Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  A production first for New Media Publishing, synonymous with contract publishing, is an amazing video shot on the Franschhoek Pass for its client Mercedes Benz, called Silver Slipstream, in which Man (notorious skateboarder Decio Lourenco, who made headlines when he skated down Kloofnek Road) challenges Machine (Mercedes A 45 AMG) down the Pass, Man winning!

*   It was a wine weekend of note, with the fantastic 47% increase in sales income at R8,4 million at the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction at Spier, and the Veritas Awards ceremony held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.  The top Veritas performers, out of 1792 wines and brandies entered, are:

+  KWV, with 4 double gold and 13 gold medals, and named Best Producer the third year in a row.

+  Nederburg,  with 4 double golds and 9 gold medals

+  Boplaas Family Vineyards, with 4 double gold and 6 gold medals

+  De Grendel and Van Ryn’s, with 3 double gold medals each

+  Flagstone, Best Performer in less than 10 wines entered category

+  Nederburg,  Best Performer in more than 10 wines entered category.

+   Delaire Graff, Eagles’ Nest, Flagstone, Graham Beck, Kanonkop, Rustenburg, Simonsig, Spier, Tokara, and Windmeul, with two double gold medals each.

*   Mike Veseth, keynote speaker at the Nederburg Auction in 2012, has published ‘Extreme Wine‘, ‘searching for the best, worst, cheapest, most expensive, and most over-priced wines. Mike seeks out the most outrageous wine people and places and probes the biggest wine booms and busts. Along the way he applauds celebrity wines, tries to find wine at the movies, and discovers wines that are so scarce that they are almost invisible’.

*   A Europe wide air controller strike is likely on 10 October, especially in Germany, France, Spain , and Portugal.

*   Overhex Wines International is packing for Cannes, where its wines will be introduced at the retail travel industry TFWA World Exhibition by wine distributor Diverse Flavours.  Overhex Wines International produces a range of entry level to premium wines, including Balance, Soulo, Kamina, Bonsella, Cape Zebra. and Ostrich Landing.  Overhex Wines International MD Gerhard van der Wath commented: ‘Our vision is to be a meaningful competitor within the wine industry by building global brands that sell successfully across a wide range of target markets’.  Recently Balance Winemakers Selection Chenin Blanc 2012 was selected for Business Class pouring on Dragonair, a Chinese airline.

*   Chile has suffered its worst frost in 84 years, causing damage to the value of $ 1 billion to vines and fruit.

*   The Chinese National Tourism Administration has published a 65-page Guidebook to guide the behaviour of Chinese tourists when traveling.

*   Interesting profile of ‘Vineyard Manager’ Rosa Kruger by Jancis Robinson.

*   Tsogo Sun has announced a R 10 million sponsorship of a school chess programme spanning the next three years.  ‘The selection of chess seemed a natural fit for us as part of both our strategy to develop sport as well as play a role in education. Chess is listed among the government’s top 16 priority sporting codes for inclusion at school level and the educational development through chess then aligns strongly with sport and education. All our initiatives are designed to comply with government’s strategy and objectives within the school system to ensure that we contribute to the overall development of the children we reach, said Shanda Paine, Group CSI Manager of Tsogo Sun.  Chess is a great leveller and can be played by all children, whatever their background and whatever their sporting or academic abilities, giving learners skills in maths, science and life skills. (via media release from Tsogo Sun)

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