News archive 2006

Click here for archived material from before 2006

October-December 2006

• Real riesling lovers to unite Inagural meeting of an association planned

• Waiting for the wine grape glut Sawis predicts giant 2007 harvest

• US paper picks up on Stellenbosch ‘Frankenwine' story Application for field trials of GM vines reportedly leads to ‘cancelled orders’

• Meerlust's amazing health worker wins award So do three producers, in this year's 'Farm Health Awards'

• EU takes back its money 15 million compensatory euros not coming to SA after all

• And the winner is ... The Classic Wine Trophy awards were stylishly made, reports Angela Lloyd

• SA slumping in the UK The past year marked by declining sales

• Franschhoek chardonnay beats the rest Diners Club Winemaker of the Year 2006 is named

• Wineland loyalty programme launched Luring more tourists with a smartcard

• Platter Guide 2007 launched The Helderberg area claims both Wine and Superquaffer of the Year

• Another effort at alcohol warnings SA Human Rights Commission investigates

• Mbazima steps in Gauteng must allow sales of high alcohol wines in supermarkets

• Genetic modification debate continues Biowatch responds to would-be field-triallists

• Wine on Horse Mountain Voor Paardeberg invites tourists with new visitors' centre

• SA black winemakers pull together A combined focus planned to get their wines to market

• Glass bottles and tetra packs Statistics about how wine is sold might cause surprise

• Biotechnologists respond University Institute replies to criticism of planned transgenic vine field trials

• Directorship challenged at KWV AGM Workers demonstrate against Lanzerac’s owner

• A decade of winning tens This year's Top Ten Pinotages announced

• Genetically modified yeast, paksakke, and sales of high alcohol wine SA Wine Council takes some positions

• New chair of SA Wine Industry Council takes over Kader Asmal focuses on consolidation and domestic marketing

• Protests at Stellenbosch transgenic grapevine experiment Groups say contamination risks are unacceptably high

• Better learn to drink red…. There’s a red wine glut and a growing shortage of white wine, say the authorities

• More problems selling high-alcohol wines Supermarkets around the country toe the (outdated) line

• Cutting down the vines Distell’s grape glut plans
• Higher prices, more income CWG auction does well

• A cheerful surprise or two Veritas 2006 results announced

• Harvest residue turned into art  Berni Searle's grape skin ritual

• World record price for Mouton-Rothschild Investing in wine big time

• Blending Douro and Stellenbosch Beyers Truter’s transcontinental challenge

• Wosa goes eco-friendly and more New website and campaign launched

July-September 2006

• New taste-before-you-buy concept a world first for SA?  The experiential ‘taste-before-you-buy’ concept launched by Winesense

• Restaurant wine list awards 2006 One of the judges in this year's process, Angela Lloyd, reports on the results

• Sauvignon setting the pace Durbanville’s nine-pack a fine souvenir of the Season

• New Cap Classique Challenge winner Some local bubblies better than rest of world's best says panel chair

• Sawit appoints new leaders A business orientation at transformation body

• Clearest and shockproof Revolutionary claims for a new type of wine-glass

• Winefarm workers show anger and fear at abuses But Rawsonville farmers say they are wrongly accused

• Pinotage yes, sauvignon blanc no, say the Michelangelo judges Latest competition results announced

• Goodbye to Edward Cavendish & Sons KWV’s British agency goes

• No blockbuster wines for Gauteng supermarkets Local authorities raid, while national ones plead for restraint

• GM vines go into Stellenbosch soil First experimental transgenic vines to be planted

• From single vineyards to cross-regional blends Small print for the geeks: new Wine of Origin regulations

• A more reliable guide Will a wine tasting robot give the best advice?

• New Parker-person for South Africa Wine Advocate announces personnel changes

• That other Tri Nations competition Better results for Cape wines in 2006

• Artfulness at Glen Carlou New art gallery, new top-end wines

• Buoyant spenders buy more Old Brown Sherry Distell delivers good results for the year

• Calling for classy South African riesling Can a local rise to the Challenge?

• The Platter high five Guide announces an unusually generous list of five-star
winners

• Newly-proclaimed region scores with youthful wines Surprises at 2006 SA Young Wine Show

• Coming to grips with Paarl Shiraz A perhaps surprise winner of this year’s Challenge

