Paarl wine estate on Saturday.

CapeWine 2012: 25 - 27 September, 10h00 - 17h00, Cape Town International Convention Centre. www.capewine2012.co.za

Vindaba: 24 - 27 September, 10h00 - 17h00, Cape Town International Convention Centre. www.vindaba.com

POSTSCRIPT 24/9: This evening about 720 guests, of which about 50% were international wine writers, sommeliers, wine buyers, and wine trade, attended the ‘Green Tie Event’ for the opening of CapeWine 2012. Initially one heard more ‘American’ than local English spoken!   The Who’s Who of the wine industry attended. Met German wine writers Mario Scheuermann (a Facebook friend) and Eckhard Supp, and Mike Veseth, the guest speaker at the Nederburg Auction on Saturday.  Neil Pendock, who received a late invitation from WOSA to attend the event, was the most spruced up we have seen in years, having had a hair cut today in honour of the event, it would seem!  The green theme of CapeWine 2012 was carried through in the event, with lighting made from recycled milk cartons. Excellent wines were served.   Even the food was ‘green’ and locally sourced.  The salmon cream on cucumber canapes were excellent.  The calibre and quantity of international wine visitors in Cape Town and the Winelands is an exceptional wine tourism marketing opportunity for our country.

POSTSCRIPT 26/9:  Yesterday I visited CapeWine 2012, and was impressed with the best looking exhibition in the Cape Town International Convention Centre. More than 300 wine estates have pulled out all the stops to package and present their wines to the top level local and international attendees.  The highlight was tasting a preview of the new Delaire Graff Laurence Graff Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, not yet labelled, an icon wine made in honour of the owner of the wine estate, its GM Johann Laubser said.  It will be the first South African wine to sell at $200 a bottle.

The Botanica Wines’ label design, reflecting the brand name, impressed once again, and the Chenin Blanc is likely to do well at Platter this year, its owner-winemaker Ginny Povall hinted.  The label designs come from botanical drawings by Mary Delany, seen by Ginny at the Yale Centre for British Art.  One of the largest stands was that for Fairview, which focused attention on its Fairview, La Capra, Goats do Roam, and Spice Route labels, as well as on its Fairtrade connection.

POSTSCRIPT 26/9: Vindaba, the first wine tourism showcase, is very disappointing, not having any of the design quality or professional look of CapeWine 2012, with few visitors.  Its location in an open space at which the banqueting is normally done is not ideal.  The Wine Routes are not collectively branded, and it is not clear as to where they start and end.  Some of the Wine Routes had individual products alongside them too. All are manned by very friendly staff, and include Wellington Tourism, the KWV Sensorium (a first in pairing art works with wines), Franschhoek Tourism, Spier, Elegantly Elgin, Mellesat (in Paarl, now famous due to the write up by Neil Pendock in the Sunday Times on Sunday), Neil Grant representing the South African Sommeliers Association and manning a stand of white blends, the Cape Whale Coast sharing with Hermanus Wines, Grande Roche, Durbanville Wine Valley, Cape Town Tourism, Solms-Delta, Laborie, and more. Creation was running the Cape Whale Coast/Hermanus Wines stand, but this is rotated over the three day exhibition.  By yesterday afternoon the Cape Town Tourism brochure bags had already run out, and no attempt had been made to supplement them.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

The first ethically produced wines in the world have been launched in South Africa, it was announced yesterday, the 26 wines carrying the new ethical seal of the Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (WIETA) reflecting that the wines have been produced using fair labour practices.

The ethical seal is awarded to individual wines, and not to wine estates generically, and resembles the wine sustainability seal applied in this country.  To achieve accreditation, at least 60% of the wine producer’s suppliers must be WIETA accredited already, and the balance already audited and preparing themselves for accreditation for the 2013 vintage wines.

The WIETA Code evaluates labour practices against the base code of the International Labour Conventions’ Ethical Trading Initiative and South African labour law. It is a guarantee that no child labour has been used, that employment was chosen freely, that the employees have a healthy and safe working environment, that the employees have the right to ‘freedom of association’ , earn ‘a living wage’ , are protected against unfair discrimination, and have rights to housing and tenure.  Each wine is individually audited on its labour ethics in every step of the production process, and an agreement must be signed to allow producers to carry the ethical seal over from one vintage to the next.

