SA Rocks

I absolutely love Stormhoek wine. Why? Because they sponsor blogging events, they are online-conscious and to put it plainly, they just get it.

What is it that they get? Social media. The value of giving to receive.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be able to visit the Stormhoek wine farm in Stellenbosch, South Africa. What an absolutely pleasure. I had almost forgotten how much of an incredible guy Graham Knox (Stormhoek owner) is. He also has fantastic support from Chris Rawlinson who has helped Stormhoek become a brand of note in the online market.

Stormhoek has taken SA, the wine market and marketing online by storm over the past 2 or so years.

The most incredible part of the story is that they did it all using dial-up internet in the deepest, darkest and most incredibly stunning part of Stellenbosch.

To give you the story of Stormhoek winery I present you with Graham Knox:

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The 2009 edition of John Platter Wine Guide has been released and more importantly, the 5 star wines have been announced!

To see the list of winners click here

A record 33 wines were chosen for the highest accolade – an indication that the quality of South African is improving in leaps and bounds.

There are some usual suspects on the list but some notable newcomers in vilafonte, Eagles Nest and Sterhuis.

I am particularly excited at vilafonte’s inclusion in the 5 star lineup as it represents a successful partnership between South African winegrowers and American winemakers – global partnership at it’s best.

Get your hands on one of the winners as soon as you can because soon they will be sold out – if not already!

Cru Master

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Last year I attended the very first Taste of Joburg event. It was, without a doubt, one of the best events of the year for me. I loved it. The food is incredible, the beverages are available and equally fantastic and the vibe is just great.

This year they moved the venue from Wanderers to Monte Casino. I was apprehensive about this and was really interested to see if this years event would hold up to my expectations from last years event.

I was not disappointed.

One of the highlights of the night was Watershed playing live at the event. They were, as always, professional and crisp. They played some of their new music from their new album which is great.

There were 16 top class restaurants that were showcased at this years Taste event. That is a big step up from last year which is great to see. The event is clearly growing from strength to strength. More people attended this year, more food and wine on display and still a fantastic vibe throughout the night.

Do yourself a favour and pencil in next years Taste of Joburg. I penciled this ones in last year and have already sworn to be at next years. There aren’t many events that I plan a year in advance. This is one of them.

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If you’re looking for good wine and a great deal then look no further than this awesome offer:

>> eWine’s One for One Offer <<

Now the reason I get excited about this offer is because not only is it rewarding financially but the wine is great too.

You can’t go wrong with the Hartenburg Cab Sav/Shiraz 2005 – for us South African’s it’s perfect for a fancy dinner party and even better for a braai with good friends.

Congrats to eWine for an innovative deal and to Hartenburg for embracing the idea.

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Nederburg have done it again and walked away with yet another award for one of their wines.

The Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve 2006 has just won the Lexus Shiraz Challenge Award for 2008.

Now this win and the indeed the wine is significant in a number of ways, some of which I will list for you now:

- A big producer, producing award winning wines in large volumes (great, great news for the industry)
- The wine retails for only R50 – making it very accessible
- Romanian Oak was used in the aging process imparting “an aromatic character and cinnamon and clove flavours” – very interesting indeed.
- The largest proportion of the grapes for the wine came from eight-year-old vines in Philadelphia
(north of Durbanville, off the N7 en route to Malmesbury) – I have never even heard of this region before.

Well I’m off to the shops to find me a bottle so that I can report back on how good it is.

Well done to cellarmaster Razvan Macici and his team for completely transforming Nederburg into an award winning estate again.

All we need now is for those large volumes of wine to find their way onto the supermarket shelves of foreign lands to seriously lift the reputation of everyday drinking South African wine to the level it deserves.