• Webb eats, drinks & judges at SIWC Unique Sydney wine competition

• Sawit lambastes Fridjhon Critic's 'defamatory' allegations and 'inaccuracies' require 'unambiguous apology' says Trust
• Bringing back some moderation New regulations allow wineries to manipulate alcohol levels
• Now for corkless bubbly Crown seals give closure to prestige brands
• Saving the land Biodiversity and Wine Initiative gets more members
• Growing ethically Wieta gets new CEO
• Screwcap crusaders get organised Two Cape wineries join International Screwcap Initiative
• Springtime for Nederburg Auction Date moved to allow for white wines and visitors
• Bag of international trophies for the Cape From London: IWSC 2006’s top wines
• Shiraz à la mode Angela Lloyd looks at the 2006 Shiraz Challenge results
• Not so much place as old vines First SA Terroir Wine Awards made
• World golds for Robertson muscadels Sixth Muscats du Monde winners
• Statistics, more or less fascinating Sawis’s latest compilation of facts and figures is welcome – despite one set of ‘damn lies’ among the stats
• French flair best in the Boland Morgenhof and L’Avenir beat the Gallic rest-of-world
• The corkscrew set to disappear? Global report says use of cork stoppers may virtually cease – unless ...
• Sawit takes back its black empowerment loan Controversy around KWV deal re-awakened
• New wine industry stakeholder body Birth of the Wine Industry Council

March-June 2006

• Pieterse quits anyway Sawit to get new chairperson

• More vineyards in heaven and earth… Hamilton Russell in new joint venture for Southern Right
• Showing SA sauvignons in Austria Some locals amongst top 20 in 'world's-best' tasting
• Europe announces wine survival plan Grubbing up and simpler labels mooted
• A bouquet of disinfectant... EU producers to distil more surplus wine
• Beating Brett – or at least detecting it Americans design new easy test
• Recycling those gold stickers Du Toitskloof gets away with misleading re-use of awards label
• Trophies, golds, and a few oddities The Trophy Wine Show continues to provide interesting results
• Time for an official SA wine? California’s zinfandel gets the nod (sort of)
• Spunky sweet superstars Platinum and gold rewards for top muscadels
• Getting deeper into the drinks business KWV buys into NMK Schulz
• Another bad word starts disappearing New Monis labels downplay ‘sherry’
• Cape’s sweet and sharp on show Muscadel and sauvignon blanc go to Europe
• KWV buys out of Sawit A hefty payout settles deal
• Being different together A creative England-Cape partnership shows one way forward for small independent wineries
• SA bulking up in exports Unbottled wines on the increase
• Decanter World Wine Awards Another international wine competition announces results
• International Wine Challenge winners announced A modest twelve golds for South Africa (and some illustrious names among the also-rans)
• Picking up on Burgundy Cape wine workers get a French chance
• Gold and silver in Lisbon SA’s Concours Mondial winners
• Swelling the swirling ranks Five new Cape Wine Masters
• Cape Winemakers Guild going places Moving auction, upping membership
• Tango of the tintas – or is it tempranillo? Mix up of grape varieties in local ‘port land’
• A quarter century on Van Loveren celebrates with new wines and labels – and a BEE deal
• Russia bans neighbours’ wines Can SA producers take the wine gap?
• Kumala reason for big buy Constellation bags Vinicor
• Locals among gathering of Rhône Rangers The word's 'largest celebration of Rhône variety wines'
• Another triumph for Rustenberg Calyon Challenge announces its competition results
• Gavin Pieterse’s ‘two hats’ questioned Classic conflict of interest suggested in the activities of Sawit chair
• Picture the right Platter star vintage Advertising authority says adverts must be accurate
• Trophies and tickets for terroir Unusual new SA wine competition
• Port is no-no, but ruby okey-dokey Europeans agree to SA label descriptions
• Final battle of the bottle lost  Distell’s bockbeutel appeal turned down
• Getting to know your stopper Wine labels with cork warnings?
• The Bordeaux – Stellenbosch axis strengthened Anwilka releases its maiden vintage
• Wooing winning performers with wines Fleur du Cap in the Cape, Sterling at the Oscars
• Wine for the holidaying rich? Plettenberg Bay now also an official wine producing area
• Winelands conman foiled Producers should beware the buyer with the extra zero
• Walking circles for wine Simonsig picks its labyrinth cabernet

January-February 2006

• Closer to Signal Hill First grapes pressed in central Cape Town

• Porn passion in a bottle High-scoring US sex star’s cuvée

• Ferment unplugged How are winemakers coping with the powercuts affecting the Western Cape during these crucial harvest weeks?

• Battling for the wine consumer’s purse Distell sells marginally more

• Quick off the mark First 2006 bottled wine comes from Robertson

• Henri Bouschet now welcome in the Cape Changes to the WO specifications include newly certifiable varieties

• Get ready for some strange single-vineyard labels First small blocks to be officially named in 2006

• Exports drop, but markets grow Global pressure on SA producers

• Mozart and must at La Motte Nurturing music over a glass of wine

• The new and the old at Nederburg 2006 Welz wields the new hammer at auction

• Harvesting the wind Climate affects expected record crush