The Outeniqua Mountains on the Garden Route.

After spending millions on international fact-finding trips and marketing jollies, the Cape winelands have failed to secure a base-camp for one of the 32 teams participating in World Cup 2010. As mentioned in a previous post, hosting an international team and its horde of followers and national media brings myriad short and long term benefits to a town or region – if it didn’t the Cape winelands would not have spent such a lot of time and money attempting to secure said team, would they?

Tourism bodies around the Cape have been pretty mum about these international teams’ decision to shun the region and see favourites Spain heading to the charming town of Potchefstroom and England heading for Rustenburg. Over 30 days of international TV coverage will propel these towns, as well as others selected as base-camps, into the limelight, something the South African wine industry would surely have appreciated.

So Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek and Constantia will not share in base-camp limelight. One wine region which is, however, going to benefit hugely is the Langkloof wine region. “Lang” what? Well, this is the area north of the Outeniqua mountains on the Garden Route where grapes are grown and wine is made, albeit on a smaller scale than the Cape. And this region will see three teams set up base-camps between 11 June and 11 July, namely France, Denmark and Japan.

This means over 100 000 international visitors alone, not to mention the whole of France, Denmark and Japan being exposed to the towns of George and Knysna for the duration of the tournament thanks to the glories of television, not to mention the social media tidal wave.

One or two throw-away sentences about the region’s wines, and this means more PR and exposure than a Wosa-sponsored Jumbo of golf-playing wine hacks.

The slight problem is that the Langkloof is not awash with wineries. The most prolific is Goose Wines, a  venture in which local golf icon Retief Goosen has a share, and one which makes some pretty nifty wines from grapes grown on South Africa’s coldest wine  farm.

Morné Jonker, partner in Goose Wines, has already made inroads into 2010 preparations and The Goose is going to be wetting many throats setting up camp in the Garden Route come winter.

Especially exciting is that the three countries camping out here – France, Denmark and Japan – are all wine-loving nations. The experience of the Langkloof wines is sure to provide a high level of emotional take-out, meaning that when the visitors return to their countries of origin they will seek out the wines they enjoyed during their stay. Good for Langkloof, but also for South Africa.

Throw in a couple of hundred million goggling TV viewers seeing the region’s natural beauty and discovering the Garden Route as a wine region, and things are going to go ballistic.

The problem is that Goose Wines is a pretty small set-up and will not be able to carry the cudgel in this huge marketing opportunity for the local wine industry. If I were party to a wine brand in the Cape Winelands, I’d ask why my local tourism bodies stuffed-up by not securing a base-camp. And then I’d look east towards the Garden Route. A piece of that action is to be had.

Morné Jonker and Retief Goosen.

One of the South African wine industry’s most iconic symbols, the KWV La Concorde head-office on Paarl’s main road, is to be vacated by KWV staff within the next few months. According to a wine industry insider, KWV staff will move to the vast buildings the company owns closer to the railway line.

“La Concorde will cease to house the KWV’s activities,” the source said. “However, this will not come as a surprise to anyone who has visited La Concorde over the past few months – inside it is as deserted as the Overlook Hotel in the movie, The Shining.”

La Concorde’s impressive facade has become synonymous with the South African wine industry as it was for decades seen on the label of the country’s (then) most prolific exporter, namely the KWV. Erected in 1958, La Concorde is also seen as an aesthetically pleasing face of the Cape wine industry, and it would be a great pity if the building is lost to the wine world.

Rumours of converting La Concorde into a hotel have been bandied about, but developers maintain that converting the office space to rooms and recreation centres would be too costly.

“Come on, man, I ’ve never seen a horse win a race without a jockey!” enthused Duimpie Bayly, owner of more South African wine industry positions than you’d find in the first 35 pages of the Kama Sutra.

Duimpie was responding to Dominique Hebrard, former owner of Bordeaux icon Cheval Blanc, who was discussing his involvement with Cape winery Constantia Glen by accentuating the role of terroir and vineyard. “All this stuff about wine being made in the vineyard is bullshit – you need ’n bloody good winemaker as well.”

This forthright interaction is what happens when things get going at the Wine Swines, arguably South Africa’s most established wine club. Hoffie Hoffman (what else?), a former technical head at Distillers Corporation, joined the Swines in 1968, giving one an idea of the kind of history attached to this organisation.

Duimpie’s ascerbic reaction to Dominique’s philosophy, I think, began when Duimpie introduced himself to the Frenchman earlier on by asking Dominique to translate “Small Thumb” (Duimpie) into French. The reply was something sounding like “petit poes”, which obviously ruffled a few Bayly feathers, despite those who may have differed with Dominique by deploying “grand” instead.

In any event, Monsieur Hebrard was adament that he was not bringing a French flair to Constantia Glen, but rather here to assist the winery to make South African wines to the best of the site’s ability.