Website : Nederburg

For more info on South African wines visit : The Cru

Read about Nederburg’s recent Old Mutual Trophy victory here

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A few weeks ago I had the great pleasure of taking the afternoon off from my day job and heading out to London’s Excel exhibition centre to attend the London International Wine Fair. If you’re thinking “big deal, we’ve been to the Robertson Roadshow, how mich bigger can it be?”, think again. Over 3 days there were 14,000 visitors who came to see 1,250 international exhibitors, each of which must have had on average 5 to 10 wines… It’s easy to see how things can go fairly drastically wrong! The show is a trade show and, as such, not open to the public but only to e.g. trade buyers, importers, retailers, off-license staff, hotel/catering buyers, agents and press. So of course I went as Press – my first press badge!

Once inside, it’s quite overwhelming and unless you have a plan you won’t get the most out of the day. I met up with my good friend Andrew (who had already spent the morning there) and he let me choose what we would be tasting. No prizes for guessing… I headed straight for the huge South African pavillion! After a rather disappointing start at Kleine Zalze, we moved on to two of the more impressive SA tastings I’ve had in years.

First up was probably my favourite estate in the country – Springfield. The estate is in the lovely Robertson valley and is owned by brother and sister team, winemaker Abrie and marketer Jeanette Bruwer (who was one of the people manning the Springfield stand when we visited). Abrie is known for being obsessed with terroir (the influence of the land where the grapes are grown on the wine) and his philophy is that “terroir is a gift from God inherited by our ancestors”. This means that the winemaking process is kept as direct and uncomplicated as possible so that the natural elements in the wine can speak for themselves, with the least possible human interference.

Whatever he is doing, let me tell you it works. We started with the 2007 Firefinch Sauvignon Blanc (classic cut grass and green pepper aromas on the nose; slight initial prickle on the tongue giving way to luscious guava flavours) before continuing on to 2007 Life From Stone Sauvignon Blanc (less aggressively green on the nose; a balanced palate full of gooseberries & spiciness); 2007 Special Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc (also a slight prickle on the palate at first and less fruity than the other two, but far more complex and really delicious – my favourite white); Wild Yeast Chardonnay (a promising “cheesy” nose which I usually associate with French wines; but slightly flabby and too sweet for me on the palate); and the Methode Ancienne Chardonnay (a lovely golden colour but shy nose; beautifully balanced palate with both fruit and acid, creamy and mouth-filling with a very long finish).

From there we moved on to the reds, starting with the Firefinch Ripe Red, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon (lots of ripe red fruit and cherries on the palate, easy-drinking), 2003 Work of Time, a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon (jammy vanilla flavours on the nose; beautifully structured wine with restrained fruit and balanced tannins – delicious); 2006 Whole Berry Cabernet with natural yeast and unfined & unfiltered (deep ruby colour; on the palate, the first taste is… red grape juice! This is followed by more complex, smoky, jammy flavours balanced by remarkably soft tannins. My favourite red by a mile.); and the 2002 Methode Ancienne Cabernet Sauvignon (very deep garnet colour; very complex palate – oaky, tobacco flavours but also dark fruit jam and dried berries – delicious but never over the top or overblown).

From there we staggered across to the lovely ladies at Ses’fikile. Now I have to confess that I had never heard of them before, but that’s hardly surprising as the company was only founded in 2004, by which time I was living in London. As it turns out, manning the stall were two of the owners and two more charming and passionate people you could hardly hope to find. Ses’fikile, as they told me, means “we have arrived” in isiXhosa and it is an empowerment company in the very best sense of the word, owned and run by women and fully BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) compliant. The women in question are former schoolteachers who set about educating themselves in the wine industry and they have a strong partnership with winemaker Bruce Jack of Flagstone. It is, by all accounts, a winning partnership for all concerned, and Ses’fikile wines are available through Marks & Spencer in the UK.

