Cape Town Wine

Posts Tagged ‘Wines of South Africa’

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Great Wine Capitals Global Network Best of Wine Tourism Tour

Huge thanks to Andre Morgenthal of Wines of South Africa, one of the initiators of The Best of Wine Tourism Tours, for the invitation to join tour operators, bloggers and media representatives on one of the tours. Also to Belinda Lamprecht, Cape Town co-ordinator for the Great Wine Capitals in Cape Town who capably pulled everything together.

The Great Wine Capitals Global Network is a network of nine major global cities in both the Southern and Northern hemispheres which share a key economic and cultural asset: their internationally renowned wine regions. One of the cornerstones of the Networks’ mission is the development of wine tourism across the Network. To promote wine tourism and reward excellence the Network established an international tourism awards program in which wineries can be judged in different categories. These are: Accommodation; Wine Tourism Restaurants; Architects and Landscapes; Art and Culture; Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences; Wine Tourism Services and Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices.

The motivation to offer the Best of Wine Tours (or farm trips) to Best of Wine Tourism Awards entrants was twofold: firstly, to reach a different audience as opposed to traditional media in order to create awareness of the Best of Wine Tourism Awards and Great Wine Capitals.

Secondly, to alert wineries to the existence of this initiative, and to the value and promotional opportunities it offers, not only through possibly winning a category, but also the extended exposure via social media. These WOSA tours are unique to South Africa in the Network context and were met with applause by Cape Town’s counterparts at the CWCGN AGM last year.

Lynne and The Green Cab

The Green Cab Company was the tour transporter, an eco-innovation company which provides South Africa’s first cost-effective, aggressively green transport solution. They do this by utilising Liquified Petroleum Gas and BioDiesel.

Waterkloof Restaurant

Our first visit was to Waterkloof Wines, where the restaurant, tasting lounge and cellar are perched dizzily on the slopes of the Schaapenberg overlooking False Bay. The quality of wines here set an impossibly high standard to copy and were loved by each of us in the tour group. This farm has so much going for it not the least the fact that farming operations are bio-dynamic. I can’t wait to return to Waterkloof.

Panoramic views from Waterkloof restaurant

Hard at work - Jan Langenhoven, Di Procter, Kitty Snyman, Glenda van Blerk and Carla van der Merwe

Vergelegen Estate, Somerset West, welcomed us next in the form of wine host, Arnoux who outshone the other wine presenters of the day by far. He was passionate, engaging, knowledgeable and never in a rush to go and pour wine at the next table. Quite the opposite. He remained our host for our whole visit. Vergelegen offers innovative wine experiences and the “Camellia Inspired Tasting” was presented to us where four wines were thoughtfully paired with four Camellia blossoms. Vergelegen Estate has much to offer the visitor apart from award-winning wines. Things like garden tours, restaurants, picnics, barrel tastings, environmental walks and full moon vineyard walks.

Vergelegen Camellia Tasting

National Monument Camphor Trees

Our next wine tasting was at Rust en Vrede, Stellenbosch. What stands out about their wines is that they must have huge appeal for the wine collector who is purchasing wines to lay them down as they clearly need much time in the bottle to reach their full potential. Our wine presenter certainly knew her lines but seemed to lack interest and personal charisma.

Rust en Vrede

When I learned that tour lunch stop would be at Spier’s new organic food restaurant Eight, I was curious and excited. Our group was not disappointed – each dish ordered was delicious and of the highest quality plus Spier Private Collection Chenin Blanc was loved by all. Sitting close to the Eerste River in the beautiful Winter sunshine was such a treat. To get a feel for the light, airy feel of the setting, visit Eight’s Facebook page here. Spier offers many different attractions for visitors of all ages and backgrounds and deserves a place in the GWCGN hall of fame.

Eight at Spier

The open kitchen at Eight

Gershwin serving our table

The “dessert” stop was at The House of J C Le Roux for a sparkling wine, marshmallow and meringue pairing featuring five sparkling wines. Certainly innovative in their approach, the tasting room setting and products will be popular with trendy, Generation Y wine lovers.

The House of J C Le Roux

Sparkling wine, marshmallow and meringue tasting

Finally let me introduce my travel companions:

Kitty Snyman of Rufaro Travel. Twitter @kitty_rufaro

Carla Van Der Merwe of Wine.co.za. Twitter @carla_wino

Di Procter, writer of Wineblog-diana. Twitter @DiProc

Jan Langenhoven, writer of Tappets On The Run. Twitter @JanTappets

Tags: Accommodation, Andre Morgenthal, Architects, Belinda Lamprecht, bloggers, Cape Town, Carla Van Der Merwe, Di Procter, Eight, Great Wine Capitals Global Network, Green Cab Company, Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences, Jan Langenhoven, Kitty Snyman, Landscapes, Rufaro Travel, Rust en Vrede, Spier, Spier Private Collection Chenin Blanc, Sustainable Wine Tourism Practices., The Best of Wine Tourism Tours, The House of J C Le Roux, tour operators, Tourism, Vergelegen Estate, Waterkloof Wines, wine, Wine Tourism Restaurants, Wine.co.za, Wines of South Africa

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Thursday, May 27th, 2010

JOBS FOR WINE WAITERS DESPITE SA’S GROWING UNEMPLOYMENT

Visitors in town for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ could well find themselves in Cape Town’s luxury restaurants served by recently trained wine waiters who, just weeks ago, were unemployed.

