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Vergelegen fire contained
A fire that affected more than 40% of Vergelegen Estate has been contained. In a telephone interview with WineLand, Vergelegen MD Don Tooth said that they were still assessing the damage, but that the fire had mostly affected natural vegetation. “We are still...
My top 5 wines for 2016
When it becomes tempting to expand an annual Top 5 list to a Top 6, 10 or 20 list, it’s a good sign. South Africa’s top wines are without a doubt on a steep upward trajectory and all the talk about the brilliance of the 2015 vintage is now coming to bottled...
Seeing is believing
The Gen-Z Vineyard Project was recently launched. This is a tech-transfer project with the main objective to empower producers/viticulturists/winemakers with the latest info and technology to make better long and short term decisions in terms of their wine grape...
Good growth in exports
The last year’s wine exports were very stable and we didn’t see much growth in the volume of exports on either bulk or packaged product. Contrary to this, the local market saw four exceptionally good years with the local market growing in 2013 by 4%, 2014 – 8%,...
A shift in the bulk trade
The stats tell the story of this years' World Bulk Wine Exhibition, which was presented in Amsterdam. Approximately 300 producing companies from all over the world presented their wines to more than 6 000 visitors, from 66 different nationalities. The exhibition...
Beer, ale, cider & stout: which laws apply? Know the Acts
Liquor Products Act (60 of 1989) regulates the production, composition and labelling of all liquor products – products for drinking purposes with an alcohol content exceeding 1 per cent. Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act (54 of 1972) regulates beer....
Treasury on excise
The Wine & Spirit Excise Forum had their annual meeting with representatives from Treasury and key issues discussed were the outlook of macro drivers of alcohol consumption in SA, an overview of the SA wine industry, illicit trade indicators and challenges, tax...
Structural changes, time to consider the import parity price of wine?
Grain farmers often talk about export and import parity* when considering price hedging strategies, but in the wine industry these are terms that are almost unheard of. Why is that? The reasons for this among other include that the South African wine industry has...
Clampdown on illicit liquor beverages
This was one of the key messages during the recent annual excise meeting at Treasury. It is estimated that the marginalised class, which cannot afford branded consumer goods, makes up almost 60% of the South African population. Affordability is therefore very...
Xelelo excels
A cellar worker from Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West received the best birthday gift ever this year. Ivan, a senior cellar assistant at Lourensford Wine Estate in Somerset West, was named SA Cellar Worker of the Year 2016 at the annual Cellar Worker...
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE?
It’s limiting to define what a good wine should taste like. Imagine how dull it would be if all wines were made in that style! At university we were taught what a good wine should taste like and how these wines are made. For example, the grapes should be picked...
LEST WE FORGET
There were a number of recurring messages at The Business of Wine & Food Tourism Conference. Edo Heyns looks at the key take-home learnings. Training, training, training “If there’s one thing that you should do tomorrow, it’s to train your people.” With this...