The wine estates featuring the new ethical seals are Fairview, for their Fairview Chenin Blanc 2012, Durif 2010, Nurok 2011 and Shiraz 2010, La Capra Chenin Blanc 2012 and Malbec 2011, and Spice Route Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Chenin Blanc 2012, Mourvèrdre 2009, and Leeuwenjacht Leeuwenblanc 2012; Place in the Sun Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 and Shiraz 2011; Tukulu Syrah unwooded 2009, Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, Pinotage 2010, and Chenin Blanc 2012; Durbanville Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2012 and Rhinofields Pinotage 2011; Robertson Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, Chardonnay 2012, Chenin Blanc 2012, Merlot 2012, Pinotage 2011, Shiraz 2011; and Spier Frieda’s Vine Shiraz Mourvèrdre 2010 and Vine Chenin Blanc 2012. Some of these wines are Fairtrade accredited too.  All the new WIETA accredited wines will be showcased on the WIETA stand at Cape Wine 2012, running from 25 - 27 September at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) CEO Su Birch said that the new WIETA ethical seal highlights ‘the priority South African producers were giving to implementing fair working conditions for wine farm and cellar workers‘, and may be an important means of addressing international criticism by Human Rights Watch a year ago of the working conditions on wine farms.

POSTSCRIPT 14/9: On Twitter yesterday smaller estates wrote that they too treat their workers ethically, but cannot afford to pay for the audit and accreditation.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Brand ‘South Africa’ and ‘Fairtrade‘ will be in the lips of hundreds of thousands of Olympic Games supporters for the next three weeks, being branded on two of the three official ‘London 2012′ wines produced for the 2012 Olympic Games, reports Winemag. The Chenin Blanc and Rosé wines (made from Pinotage, Shiraz, and Merlot) come from Stellenrust, the largest Fairtrade-certified wine estate in South Africa, one of the largest family-owned wine estates in the country, and ‘a very successful winery’, according to its Platter entry.

For the first time in Olympic history, the International Olympic Committee contracted with Bibendum, a London-based wine merchant, which was awarded the title ‘European Merchant of the Year 2012′, to source 650000 litres of 2012 vintage wines, for sale at the Olympic Games venues in London.  The third wine is not Fairtrade-certified, and comes from Brazil’s Seival Estate, being a Shiraz, Tempranillo, and Gamay Nouveau blend. The Brazilian wine reflects the country hosting the Olympic Games in 2016, and its emergence as a wine producing country.

The wines are to be sold at £4,80 (R62) for a 187 ml recyclable PET bottle, and at R250 for a 750 ml bottle. One million bottles each of the Rosé and Shiraz Tempranillo will be available for sale, as will be 1,2 million bottles of Chenin Blanc.  A total of 9 million tickets have been sold to Olympic Games spectators.

In addition to the marvellous branding benefit for the country and its wine industry, an excellent outcome of this win for the Stellenbosch wine estate is that R450000 will go its staff, for allocation to social upliftment projects, which will be overseen by the Fairtrade Foundation in the UK, reports The Times.

WOSA (Wines of South Africa) and SA Tourism couldn’t have wished for a better free marketing opportunity to give the world a taste for South African wines and for marketing South Africa as a tourism destination

POSTSCRIPT 5/8: The Fairtrade ethical logo is attracting increasing custom, reports the Cape Argus, internationally its brands having generated sales of € 5 billion in 2011.  In the UK the spend on Fairtrade brands increased by 12% last year relative to 2010.  Locally, Fairtrade sales more than tripled to R73 million last year.  Cape Chamber of Commerce President Michael Bagraim said that the Fairtrade certification could help give local products a competitive edge in international export markets.  Wine and coffee are the Fairtrade products that have sold best locally, South Africans having bought 255600 bottles and 3,5 million cups of coffee certified by Fairtrade.  Woolworths Cafés, operated by TriBeCa, sell Fairtrade certified organic coffee.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Cape Town has an exciting new entertainment venue in the heart of Sea Point, co-owned by new Cape Town citizen, singer, actor, producer, and impresario Richard Loring, and is a fantastic asset for the city and its entertainment industry, and is an entertaining way for tourists to learn about the history and culture of Cape Town. Richard’s Supper Stage opened officially this week, while the Bistro downstairs opened earlier this year.

