COMMENTS
The official PR
company of the competition are a little agitated, I think, in case anyone
imagines this was their press release. No, it wasn't - Nicolette is not only
rather lovely, she's also pretty competent, in my experience.
— Wid
From Port-lover
Knysna:
Paarl or male? If they not know where their farms are, can somebody please
check the sex of their winemakers!
From Dana Buys, owner of Vrede en Lust:
Just for the record. We belong to the Wine of Origin Simonsberg-Paarl and
belong to the wine route Franschhoek. We belong to both the Paarl and
Franschhoek Wine Valley tourism organizations. We were the first winery to
label wines under the WO Simonsberg-Paarl. We own a farm in Elgin as well
and will use that WO as and when appropriate - maybe even dual WO when
possible . We also buy in grapes from Durbanville and Sir Lowry's Pass on a
need basis. Unlike some in the industry we do believe in the concept of
terroir and respect WO.
We are pretty much in between Franschhoek
and Paarl (and Stellenbosch for that matter). Franschhoek is a very strong
and pro-active wine tourism org and we are proud of our association with
them. Paarl is a sleeping giant and we hope they too realise the region's
wine tourism potential in the near future.
Most importantly, dear Widow - lets not
detract from the issue at hand: Susan did very well against a very strong
group of wine makers. We interviewed 60 candidates for the position last
year and 50% of the top 10 were women. In the top three, two were women. She
had star potential from the start and it is great to see a person grow,
develop and start realizing her potential! Hats off to Susan!
PS I will talk to the PR folks involved and ensure the errors
are corrected in future :-)
From Emile
Joubert:
I think we should admit
that the quaint cliché two to tango has its limitations. Belonging to two
wine routes portrays a tarty promiscuity the South African wine industry
could do without. (Especially if your are home to the country's leading
woman winemaker.) South Africa's winegrowing regions are already confusing
enough to perplex a former Yugoslavian dictator. All we need now are
wineries themselves deciding to which wine route or tourism organisation
they wish to belong and then, if they are not certain, just join two. The
fact that this is allowed to happen underscores the pretty amateurish
approach we still take to wine tourism. Let Nike 'Just do it'. In other
spheres control and a bit of professionalism are required.
From Dana
Buys:
Not sure if Emile Joubert’s comments came from a PR consultant or wine
journalist perspective but clearly there is some confusion I need to help
clarify:
We belong to only one wine route -
Franschhoek Wine Valley. Read 'Valley' and you may avoid confusion with the
town concept which is important! Have a look at Napa, Sonoma, Barossa etc
and you will see the concepts of a region or valley is well understood
beyond the old world where it came from.
We belong to multiple 'Tourism'
organizations and this makes sense to us as we are part of the greater Paarl
region in itself (Franschhoek is a ward of Paarl, Emile!) So we also need to
work with Cape Town Routes Unlimited and the like!
There are
so many, much more important issues we need to address in moving the SA wine
industry to the next level - lets rise above the noise and focus on the
important opportunities instead.
From Emile Joubert:
I did not know those who post comments are required to declare in which
capacity their observations are made. Just say I think the consuming public
and route users have enough wool over their eyes to deal with already
without this forked-tongue approach. Belonging to both the Paarl and
Franschhoek Wine Valley tourism organizations does not do justice to the
individual characteristics and USP's (I am sommer a marketer too, Bru!) that
Paarl and Franschhoek are working their respective butts off to promote.
This I know from attending a few meetings of the SA Wine Routes
Organisation, who should know better than allowing this kind of stuff to
occur.
From Dana
Buys:
Emile, you should work in an English course when you have the time! You
do not seem to read nor get my comment at all. I repeat we belong to ONLY
ONE wine route - FWV! Tourism organisations are different and have
different objectives to wine route organisations.
The point
re declaring interests comes from many folks in the wine industry tiring of
the way PR consultants pose as journalists without always disclosing that an
article is about a fee-paying client.
From Confused:
I used to be an avid consumer of Vrede en Lust but got confused along the
way. So I have to agree with Emile.I used to like the Jacques de Savoye
wines because at last...A winery with the guts to be different. There was
the advert of a naked woman, based on an ad that I saw in an international
wine magazine - but still fresh for South Africa. I liked the philosophy of
making only red blends in different styles. Only the flagship would have
been called Vrede en Lust. I liked the philosophy of distributing direct and
cutting out middlemen. And yes, I also liked the charming Frenchman, the
winemaker.
And then...
No more Jacques de Savoye.
Suddenly also white wines.
Distributed by Vinimark.
No more Frenchman.
I suppose a single cultivar Shiraz or Cab might appear soon.
And now also the question of where the
farm is? While you're at it - also change the farm's name to Vrede en
Verward [which means 'confused'].
From
Emile Buster:
Woooaaah Emile, steady now! Wine journalists will always criticise and be
criticised – that’s what sometimes helps an industry strive to be even
better - sadly one doesn’t acknowledge and remember journalists enough for
the good things they write about - and most of them are more often than not
the most passionate about their subject anyway – that’s why they do what
they do! So have a dop en ‘n tchjop en ‘n lekker glassie wijn to calm those
nerves!