We tasted the 2007 “Rain Song” Chenin Blanc (“cheesy”, musty cellar nose – smells like a French rather than a South African wine; uncomplicated palate with hints of stewed fruit – easy drinking); the unoaked 2007 “Folklore” Chardonnay (a musty cellar nose again; quite fruity, well balanced and very pleasant for an unoaked Chardonnay); the 2006 “Rain Song” Pinotage (great colour for a Pinotage; a big mouthful of sweet cherries and soft tannins – about as lovely and accessible as a Pinotage gets); the 2005 Folklore Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc blend (deep colour; luscious, intense blackberries with hints of vanilla & balanced tannins – absolutely delicious); and the 2004 Matriarch Shiraz reserve (intensely purple; “meaty”, savoury nose; very intense jammy plum pudding flavours, in fact verging on a good ruby port).

And the best part is that as we staggered off at the end of the day, Andrew (who has spent many years in the wine trade) confessed that he had been expecting overblown South African wines and general mediocrity… but had been floored by the high quality and restrained Old World style of the wines that he had tasted that afternoon.

Now that really rocks.

And while we’re all feeling warm and fuzzy, why not pop over to Can You Twist and read my short story – easiest if you click the “read this story from the beginning” link first. And if you like it… please register and vote for me!

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Backsberg Wine Estate has won the Mail & Guardian Greening the Future award for energy efficiency and carbon management.

The M&G Greening the Future awards are now in their fifth year and seek to recognise the achievements of companies and organisations that work unflaggingly to ensure a cleaner and healthier planet.

Michael Back accepted the honours on behalf of Backsberg at the award ceremony held in Johannesburg on 5 June 2008. There were six different environmental categories that were recognised on the night. Other category winners included the likes of Woolworths, Wesbank, Coca Cola and Omnia Fertilizer. Backsberg is thrilled to be flying the environmental flag for relatively smaller companies.

The judges praised Backsberg for the discerning manner in which it has approached energy usage and conservation. Based on some of the changes implemented on the farm and in the vineyards, the judges cited Backsberg as a great example of a company identifying environmental risks and opportunities.

Backsberg became Carbon Neutral in 2006 through measuring its carbon emissions and taking measures to offset their impact. One of the offset projects was a major tree-planting program in the nearby town Klapmuts. Since then Backsberg has continued in its quest to reduce its impact on the environment.

Some fundamental decisions taken include replacing all tractors and farm vehicles with the smallest and most fuel-efficient possible on the market. There have also been significant changes in thinking regarding vineyard layout and yields. Vineyard layouts have been changed to decrease the amount of running metres or kilometers a tractor has to drive per hectare. All of these measures are in keeping with the belief that protecting the environment and producing top quality wines are parallel goals.

Eskom sponsored the award for energy efficiency and carbon management. This certainly contributes to raising awareness about the need to protect the environment for future generations.

Visitors to Backsberg are able to purchase trees directly from the Backsberg tasting room to offset carbon emissions caused by travelling to the Estate or other activities.

neutral (adj.) means indifferent, disinterested, dispassionate…
Carbon Neutral since 2006 means the opposite

For more information visit: www.backsberg.co.za

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The South African wine industry has always been among the most forward-thinking industries in the country. Long before formal Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) programmes were adopted by the government, farmers in the Western Cape were already launching schemes whereby farm labourers were trained in the art of winemaking and went on to make their own wines from grapes grown on sections of their employers’ estates. Many of these wines are now bottled and proudly sold alongside the estates’ premier labels, and fare exceptionally well at blind tastings. Which is socially extremely commendable – but what about the green credentials of the wine industry?

We are all familiar with the trend in food marketing to emphasise the product or the producer’s ethical credentials. Coffee and bananas need to be Fair Trade. Food needs to be grown locally as opposed to being flown halfway around the planet. We demand that our produce is organic, biodynamic and preferably carbon-neutral. But how many of us actually ask those questions when we are standing in a supermarket trying to decide between two bottles of wine? Growing numbers of us, according to a pioneering South African winemaker.

Michael Back, proprietor of the Backsberg Estate winery in Paarl is another winemaker who feels that profitable wine farming and environmental conscience are not mutually exclusive concepts. He firmly believes that customer demand is moving in the direction of his ecological concerns, and that a whole new wine market sector with emphasis on care for the environment is about to open. If it does, Backsberg will be on the forefront of the trend: it was the first South African wine producer (and only the third worldwide) to gain Carbon Neutral status for its wines.

