Tag Archives: Neil Ellis

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 10 February

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Los Angeles Times recommends the One&Only Cape Town as one of ‘Five fabulous, flirty retreats for Valentine’s Day’.   It describes Cape Town as the ‘…continent’s hottest happening city, and One & Only is the place to be for luxurious lodging‘, with three restaurants, including Nobu, the Neo boutique selling ‘South Africa’s hippest designer fashions‘, and an award-winning spa.  It recommends eating at The Test Kitchen, Kalk Bay, Robben Island, and an art tour with gallery owner João Ferreira.

*  It is rare to be able to read a story by UK wine journalist and judge Jancis Robinson without subscribing to her website or to that of the Financial Times. However she has graciously shared details of her trip to the North West Cape, in the Olifants River area, where they viewed 40 – Continue reading →

Veritas Awards: KWV, Spier, and Nederburg lead the ‘Oscars of the SA wine industry’!

Veritas Wine top achieversKWV, Spier, and Nederburg are our country’s top three wine estates based on the number of Double Gold and Gold Awards they received at the 2014 Veritas Awards Gala Dinner at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Saturday evening, making up almost half the 51 Double Gold awards. The Veritas Awards are viewed as the ‘Oscars of the South African wine industry‘, with close to 1800 wines entered, a slight decrease on the number of 2013 entries.

KWV was announced as the Best Wine Producer for the fourth year running, and increased its Double Gold awards from four last year to seven this year.  KWV also won 2 Double Golds for its Brandy.  Spier has greatly enhanced its Veritas performance, with 7 Double Gold awards, compared to only one last year. Nederburg increased its Double Gold tally from four last year to six.  Flagstone won Best Performer in the less than 10 wines entered category, and the KWV won in the 11+ wines entered category.

Four wine industry legends Danie de Wet of De Wetshof, Diaan de Villiers, Professor Diko van Zyl (author of historical works on Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 10 June

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Globally spirit sales barely grew in 2013, after a growth of 6,5% between 2007 – 2011. Vodka is the largest selling spirit category, at 496 million cases.  Whisky/whiskey sales grew the fastest, and stand at 361 million cases. Rum sales were 146 million, a decrease on the year prior.  Whilst the largest market for spirits is Asia, at 1,9 billion cases, growth was minimal.

*   More than 70 World Design Capital 2014 projects are on display in the Civic Centre as the project reaches its halfway mark, reports the Cape Times.  The projects on display include the MyCiTi Bus, Green Point Urban Park, and the Buitengracht Pedestrian Bridge.  There is no entrance fee to view the display, which runs until the end of this year.

*   Millennials will be the travelers of the future, being the biggest tourism spenders in the next 5 – 10 years, and already Continue reading →

New Cape Vintner Classification association of heavy weight wine estates launched!

Cape Vintner ClassificationA new association of independent wine estates belonging to industry heavy weights was launched at Ellerman House in its new Wine Gallery yesterday. Cape Vintner Classification (CVC) aims to build our country’s reputation as a producer of world class wines, and to ‘promote the Cape’s distinctive site specific wines‘, according to a report in fin24.

The association’s mouthful of a name, which does not seem customer driven, has a logo which includes the date 1659, the first year of wine production in the Cape, and creates an identity and logo look similar to the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Companje, or Dutch East India Company).

The association was formed by Johann Rupert, owner of Anthonij Rupert Wines, L’Ormarins, and Rupert & Rothschild, all in Franschhoek, which wants to introduce an accreditation system which gives wine buyers confidence in the integrity of the wine and its origin. It is said to be an association of individuals rather than of wine estates.

Rupert is critical of bulk wine exports and the damaging effect it has on our country’s wine reputation, and about some members of WIETA, the agricultural ethical trade initiative of South Africa.  The standards set for CVC will be higher than those of WIETA and Fairtrade.

Membership costs R16000 a year, and a minimum membership requirement is Continue reading →