Michael Fridjhon | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Six of the ten Semi-Finalists for the Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award come from Cape Town and the Winelands, and go through to the Semi-Finals, which take place in Cape Town and Johannesburg next month.

The Semi-Finalists come from top hotels and restaurants. In the Cape they are Gregory Mutambe from the Twelve Apostles Hotel, David Nel from La Colombe, Joakim Blackadder from The Roundhouse, Josephine Gutentoft from Grande Roche, Carl Habel from the Mount Nelson, and Wayve Kolevsohn from Le Quartier Français. The Oyster Box’s Eric Botha is the sole KwaZulu-Natal Semi-Finalist, while Mike Buthelezi from Signature, Sean Trollip from Kream, and Francis Krone from the Saxon Boutique Hotel are the Gauteng-based Semi-Finalists. To get to the Semi-Finalist stage, the candidates had to write an ‘open book test’. In the Semi-Finals, wine styles and tasting will be tested blind, as will be their ability to make food and wine pairing recommendations, and their professionalism in wine service.

The competition is endorsed by the recently formed South African Sommelier Association, of which Neil Grant at Rust en Vrede is the Chairman. Members of the Association will assist in the judging. The competition is organised by Michael Fridjhon, importing Riedel glassware, and Vinimark The Wine Company, importers of Champagne Bollinger. The winner of the competition will be announced on 11 November, and will win a trip to France to visit the House of Champagne Bollinger.

Entry criteria included a minimum three year experience in the hospitality industry, employment in food or wine service in South Africa, and entrants to be 21 years or older. They were also expected to have a knowledge of wine styles and terminology, wine label information, wine regulations, regions of origin, international wine regions, identify wines in a blind tasting, service, food and wine pairing, wine storage, and an ability to interact with customers. “The Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award has been established to bring focus and recognition of achievement to the growing group of professional wine waiters in South Africa”, states the media release.

We wish the Semi-Finalists good luck in the next stage of the Bollinger Exceptional Wine Service Award.

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

South African bottled wine sales into China have increased by 50 %, albeit off a low base, and this market is estimated to be worth $6 billion by 2014, and about 34 million Chinese could be drinking wine by 2015, reports the Weekend Argus.

A number of leading South African wine brands will be exported into China via Cape Legends, a Distell-owned company, after the signing of an export contract. The exported wine brands are Alto, Jacobsdal, Neethlingshof, Plaisir de Merle, and Stellenzicht, using Chinese distributor Guangzhou South Africa Valley. One wonders how the Chinese market will cope in pronouncing these wine brand names, with the exception of Alto.

Wines of South Africa (WOSA) spokesperson Andre Morgenthal said that China is a huge market due to the size of its population, but the population’s knowledge of South African wines is ‘limited’. France and Australia have the edge on wine awareness and sales in China. Hein Koegelenberg, who exports his Leopard’s Leap to China, echoes this, in saying that the Chinese market buys on perceived brand value, and the Pétrus, Lafayette and Mouton Rothschild brands are the best selling wines in China, he says, as the French were the first to recognise the potential size of the Chinese market. Leopard’s Leap has the dubious honour of having been faked, non-certified wine from Stellenbosch having been seen with a similar Leopard’s Leap label at a recent wine show in China.

The move to marketing wine in China is one way of countering the 20% decline in sales of wine to the UK, says Neil Pendock, reports the Cape Times. “The future of South African wines is in the East” he says. Michael Fridjhon added that the weak Rand is causing export sales at a loss, and that British supermarkets “are absolutely calling the shots to South African wine producers. In short, the guys are stuffed”. A further threat to local wine producers is that supermarkets are increasingly stocking inexpensive imported wines, helped by the weak Rand.

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