So what exactly does “carbon neutral” mean? One of the main causes of climate change has been identified as man-made (so-called greenhouse) gases, primarily carbon dioxide, and amost everything we do or use releases harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The idea of carbon neutrality involves trying to neutralise your carbon dioxide emissions by increasing carbon dioxide absorption (called sequestration), so that the two balance each other out.

Over a year ago, Michael Back initiated a full year-long carbon audit at Backsberg that assessed all emissions by both the estate’s farming and winemaking activities. The audit was done in conjunction with Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA), a non-profit organisation started 17 years ago and which promotes tree planting as a way of offsetting carbon emissions in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions. The audit reviewed activities ranging from energy inputs (both electricity and fuel) on site, to the carbon dioxide released by the wine during fermentation, to the consequences of delivery of materials from suppliers and the delivery of Backsberg wine throughout the world.

The audit allowed Backsberg to understand the scope of the sequestration solutions which it needs to seek and develop to achieve and maintain carbon neutral status. The primary sequestration solution consists of a greening programme within the nearby village of Klapmuts, managed by FTFA – nearly 1000 indigenous trees have already been planted. Trees are an efficient and simple means of storing the carbon dioxide which we emit, as well as improving the quality of life of the impoverished community. Even before the audit was done, Backsberg has already been a proponent of tree-planting and FTFA estimates that some 3,442 trees have been planted on the estate over the past 10 years. This tree planting on the estate will continue in tandem with the greening project under the supervision of FTFA.

Although tree planting is important in neutralising greenhouse gases, it is equally important to develop conservation-oriented practices and becoming more energy efficient for long-term sustainability. For this reason, Backsberg employs a full-time environmentalist on the estate and strives to apply stringent conservation practices in every facet of farming and wine production. The estate’s other initiatives include the use of biodiesel (made from recycled vegetable oil) in all their vehicles; the generation of renewable energy on the farm (sloar and wind power); reduction of the estate’s total energy demand (timers, energy efficient bulbs and the use of skylights for natural light; burning waste wood to heat a “hot water donkey” system for washing the barrels; a review of their packaging (especially in terms of glass weight); and development of methane digester technology which will use waste from the farm’s poultry sheds as fuel.

According to Back, the estate has learnt a lot over the period of the Carbon Neutral project, particularly that changing their practices to become more environmentally careful has cost little to date. In fact, they see opportunities to achieve substantial savings over time. For now, though, all Backberg’s wines proudly display their Carbon Neutral certification on the label and the estate provides a viable model for how a proactive business can go greener without forfeiting profitability. And if, as Back predicts, consumers are increasingly going to demand carbon neutral wines, then Backsberg will be their logical choice.

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Wine is a fairly fundamental part of SA in one way or another. We have vineyards, wine, wine routs and hell, we love to drink the stuff.

As you’ll know if you read SA Rocks regularly, we love wine too.

So in light of this I have decided to take a look at Wine Country!

The first thing you see when visiting the site is the apparent focus on wine. Don’t let that trick you. There is more to this site than a glorified wine list!

Features include real estate, news, events, lifestyle, food and accommodation.

Clicking on any one of the various sections will give a list of sub sections that you can peruse and read for your interest. I particularly like the Wine and Food pairing section (something I struggle with).

Straight from the horses mouth:

It focuses on the Paarl Wine Region initially, creating a single point of entry where visitors can discover and explore the true beauty and wide range of facilities, events and activities on offer, that would solve the long overdue problem of fragmented marketing approaches and position a collective wine region as a destination of choice.

I believe that by combining these value propositions and marketing a region as a whole would serve greater online benefits for tourists visiting South Africa.

I think that Henre is on to a great thing here in terms of concept. Exposing the wonderful niche areas that SA has to offer. Many of the smaller places in SA are beautifully equipped with more than simply a wine farm or a nice quaint lodge or guest house.

