Hope springs eternal
16 October 2003 by Judy Brower

The sun shines on SA Wines at Lords at the London Generic
London Generic Tasting - October 14th, 15th 2003

Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (WOSA) could hardly contain her excitement and enthusiasm last night at the IMBIZO after the very successful first day of the London Generic tastings held at Lords Cricket Grounds.

‘When I started this job 3 years ago I never imagined a day like today. I am really proud to be South African!’ she said. The sun certainly shone at Lords with many more writers and buyers and much more activity than ever before. (In total 1 350 wines from 357 producers).

Not only were there hundreds of wines to taste, but also interesting discussions at the seminar ‘Democracy - Ten Years On’ which was very ably chaired by Lynne Sheriff independent wine consultant in the UK.

A topic touched on frequently was price points - there is constantly over-delivery on value at every price point, especially at the low end. This is an area that wine marketers need to work on - trying to move the SA Wines up into the £6 - £10 pound price point.

Bruce Jack (Flagstone), Simon Barlow (Rustenberg), Beyers Truter (Beyerskloof), Marc Kent (Boekenhoutskloof) and Michael Fridjhon (distinguished wine writer and consultant) shared their thoughts:

Bruce’s passion for the land was evident: ‘We have soils so diverse that no longer will we need to define our wines by region, but by vineyard block. We can still plant another 100 000 hectares of vines on excellent soils in South Africa - in Elim and Piketberg, for example, and elsewhere.’

Tourism is another way forward. Marc Kent believes that the gastronomic experience has already helped Franschhoek leave its mark on the world. With top chefs, and many restaurants in Franschhoek in the SA Wine magazine’s top 100 restaurants, they are not selling a bottle of wine - they are selling a lifestyle experience. Marc welcomed the newly formed Wine Tourism Forum (WTF), brainchild of Lucy Warner. ‘This is long overdue and we wish you all the best.’

Forty-two per cent of tourists coming to South Africa go to the winelands already, and with almost all the wine regions being within a three hour drive of Cape Town’s major airport, promoting wine tourism can offer additional visitors a push in the right direction.

Keith Granger (tour guide) urged that South Africa take an urgent look at the shortage of seats available on flights to South Africa. ‘For every eight tourists I take to South Africa, I create one job - your airline needs to do something about the problem of booking flights.’ To which Lynne Sheriff replied that Cheryl Carolus, CEO of SA Tourism, was in London currently, and that WOSA would be bringing this issue to her attention.

The king of Pinotage, Beyers Truter, again confirmed his belief in this relatively young variety. ‘I wonder what the Cabernet wines tasted like when their vines were only 75 years old - as Pinotage is now?’ he mused.

‘Pinotage has great qualities: it does not need irrigation; it blends well; it is very versatile - as Rosé, sparkling wine and more. It ages well (as a recent tasting of Simonsig’s 1968 Pinotage made by the late great Frans Malan proved). It stays young for up to ten years. It has the 3rd dimension!

Cape Blend is another hot topic at the show, and Beyers insists that using anything less than 5% Pinotage is a waste of time - and 50% is more like it! According to Beyers, Pinotage not only has USP (Unique Selling Point), but has HUSP (Huge Unique Selling Point).

Rustenberg, with its Peter Barlow wines, have shown what top wines can do - selling at £25 a bottle. Simon Barlow, with great vision and urgency, has taken Rustenberg through a fast-track process during the last few years, and believes that bringing his team in and ensuring that they understand the entire process, has built a name synonymous with quality and service. This leading winery is forging the way ahead.

Michael Fridjhon concluded that South African wines have come a long way, with old leaf roll virus slowly being eliminated, winemakers no longer managing the vineyards from their vehicles, tighter cellar hygiene and improved fruit.

‘We deliver better quality than the price point dictates, and should be able to move upward without damaging our sales.

‘Empowerment is an area that, if South Africa does it well and effectively, will also be a selling point for our wines – and we will be one step ahead of other wine growing countries in this field.’

Another day is just beginning at Lords, and hopefully it will be another great one for SA Wines. As Bruce Jack says: ‘We are the miracle nation – hope is a national characteristic!’