Richard’s Supper Stage has a separate entrance, on Glengariff Road, with a real theatre entrance (a canopy in red and white stripes, a garden developed by Richard along the pavement, and fairy lights in the trees outside), and one receives a very friendly welcome from some of the cast and the front of house staff as one arrives.  Immediately one is taken into the theme of the show, with District Six street names attached onto every step of the staircase.  At the entrance upstairs is a bright and colourful chandelier, which reflects the multi-coloured character of the show, made from bottle tops and recycled ‘goodies’, the entertainment venue Tweeted.  Another Twitterer speculated that the lamp comes from Magpie Homewares in Barrydale.  The venue is vast, seating about 200 patrons, the tables and chairs seating ten each. To help those patrons sitting further back or near a pillar, flat screen TV screens will project what is happening on the stage.  The stage is relatively small, and one could be disappointed if one does not have front row seats.  However, the cast walks the room, so one has a good opportunity to see the stars up close, and to photograph them.  Colourful life-like images of Bo Kaap adorn the walls.

To kick off the evening, Richard Loring sang a welcome song, and then thanked the VIPs attending, including Conrad Sidego, the Mayor of Stellenbosch, the Consul General of India, and the DA Councillor for Sea Point, Bev Schafer. He shared that the opening had been preceded by 12 months of preparation, both in terms of renovating the building, and in writing and casting for the show.  He first came to Cape Town in 1969, and reminisced about how ‘fabulous‘ Sea Point was in the ‘Seventies and the ‘Eighties. The objectives which the co-owners Richard and Roland Seidel have set themselves are to offer tourists entertainment with a local touch, to create a sustainable business which employs staff in operating the restaurants and in performing in the shows, and to create a platform for developing local talent. Roland and Richard met eight years ago, and the seed was planted then already to do something together. Earlier this year Richard and Jeanette Loring moved down to the Cape. Roland thanked the City of Cape Town for its assistance in getting the building renovations done, the previous owners having ‘actively violated’ building regulations.  Debbie Damant of Wesgro was also thanked for offering space on their stand at Indaba in May. Su Birch, GM of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), was saluted for her contribution to wine marketing.

‘Kaapse Stories from the Mother City’ tells the story of the ‘Rainbow Nation’ via the Jantjies family, being Grandpa Joe (Royston Stoffels), brother Bernie on the piano, Uncle Charlie on percussion and guitar, and singer granddaughter Genevieve, and how it was affected by the politics of the previous apartheid government, being moved out of District Six to another part of Cape Town.  The script was written by well-known Basil Appollis, giving it a colourful Cape character, and the show is produced by Richard. The District Six’s Constitution, Caledon and Chapel Streets are recalled.  Mpumi Sizani adds a beautiful touch with her orange Xhosa traditional outfit, and superb singing. The ‘white elephant Green Point (sic) Stadium’ is referred to a few times.  Robben Island and Table Mountain appear in the storyline.  A Ghoema song is sung.  ’Waka Waka‘ and ‘Shosholoza‘ take one back to the World Cup.  Miriam Makeba’s famous ‘Pata Pata’ and ‘Mama Themba‘ songs get the audience going.  The biggest surprise of the evening was when the character that was dressed as a car guard (Ebenezer Sawuhi), and the front of house host Germandt Geldenhuys both sang the most amazing opera music, including ‘Nessun Dorma‘, receiving a standing ovation.

Before, midway, and after the show the Cape-style dinner is served.  The starter of samoosa, sweet peppers, smoked snoek paté, and a Greek salad was brought to the tables.  The main course was an extremely generous buffet, and a very orderly system was used to request table by table to come up to be served the vegetable breyani, potato bake, tomato and onion relish, Basmati rice, Korma chicken and prawn curry, vegetables (carrots, butternut, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, beetroot), Cape yellowtail, and beef fillet.  A plate of desserts was brought to each guest, and included a koeksister, a fruit kebab, and a slice of melktert and malva pudding.

After the ‘Kaapse Stories from the Mother City‘ show finishes, the venue turns into a jazz club, and jazz and cabaret artists will be invited to perform from 22h30 onwards, on nights on which ‘Kaapse Stories’ is performed.

Richard’s Bar has a collection of memorabilia to celebrate Richard’s 50 years in show business, the walls have wallpaper of images from his shows, and over the bar are clips from films and TV shows in which Richard has starred.  Richard Loring is best known for his production of ‘African Footprint’, which toured world stages. In Johannesburg he ran a similar Sound Stage Supper Theatre in Midrand, and he was the Entertainment Consultant to Golf Reef City before moving to Cape Town.

Richard’s Supper Stage, Glengariff Road, Sea Point.  Tel (021) 434-4497.  www.richardscapetown.co.za. Twitter: @KaapseStories. R400 per person includes the show, a welcome drink, and 3 course dinner. Thursday - Saturday (July and August, when group bookings are received), Monday - Sunday from September.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portoflio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage