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BUSINESS trips away from home
are not all it is cracked up to
be. Especially if home is
Stellenbosch. The month of May
saw me attending INDABA in
Durban, as well as the London
International Wine Trade Fair.
While both of these shows were
excellent opportunities to
promote our members, I sure did
miss home! More about the shows
later in this newsletter… |
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SOUTH African wine
enthusiasts have spoken, in the annual WINE
magazine reader poll. Stellenbosch once
again came out tops, with Stellenbosch
American Express® Wine Routes as the most
favourite wine area in South Africa.
Stellenbosch’s Tokara was voted the
country’s best emerging winery, Beyers
Truter is viewed the best wine ambassador
for South Africa, and unsurprisingly,
readers consider Vergelegen to be SA’s best
winery, a position it has held convincingly
since the first reader poll in 2002. Well
done to all our members, we could not do it
without you! Full results are available in
the June issue of the magazine.
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INDABA is South African Tourism’s
principle marketing platform. It is
the one place and time in the year
that the entire South African
tourism industry is united in the
pursuit of a common objective – to
sell South Africa effectively in
order to grow the industry and the
economy.
I attended this year’s INDABA as a
roaming exhibitor, while spending a
lot of time at the Stellenbosch
Tourism stand. It is a great show to
meet up with old acquaintances, make
new contacts and find new
inspiration! |
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THIS year was
my first visit to the London
International Wine Trade Fair.
It was three days of tasting and
business, with 1200 exhibitors
from across the globe, from
boutique to biodynamic.
The combined
visitors for LIWFT and Distil
(the spirits side of the
exhibition) was 15 969, 17% more
than last year. Stellenbosch
American Express® Wine Routes
had a stand on the WOSA regional
stand, where we promoted the
wine regions of South-Africa.
The stand drew a lot of
attention, from both trade and
media. I returned with a lot of
possible business for
Stellenbosch producers, and
numerous new valuable contacts. |
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SOCCER is a big talking point at
the moment, with South Africa
hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The concept of a World Cup
football championship was the
brainchild of FIFA president
Jules Rimet, the Frenchman who
took office in 1921. The first
World Cup was staged in 1930
with Uruguay as the host city.
From 1930 onwards the World Cup
was meant to be staged every
four years, and that was the
case until the Second World War
caused a 12-year break from the
competition.
“What’s in
it for us?” is a question that
has been asked countless times,
and the answer is becoming clear
as projects now start to bear
fruit. British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown and French
President Nicolas Sarkozy
recently announced a project to
fund the schooling of 16 million
children in Africa prior to the
start of South Africa 2010. The
project has the full backing of
FIFA President Joseph Blatter,
with the world football
governing body’s “Football for
Hope”, “Win in Africa with
Africa” and “2010 Centres for
2010” projects now also in full
swing.
To date,
28 world-class artificial turfs
have already been built on the
continent. FIFA is also building
20 Football for Hope Centres in
Africa, complete with classrooms
and healthcare facilities. In
another major development last
month, the first FIFA Medical
Centre of Excellence in Africa
was inaugurated at
Johannesburg’s Wits University.
A lot is happening behind the
scenes, and the tourism industry
is inundated with queries, media
requests and new travel
packages. The launch of the
Stellenbosch 2010 campaign is
scheduled for Friday 20 June, so
keep watching this space! |
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THIS time of year sees
the announcements of the results of quite a
few wine competitions. As always, it is my
pleasure to share some of these with you.
Once a year, for two
days, Chateau d’ Ampuis in France’s Northern
Rhone Valley plays host to Syrah du Monde –
the world’s premier Shiraz wine-judging
competition. At this year’s event, it was a
small family-run estate from just outside of
Stellenbosch in South Africa that took the
world wine by storm. All three Shiraz wines
which Hartenberg entered won medals, and one
- The Stork 2005 – was also judged to be the
third best example of Shiraz on the planet.
A thrilled Carl Schultz, Cellarmaster of
Hartenberg, says: “Not only is this a
benchmark moment for our Estate, but for the
South African wine industry in general. The
quality of South African red wines has for a
long while been under- recognized, but with
this and other high profile accomplishments
by the industry, the world will certainly
take notice.”
The Decanter World Wine
Awards delivered the following trophy
winners from South Africa : Tokara White
2006, Rustenberg Five Soldiers 2006,
Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2004, Amani Cabernet
Sauvignon/Merlot 2006, Ernie Els Proprietors
Blend 2005, Delheim Edelspatz Noble Late
Harvest 2007. Gold winners are Eikendal
Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Kanonkop Pinotage
2004, Morgenster Merlot 2004, Spier Private
Collection Shiraz 2005, Spier Vintage
Collection Shiraz 2005.
At the International Wine
Challenge, the following wines received gold
medals : Villiera Chenin Blanc 2007, Spier
Private Collection Cabernet Sauvignon 2005,
Ken Forrester FMC 2006.
Congratulations to all
these producers! We are all proudly
Stellenbosch! |
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TRY to
imagine 393 oak trees wrapped in
8km red cloth. For the month of
July the oak trees of Dorp
Street will be wrapped in 8
kilometre red cloth to form one
of the largest land art projects
ever in South Africa. The Dorp
Street Development Trust - which
aims to preserve and market Dorp
Street in Stellenbosch, has
commissioned the largest
landscape art project in
Stellenbosch ever. Strijdom van
der Merwe, world renowned
landscape artist, agreed to
transform Dorp Street into
something spectacular.
Dorp Street
in Stellenbosch (1679), the
oldest town in South Africa, is
the oldest known highway to the
interior. The architecture of
Dorp Street boasts a variety of
styles: Cape Dutch, Cape French,
Cape Georgian, Victorian and Art
Déco.
This street
played an important role in the
history of the country and the
oldest drawing of Stellenbosch
by Stade in 1710, shows Dorp
Street distinctly. Dorp Street
is 1515 meters long and is lined
by different varieties of oak
and other trees. The history of
this street offers a rich
diversity of cultures and people
who lived and worked here
throughout the ages, e.g. Prince
Loring Passir and his brother
Prince Dipa Nagara, Prince Wargo
Digma as well as two rajahs;
medical practitioners like drs.
Bosman, Hewat, MacPherson,
Neethling, Schröder,
sickcomforter Hammerschmidt and
sister Nora Tyres; missionaries
like Mewes Jans Bakker that
started the first school for
slave childern en many more.
Surnames like Van Den Berg,
Couchet, Adonis, Pool, Elffers,
Reitz, Keet, Raziet, Smuts,
Heyneman, Hartog, Faure, Victor,
Onkrydt, Palm, Marais, Van Der
Bijl and Fisch, illustrate the
rich rainbow history of Dorp
Street.
This
spectacular event in Dorp Street
can be experienced from 7 July
until 3 August 2008. |
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DIP into a melting pot of culinary
bliss, great wines and warm
Winelands hospitality when Harald’s
- the signature restaurant of
Eikendal Vineyards - sizzles with
its popular Swiss Cheese Fondue
Feast between May and August.From 23
May to 22 June and 16 July till the
end of August, your Friday and
Saturday evenings can now be booked
for a taste of retro-nostalgia when
chef Harald Siedler treats you to
Eikendal’s spin on the all-time
favourite cheese fondue.
Unspoilt by gourmet pretensions
brushed with a cosy stroke of
comfortable furnishings, this
Helderberg eatery offers the perfect
hotspot to spend your weekends, with
steaming pots of cheese indulgences
comforting the winter blues. The
newly refurbished restaurant also
features an intimate bar and
separate dining section for private
functions – perfect for group or
family bookings.
The Swiss Cheese Fondue Feast costs
R125 per person and booking is
essential. Contact Harald on Tel:
(021) 855 5033, Cell: 082 663 5901
or send an email to
haralds@eikendal.co.za.
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FINALLY, the programme
for the Stellenbosch Wine Festival 2008 is
ready for your perusal. This year’s festival
line-up is geared to be a knock-out winner.
For the first time ever, the festival will
be hosting a special Wine Connoisseurs
Evening on the Thursday (31 July). This
exclusive evening is for the serious
winelover and will offer guests the
opportunity to mingle with the top
Stellenbosch winemakers and indulge in
supreme quality wines. Limited tickets for
the evening are available at a cost of R250
per person, which includes snacks, food
vouchers and entertainment. The event will
take place from 17h00 till 21h00.
The popular Clover
Festival Café is another festival hotspot, a
buzz with vibey entertainment during the
entire weekend. All proceedings from ticket
sales at the Clover Festival Café will go to
the Mama Afrika project (www.mama-afrika.co.za).
On Friday, 1 August,
leading jazz star Lira will cast a musical
spell on guests with a dazzling performance.
The show will start at 20:00 and tickets are
available from Computicket. On Saturday 2
August, at 14:00, see Amanda Strydom in
Concert, accompanied by the award-winning
Janine Neethling. And at 18:30, a capella
group Adamsappel will blow you away with
their energetic show called “Sing when
you’re working”.
Not forgetting the kids,
Sunday is a special Family Day and there
will be lots of great amusement for the
young ones while the parents taste
Stellenbosch’s finest wines. For the full
duration of the festival, special shuttle
services will be available in support of
responsible drinking.
On Saturday (2 August),
visitors can also enjoy a taste of sporting
adventure with the Stellenbosch Mountain
Bike Challenge, the largest mountain bike
event in the country. This event, which
takes place in association with the
Stellenbosch Wine Festival, gives
adrenalin junkies the opportunity to ride
through the vineyards of several wine
estates. The Challenge will start and finish
on the Markötter Fields at Paul Roos
Gymnasium. For more information on the
Stellenbosch Mountain Bike Challenge,
contact 021 685 6551 or send and email to
info@cycletour.co.za.
Click
HERE for the full festival programme.
Quality times. Quality wines! |
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Festival greetings!
Annareth Jacobs
CEO Stellenbosch American Express®
Wine Routes
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