Wine waiters being trained

Thanks to an initiative undertaken by generic wine marketing body Wines of South Africa (WOSA) to train wine waiting staff nationwide in time for the games, people who might otherwise have found themselves struggling to find work, are not only employed for the soccer season but have been equipped with SETA-accredited certification to begin a career in the hospitality industry.

WOSA CEO Su Birch said: “We wanted to find a way of improving wine service levels at a time when the spotlight would be on South Africa and many visitors would be exposed to local wines for the first time. By introducing visitors to our wines via knowledgeable and efficient wine waiters, we are creating ambassadors for the country. We also hope that newly trained wine waiters develop an appreciation for wine they can extend to the people in their communities.”

The mostly on-the-job training was made available at no cost to candidates who were first screened for suitability. The programme was helping to fill a shortage of much-needed skills in the hospitality industry, she added. Birch explained that the service training initiative was being funded mainly through the domestic and international sale of specialist red wines labelled Fundi, the isiZulu word for learner. “Developed for this purpose, the wines are labelled with a bright sunflower, as a symbol of hope. Each bottle carries a beaded neck tag, produced by informal roadside beaders. We have also received substantial contributions from the Cape Winelands District Municipality in support of the project, while several leading German wine writers have adopted the Fundi cause and are driving sales to consumers through a highly effective social media campaign. Public and private generosity like this will allow us to extend the training initiative till the end of the year.”

Fundi wine

In March 150 people were recruited for training in the Cape Town CBD, she said. They underwent a five-week training course to equip them to sell South African wine at on-consumption establishments. Of this group alone, over 90% have already been employed by some of the city’s top establishments, including fine dining restaurants The Roundhouse, Salt, Moyo at the V&A Waterfront and several hotels.

“When you consider that according to Statistics SA, 64% of the country’s 4,3 million unemployed have been out of work for a year, this is a remarkable uptake.”

Similar training projects were being run in Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and the Winelands.

Birch said the training focused on introducing candidates to best-practice service skills in a dining environment, whether exclusive and formal or more casual and relaxed. To give candidates a basic understanding of wine, the course included a “bush logic wine course”, an analogy-driven way of teaching about the main wine grape varieties and their likeness to some African animals and birds. A Cabernet Sauvignon, for example, was likened to the impressive African elephant, a long-lived and majestic animal of great stature.

“In many cases, when trainees embark on the course, they don’t know much about wine. Using the characteristics and the personalities associated with certain examples of African wildlife to introduce them to similar qualities evident in specific wine varietals, makes the learning accessible, fun and easy to remember. Now, when waiters use these analogies while serving diners, they can offer novel and entertaining help to their customers in deciding what to order.”

The training initiative is being run as WOSA Laduma (isiZulu for goal), a section 21 company.

The industry was invited to submit wines for possible inclusion in the Fundi range in an open tender. Submissions were selected in a blind tasting by members of the Cape Winemakers’ Guild according to the same exacting standards applied when choosing wines for its annual auction. The wines of five producers were selected. They are identified on the back label of each wine.

Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer, Cape Town, Cape Winemakers Guild, Fundi, SETA, Wines of South Africa

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Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Winelands mining debacle seems to be over

Grape, reported that this matter has now been resolved. The Winelands Action Group issued the following statement which covers the initial scare, conflicting government reports, the resolution and suggestions for future mining policy.

Autumn vine leaves

The following is the full text of the statement put out by Winelands Action Group:

Following weeks of overwhelming pressure from producer groups such as the various Farmworker Forums, the Cape Winemakers Guild (CWG), Wines of South Africa (WOSA), Stellenbosch and Durbanville Wine Routes, conservation groups such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and WWF’s Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI), the Bottelary Conservancy, the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance, influential international wine writers, heritage groups from all over the country as well as the public at large in South Africa and around the world, the Department of Mineral Resources today confirmed in writing that state-owned African Exploration Mining and Finance Company (AEMFC) had officially withdrawn their Cape Town and Stellenbosch prospecting rights applications in the Western Cape.

Hailing the news as “a victory for social justice and democratic rights” the Winelands Action Group had been cautiously optimistic on hearing reports a week and a half ago that the Director General of the Department of Mineral Resources, Adv Sandile Nogxina had announced that the applications would be withdrawn, but then had to continue with legal and public protest action when subsequent communication with AEMFC staff as well as their consultants GCS revealed that despite the assurances given in a press release issued on behalf of the Chairman of AEMFC, the state company and their consultants were still going ahead with the application process. Staff of the Regional DME office in Cape Town also confirmed that the applications were going ahead and that ‘the statement issued was incorrect’. Read more of Winelands mining debacle seems to be over

Tags: 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer, Bottelary Conservancy, Cape Winemakers Guild, De Grendel, Grape, Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance, Jordan, mining, Saxenburg, winelands, Winelands Action Group, Wines of South Africa, World Wide Fund for Nature, WWF's Biodiversity and Wine Initiative, Zevenwacht

Posted in Environment Sensitive Wine Farms, What's New | No Comments »