{"id":46445,"date":"2013-08-02T14:24:14","date_gmt":"2013-08-02T12:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=46445"},"modified":"2013-08-07T14:30:48","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T12:30:48","slug":"whaletales-tourism-food-and-wine-news-headlines-2-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/whaletales-tourism-food-and-wine-news-headlines-2-august\/","title":{"rendered":"WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 2 August"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WhaleTales\"<\/a>Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Perfect China has bought the cellar and wine farm of Val de Vie for use by Perfect Wines of South Africa, in which it has a 51% stake (with Leopard’s Leap), reports Bloomberg<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, the first purchase of a local wine estate by a Chinese company. \u00a0Close to 3 million bottles of the company’s L’Huguenot wine were exported to the Asian country in 2011 and 2012, representing about 25 percent of all South African wine exports to China. \u00a0The cellar and maturation capacity are to be increased.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 More storms, including hail, have hit the wine regions of France, especially the G\u00e9nissac region last week, in which 30 – 100% of the crops were destroyed, reports Wine Spectator<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 USA wine blogger Joe Roberts, writing 1WineDude,<\/strong><\/span><\/a> will be the keynote speaker at the Nederburg Auction<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, an interesting reflection of the growing influence of wine bloggers!<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Interesting news is that Minister of Tourism\u00a0Marthinus\u00a0van\u00a0Schalkwyk\u00a0has\u00a0promulgated draft legislation<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0to have one united set of legislation relating to tourism nationally,and to not allow fragmented activity of the tourism industry by province or region. The Western Cape province is working on updating the Tourism Act of 2004, which could become obsolete if the Tourism \u00a0Minister has his way. \u00a0Is there a place for provincial (and even city) tourism marketing bodies if this legislation is passed?<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Business with BRICS countries<\/strong> <\/span><\/a>is brisk for South Africa, and is expected to double from $230 billion to $500 billion in two years from now. \u00a0SA Tourism is opening an office in Brazil this year.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Creation has just launched its 2013 vintage of its Sauvignon Blanc Semillon – the 2012 vintage achieved 89 points by US wine critic Robert Parker.\u00a0According to Creation Cellarmaster JC Martin the 2013 vintage shows the same potential. (via e-mail received from Creation).<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Six of our country’s hotels are in the World’s 50 Best Hotels 2013, as voted by Travel & Leisure<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, and only one is in the Cape, being the Cape Grace. \u00a0The new Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg is at number 50.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Standard Bank has joined Du Toitskloof Wines in sponsoring the new\u00a0Wine Writer of the Year competition,\u00a0which aims to reward in-depth writing on challenges facing the wine industry. All participants have to submit an article on the same topic. \u00a0The competition\u00a0is open to published wine writers who have to submit an in-depth article on the topic ‘The consequences of climate change for the South African wine industry’<\/em> by 27 September. There is one prize of R30000 for the winning entry. (received via media release from De Kock Communications)<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 The Cape Wine Academy is offering a series of wine courses:<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1. \u00a0 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WINE COURSE<\/span><\/b>
\nIntroduction to the wonders of wine, topics encompass wine styles and the effect of wine on the taste of food; vineyard and winemaking practices and how they contribute to making a quality wine. There is a tutored tasting at each of the presentations.<\/p>\n

Day <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Groot Constantia Estate, Constantia \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 24 August<\/p>\n

St James Hotel, Durban KZN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 31 August<\/p>\n

Morgenhof Wine Estate, Stellenbosch\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 30 August<\/p>\n

Evening<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Wine.co.za, Somerset West \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 26 August<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0 WINE & FOOD <\/span>– \u00a0<\/b>Stellenbosch\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a016 August<\/p>\n

Focuses on food and wine combinations and its effect on taste. After the course one is able to partner wines and food with much more savvy and understanding.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0 2 Day – FRONT OF HOUSE<\/span><\/b>\u00a0 – Stellenbosch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a013-14 September<\/p>\n

Topics encompass wine styles and the effect of wine on the taste of food; vineyard and winemaking practices and how they contribute to making a quality wine, as well as how to set a standard in the wine industry regarding service and attitude<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0 2 Day – WINES OF THE WORLD<\/span> \u00a0<\/b>– Stellenbosch\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 25-26 October <\/b><\/p>\n

From France to Australia and the Americas, \u00a0their wines will be compared against ours. (received via e-mail from the Cape Wine Academy)<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 The continued heatwave in the UK is bad for travel agent business<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, seeing a drop in business, as happened two weeks ago as well, when agencies lost up to 20% of bookings!<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 It’s fitting that The Beer House<\/strong><\/span><\/a> opens on 223 Long Street today, it being International Beer Day today!<\/p>\n

* \u00a0 Richelieu XO Cognac Fine Champagne has won the accolade of being named the best Cognac in the world, and receiving a Gold Outstanding medal, at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London. \u00a0It is made from Ugni blanc grapes harvested in the Grande and Petite Champagne areas of Cognac, and double-distilled before being matured in French oak barrels for 25 years and longer. \u00a0It sells for about R1600. (via media release from De Kock Communications)<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a> \u00a0Twitter: @WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines * \u00a0 Perfect China has bought the cellar and wine farm of Val de Vie for use by Perfect Wines of South Africa, in which it has a 51% stake (with Leopard’s Leap), reports Bloomberg, the first purchase of a local wine estate by a Chinese company. \u00a0Close to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[3,124,266,362,20,22,21,19,293],"tags":[20110,1225,12453,20113,184,32378,2521,19280,9820,30,20108,20114,10049,20109,14991,534,2832,7166,18056,14990,20117,11833,910,20115,10942,20116,5,823,11096,20119,2800,32373,10,365,20118,8131,20112,20111],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t