This making is in the obviously very capable hands of Karl Lambour, a fellow swine who offered to host last Friday’s tasting to coincide with the visit of Dominique.

We kicked off with a tasting of three vintages of The Constantia Saddle, Constantia Glen’s three-variety Bordeaux blend. First up was the 2007, which is currently on the market, followed by the unlabelled 2008 and 2009.

So why are we not talking about just another red blend here?

First of all, South Africa’s oldest winemaking region has been really impressive in its red wine offerings over the past six, seven years. Groot Constantia Shiraz and Pinotage, Eagle’s Nest Shiraz, Buitenverwachting Cabernet Franc and Klein Constantia Marlbrook consistently rock-up in my annual top 20 list. I love the pure, bright and more-ish fleshy flavours of Constantia red wines. No heat, fynbos or mint, and wood is used judiciously in most cases – a fact proven even in the young wines.

Constantia Glen has made no bones about its lofty ambitions, which is good. I dig the “if you’ve got it, flaunt it” philosophy. There’s obviously a bit of tom behind the venture, everyone working there has clean crispy shirts, pricey haircuts and friendly white smiles, and Lambour is a winemaker of the convincingly opinionated variety.

Karl Lambour

Throw in a Bordeaux consultant whose family happened to own Cheval Blanc, and the expectations are lofty.

Well, it comes together in the wines. We are in talking-the-talk and walking-the-walk territory.

Constantia Glen’s 2007 The Constantia Saddle is a truly unctuous wine, and drinking it is like kissing one of Dominique’s (female) cellar-hands after she has returned from a trip to an exotic destination. A decadent glow of winey fruit has surprising whiffs of spice and perfume, Bordeaux-style beauty one tends to have forgotten about in a current Shiraz-Tanat-Carignan-Mourvèdre obsessed industry.

The make-up is Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. New wood for nine months. Then blended. Back into the barrel for two-and-something months.

Getting back to the vineyard, Karl explains how vines are opened up, leaving a few paltry leaves per vine to ensure shade-free ripeness, thus booting green, minty flavours back to where they came from.

I loved this wine, but the 2008 was even better. Here there was a bit of a perky peppery grip which made the finish longer, although it may even out with bottle-aging.

The other three wines were three vintages of the premium Constantia Glen Red Blend, with all five Bordeaux varieties now deployed. The 2007 is currently on the market – 32 % Merlot, 27 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 18 % Malbec, 11.5 % Cabernet Franc and 11.5 % Petit Verdot. And with the hefty addition of Malbec and Petit Verdot, one need not ask how this wine differs to the Saddle.

While “big” and “full” are tags hastily deployed to pile New World wines into one bag, there is still a very Old World respect for power.

Power having a religiously positive connotation, and in my French meanderings it is employed when great wines are described.

With its first red vintage only being the recent 2007, it is obviously not yet possoble to ascertain whether Constantia Glen’s Red Blend is going to show its current power in the long run. But at this stage, the red blend is showing signs of greatness.

The red fruit heart from the Merlot and Cabernet Franc spurts unadulterated clean, fresh flavours. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec brood like a hulking rugby front row, adding a beautiful strength.

It is a terrific wine, a harmony of grace and power – like a Steinway piano being pushed around by a bunch of female ice-hockey players.

The 2008 still showed a hint of rugged tannins, but everything else was there. But the 2009 is going to be the big one, with a greater accent on Petit Verdot and a brooding darkness in the colour.

History continues to be made in an historical wine region.

The hike in excise duties, as announced by the Minister of Finance, will cause the serious financial plight of many wine producers toreach breaking point. VinPro therefore expects that this will be a watershed year for producers who have been under severe financial pressure in recent years.

 Despite the fact that producers have done their utmost to endure over the past five years, the point has now been reached where producers simply cannot survive financially anymore. The recommended rate at which vineyards need to be replaced could also not be maintained over the past five years.

 This in an environment characterised by a decrease of up to 40% in grape prices, a 40% increase in production costs, a 69% increase in excise duties on both wine and spirits and, subsequently, an effective halving of net farming income.

 The primary wine producer earns 44 cents on average from a bottle of wine that sells for R24 in retail – from which he must cover his cost of living and interest. At the same time, the government earns R4,56 per bottle of wine from VAT and excise duties, following this increase.

 Although the increase of 8.1% on wine and 8.9% on spirits is in line with the government’s long-term targets for calculating the increases on alcoholic products, VinPro is disappointed that these adjustments are still above inflation and that the government does not show an understanding for the current situation of the wine producer. The ongoing excise increases impact negatively on the wine industry’ considerable contribution to the economy, as well as job creation. The industry contributes no less than R26,2 billion (2.2%) to the country’s GDP, according to the latest research.

 RELEASED BY THE VINPRO CHAIRMAN: ABRIE BOTHA

Oi, where's da fookin vino?

