Tag Archives: WIETA

WOSA Sommelier World Cup clever way to market South African wines!

WOSA Sommelier Cup Will Predhomme Whale Cottage PortfolioYesterday I spent a most entertaining afternoon at the Grande Roche hotel in Paarl, to observe the last phase of the Wines of South Africa (WOSA) Sommelier World Cup competition, the announcement and evaluation of the Top 3, and the awarding of the prize to the winning sommelier Will Predhomme.

The invited guests were the twelve finalists for the Sommelier World Cup, media representatives from the USA (I sat next to Rebecca Canan from the Terroirist Blog), Sweden, and Belgium, local writers, the local and international sommelier judges, and WOSA staff from its international offices as well as from its head office in Stellenbosch.   After a welcome glass of wine, we sat down for lunch at Bosman’s, and it was clear to see why this Continue reading →

A Toast to Graham Beck MCCs: The Crown of Celebration!

Graham Beck Wines MCC Crown AdOn Tuesday last week a gathering of wine writers was spoilt with an invitation to taste the portfolio of seven Graham Beck Wines MCCs at The Westin Cape Town, followed by a sparkling lunch in the hotel’s Executive Club, pairing the MCCs and delectable dishes prepared by Chef Johann Breedt and his team.

Pieter ‘Bubbles’ Ferreira is synonymous with Graham Beck’s MCCs, having started with the company at its inception 24 years ago. He quickly earned the nickname ‘Bubbles‘, given to him by wine writer Melvyn Minnaar, and now wears the ‘branded’ shirt with his name on it!  He truly is a bubbly character, and the passion for his seven MCCs comes to the fore when he speaks about them.  The pay-off line for the MCC range has been ‘In Pursuit of the Perfect Bubble’, and is printed on the marketing collateral, representing Pieter’s quest to make the ultimate MCC.  The brand has received outstanding international publicity as being the preferred sparkling wine of royals (served at the wedding of Swedish Princess Madeleine) and politicians such as the Obamas, who drank it on the eve of the President’s inauguration, and with President Zuma when the Obamas visited Pretoria ten days ago.  In June Michelle Obama was spoilt with the bubbly, being on the menu for her lunch with Bono in his home town of Dalkey in Ireland.  It was served at the inauguration of former President Nelson Mandela too. Prince Harry toasted his Sentebale Trust with Graham Beck earlier this year. Given the publicity, which was achieved without paying a cent for it, and the brand being the preference of such sterling customers, the pay-off line used now for the MCCs is  ‘Graham Beck: The Crown of Celebration’.  A crown has been added to the Graham Beck logo for the MCC range, looking as if it has always been there. Continue reading →

SA wine industry’s social responsibility praised by top Swedish wine buyers!

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

Calls for UK boycott of South African wines and fruit counterproductive!

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