Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Joanne Gibson has made the shortlist in the International Feature Writer of the Year category, and Michael Fridjhon in the Best Columnist category, of the Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards.  Ms Gibson was one of the 20 or so wine writers whose entries for the Franschhoek Literary Festival Wine Writer Award were rejected as not being good enough!  (received by Tweet from Joanne Gibson)

*   Decanter has published its top 50 The Decanter Power List 2013

*   Times Media Limited, publishers of the Sunday Times and The Times, has withdrawn from the South African Press Association (SAPA),  a news sharing service, writes The Media Online.

*   SAA staff is striking today, but there has been no disruption, with only a small number of staff being absent, the airline says.

*   South Africa is on the front cover of Marie Claire world-wide, with the very noble cause of developing budding South African swimmers to get them trained up to Olympic standard by Princess Charlene of Monaco, and fitting to celebrate Mandela Day, a Marie Claire exclusive in its editions worldwide. The princess gave up attending the Dutch enthronement for the shoot in South Africa, to royal criticism.  An alternative cover features the princess with swimming stars and Olympic medal winners Ryk Neethling and Chad le Clos.

*   Heathrow is considering building a third and even a fourth runway, instead of building a brand new airport.

*   Another new wine writing award has been announced, the third in our country.  The South African National Wine Show Association (SANWSA) has launched a new Young Wine Writers Competition, inviting wine writers between 18 – 35 years old to enter with a 800-word article and a blog post of 300 words. First prize is R15000, and the second prize R7500.

*   Wine producers are hoping that bottled wine exports will be on the agenda of the South Africa/European Union summit being held, to enhance local profit and increase employment in the industry.

*   The media release following the address by Western Cape Minister Alan Winde to the Swartland Liquor Forum announces the launch of liquor trader trading: ‘It is important to note that government must strike a balance when drafting regulations around alcohol. Policymakers need to take both the negative and positive economy of the liquor industry into account. The alcohol sector contributes R24 billion to our Gross Domestic Product each year, employing around 270 000 people. Liquor establishments provide a space for entrepreneurs to forge a living for themselves and create job opportunities for others. Then there is the negative impact that the irresponsible trade and consumption of liquor has on our communities. South Africa has one of the highest drinking rates in the world and alcohol-related deaths come at a huge cost to the province. These harms are fueled by unlicensed shebeens, which must either be legalised or shut down. The new Liquor Act is in place to regulate legal trade, rooting out non-compliant traders. In order to do this successfully we need to educate traders about their responsibilities. To ensure that all licenced liquor traders are aware of the requirements of the new Liquor Act, the Authority will host training programmes for all of the province’s 8 131 licence holders. It is my firm hope that educated members of our communities will spread our message, and that they join hands with us to end this scourge. I believe that one of the ways we can do this is by partnering with liquor industries to promote responsible drinking’.

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