AS ONE of the sharper tools in the wine marketing shed, my pal Mike Ratcliffe is a constant source of inspiration and quirkiness. Mighty Mike is known as the dude running the Warwick Estate which his formidable Mom, Norma, put on the map. O yes, and then Mike is also behind the scenes of Vilafonté, the internationally successful luxury wine brand where Americano Zelma Long makes the vino, while hubby Phil Freese ensure the vineyards (Paarl) are coming along nicely.

Both brands’ success has a lot to do with Mike’s talents as marketer, talents backed by an easy-going, no-stress approach and an obvious keenness in the cerebral department. He can walk-the-walk, talk-the-talk and was a pioneer in bringing the local wine industry closer to the digital era.

That said, Mike’s latest marketing tweet has got me wondering whether I am just stupid or whether Mighty Mike is – as he often is – way ahead of the game.

The subject is Jack Black Beer, and the tweet states that Warwick is possibly the first Wine Estate to offer Jack Black Beer.

That’s right: adding to the experience of discovering the Cape Winelands, you can now drop a cold beer while learning about terroir, south-easterly breezes, shale soils and the uniqueness of the vinous experience to be had in Stellenbosch.

Now look, I have never subscribed to the school of anal brand possessiveness and protectionism, one of the lesser features of the Rupert Empire. But there is something about encouraging people to succumb to the temptations of a golden frothy beer in the winelands that I find a bit, well, unaligned.

(By the way, Warwick is not alone in punting its beer fridge – Fairview’s Goat Shed is also punting its offering of this during the World Cup.)

For me a wine farm – especially a wine farm in the Simonsberg area where Warwick is situated – should be wholly committed to the sensual diversity of a good glass of wine or two. That glass represents everything one sees, hears and feels on a wine estate: the smell of must from the cellar, the wine rustling through the broad vine-leafs, the crunch of sandstone and clay that contribute to the nuances of the wine.

This is what separates wine from the other barbaric substances. It has a home and it has nature and it has a soul. This is what causes wine to fascinate people, and this is what we try to tell the dwindling number of South African wine consumers.

Somehow, offering visitors to a blue-blood (or any other wine estate) a brew is not conducive to the overall wine experience. It just has a bit of a zef feel to it, like wearing Crocs to an exhibition of Italian footwear or offering JayZ CD’s for sale after a performance of Madame Butterfly at Artscape.

If it is a new trend, would somebody please let me know? The last wine estate I want to visit is one where some lager lout is trying to pick up the tasting room assistant while slugging back a pint of beer.

Or dare I urge wine estates to, well, Keep it Real?

Cape Town Waterfront - a beautiful rip-off.

The first time I hit someone older than myself was on the Greek Island of Santorini. There I was peaceful, friendly and minding my own business when some hairy Greek git, all chains and Old Spice, tried to pull me into the restaurant he was working for. “Best souvlaki for you!” he exclaimed grabbing my arm. “Come, come inside for best souvlaki for you and best red mullet in Greece!”

Shaking my head to indicate I was not wanting to dine, he tightened his grip. “Moussaka!” he yelled. “Come have good Moussaka, for you!” Once again, I courteously declined his offer and told him if he does not let go of my arm I am going reward him with what is known in Afrikaans as a “poes-klap”.

He didn’t let go, so I dished out the aforementioned klap.

Now, here in my own city of Cape Town, I may just have to resort to repeating this sad episode from my history of personal culinary experiences.

Check out the Cape Town Waterfront. In that row of restaurants off the Amphitheatre, waiters and managers cajole, call, whistle and shout at you as you walk passed, all soliciting you to visit their establishment. The main culprits are Tasca Belem – a Porra place – The Greek Fisherman (get your knuckle-duster ready) and steakhouse so originally called City Grill. I have visited all three establishments and know that if my restaurant was so bloody mediocre, I’d also resort to standing outside the door verbally requesting passers-by to stop off for a chow.

Tasca Belem has had a bit of a make-over, so with the expected deluge of foreign soccer visitors in mind, I decided to check it out for research purposes. I hauled myself and guests to the al fresco arena, where a waiter quickly presented himself with menus.

I was parched, so set about ordering drinks. The waiter greeted my requests with the confused look of a Platter Guide wine judge asked to comment on a label-less bottle of wine.

“Uh – sorry,” the waiter said, smiling. “No English.”

If he was a darkie I could understand, as they usually can’t be understood even if they claim they can speak English. But this guy was white as the Ace of Albinos.

I tried a few phrases of diverse linguistic origin and found out he was Portuguese-speaking Brazilian. “Brazil?” I asked.

“Hey-hey, yeah!” the dude said with a big smile. “World Cup!”

So for the rest of the evening orders were issued in a combination of my pidgin Portuguese and pointing to items of the menu for Gonzala to read, although I gather he wasn’t that hot in the reading  department either.

Tasca Belem punts itself as a Portuguese joint with a bit of Turkish influence. A pretty weird combination, a bit like Siberian-Mexican – but high five for being cosmopolitan.

I kicked off with a couple of draught beers, which were irritatingly warm. We then resorted to Graham Beck Sauvignon Blanc and downed a few bottles before getting to Gonzala and the food.

I pointed out two chorizo appetizers while Gonzala nodded sheepishly. The sausages appeared a few minutes later, perched above flamed clay bowls. They had been pan-fried, and were brown and lukewarm on the inside.

For main courses I went for a chicken espetada, while the others pointed to a chicken burger, Portuguese steak, seafood salad and some pasta thing with chicken and mushroom.

This is real dine-and-dash stuff. The food appears within minutes, and some greasy looking Porra-Turkish-Brazilian types stand at the entrance barking orders at the waiters in strange languages.

My espetada was cooked from fatty thigh meat and there was no semblance of juiciness or a sauce to make it more appetizing. The steak looked rare, but somehow the meat was also dry and required pepping up. The pasta resembled a wet dishcloth and according to the eater it was soggy and overcooked, but about as good a pasta as one could expect from a Porra place.

The space is cramped and noisy, and not worth the exorbitant prices, which should escalate during the World Cup. R100 for that puny chicken thing of mine? Give me break.

One dessert was ordered, namely hazelnut ice-bream in a pastry parcel, but the pastry was so old it put the eater right off the ice-cream.

Welcome to the Cape of Rip Offs. Have a nice day, and try not to assault the locals.

JP Bruwer

The latest study on the macro economic impact of the SA wine industry would make for exciting reading if it didn’t highlight the slackness of the local and national government in recognising the vinous jewel in the South African crown. According to the independent study commissioned by the SA Wine Industry Information and Systems, the wine industry’s impact on the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew to R26,2bn in 2008. This represents a substantial increase in the wine industry’s contribution to the national GDP since the last study. In 2003, when the previous study was done to measure the wine industry’s macro economic impact on the economy, the industry’s annual contribution was R22,5 bn.

Of the R26,2bn GDP created in South Africa by the wine industry, about R14,2bn remained in the Western Cape. The wine industry supports employment opportunities to the tune of 275 600. The relative labour intensiveness of the wine industry is specifically the result of the intensive labour production methods which are followed in the primary agriculture. In the Western Cape, the wine industry in total is responsible for 8.8% of total employment compared to 2.2% for the country as a whole.

Compared with the 2003 study, it is evident that the wine industry as a whole did somewhat better over the 2003 – 2008 period. Total turnover grew by 79%. This growth can be attributed mainly to the excellent export performance (close to doubling in current rand value terms since 2003). The growth in value of domestic sales in nominal terms, over the period 2003 – 2008 amounted to 76%. These figures also indicate the much slower growth in primary producers’ income but an escalating tax haul by government. Tax and excise amounted to R3,5 bn in 2008, growing by 71% since 2003.

Okay, so what have we got? Jobs. A major exporter. A R3,5bn contribution to the state from taxes and excise. Not to mention the myriad diverse benefits that befall a country with an internationally renowned wine industry.

These benefits and the fact that the wine industry is a major economic powerhouse – one growing in strength – has largely seemed to pass the government by. Government’s appreciation for the wine industry seems to be limited to its Fat Cats ordering of Vergelegen V and Meerlust Rubicon with a well-done T-bone at the Butcher’s Shop on Sandton Square.

First up, give the industry a break on taxes and excise. And how about starting with the next budget, due later this month? Putting wine into the “sin tax” category is not only disrespectful, but displays ignorance of the product.

Then how about some subsidising of the major inroads wine producers have made to address social issues on their properties? Despite the pink liberals still wishing to tarnish wine farmers with a broerderbond/dop-system brush, farmers are making huge investments in schools, housing, crèches, clinics and general up-liftment. Some subsidising here would be in order.

 Wine farmers are also involved in creating opportunities for their employees through training and skills enhancement. Case in point, check out the SKOP (senior cellar training) courses sponsored by former pupils of the Elsenburg Agricultural College. These courses aim to raise the skills levels of cellar staff, leading to better employment opportunities and practical empowerment as opposed to the hand-out, feel-good variety.

How about government recognising these proactive policies in the wine industry with assistance in export regulations, tourism subsidies or sponsoring methods to assist the wine industry in showcasing its product on a generic basis when the eyes of the world look our way from June 11 to July 11 this year?

There is however a slight spanner in the works. Yes, the wine industry has proved itself to be a major economic driver. Government should start taking the industry seriously by means of a strategic action plan to further harness the industry’s tremendous potential.

The problem lies in the middle: who from the wine industry is talking to who at government level? And if there is somebody doing this, why is no one listening?