This is potential a great project that can be expanded upon (and I think that’s the plan) to showcase what SA has to offer on a broad but niche scale.

I like the site. It can be a bit overwhelming to navigate, lots of information and lots of detail incorporated in to the site. But that just means that Henre has done his homework!

Get over to Wine Country now and see for yourself!

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Rikus sent me an email a few days back. He runs a project/website called Charity Wines. The concept is a simple one and one that I like. You buy wine, they deliver and money goes to charity. Easy huh? Yep it is.

You can have a look at who benefits when you buy wine here.

Let’s have Rikus explain things a bit more:

Hi Rikus, Welcome to SA Rocks. I love the idea behind Charity Wines. Tell me a bit about where the concept came from?

Thank you. As you might know, there are a number of grassroots charities out there doing fantastic work. Time and time again we find that their greatest concern is financial stability. They simply do not get enough funding and support from the government and therefore they are forced to make applications to corporate South Africa for their survival.

My partner and I were driving through the winelands of the Breede River valley after a visit to one such organisation when the idea occurred to us to create a sustainability model for charities in the winelands. We simply decided to ask the wine producers of our country to make some of their marketing wine available which we then sell to the public. The funds raised are then made available to organisations in the fields of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and severe learning difficulty. We approached the governing bodies of the Wine Industry for their endorsements and then we set out to build the infrastructure needed to pull this off. Before long we accquired the services of Mondi Packaging, The Vineyard Connection and Cluver Markotter Lawyers who all pleged their support pro bono as part of their corporate social responsibility programs.

Engelbrecht/Els got the ball rolling by sending us some lovely wine and the rest is history. We have close on 50 farmers pledging wine to the Trust on a monthly basis and more are joining all the time. It is important to notice that the farmers are donating their wine free of charge.

Do you deliver outside of Western Cape?

We deliver to every corner of South Africa courtesy of The Vineyard Connection and Cross Cape. Westen Cape deliveries take approximately 24 hours and deliveries country wide can take up to 3 days.

How many people are involved in the project?

The Charity Wines Trust has 3 trustees whilst we acquired the services of a retired partner of Wine of the Month Club pro bono who manages strategic parts of the operation. Then there are the Industry’s gurus, the wine farms, implementation partners, media partners and a whole host of individuals who support the project in some way or another.

Is it purely an online venture?

Although buying online is the easiest, it is not purely online. People often call us once they learn of Charity Wines and order over the phone. Most customers simply join on a monthly basis by means of a debit order.

Can people get involved more than simply a donation? Is there an option for hands on assistance?

We often take guests to some of our beneficiaries but essentially Charity Wines is a fundraiser for charities and not a grassroots organisation per se. Having said that, we are working on a volunteer program whereby we would like international volunteers to stay on the beautiful wine farms whilst giving their time to interact with the community and talk to the people about the benefits of healthy lifestyle choices and the dangers of alcohol use during pregnancy. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a HUGE problem in South Africa, worse than anywhere in the world and the more prevention campaigns there are, the better.

What are the growth plans for the project?

We are aiming to grow our Farm Members pool significantly whilst building our sales to approximately 500 per month by October 2008. Upon achieving this we will be in a position to make charitable grants of R1 million annualy.

How well is it all doing? How many bottles of wine do you deliver and registrations do you get per month, for example?

We are pleased with the growth of the brand. We started trading last year and sell between 80 and 90 boxes of wine per month currently. I find that at least 3 farms join per month.

Let’s summarise things clearly for potential “buyers” of Charity Wines. When you buy a box of wine for R250 you are essentially making a donation to a charitable trust which is governed by legislation to implement the funds according to the objectives of the trust. The wine, which gets delivered to your door (in SA), is of top quality and always exceed the amount paid by the customer. This is the perfect gift for Father’s day, Mother’s day, Valentine’s, any occasion really. Your folks receive superb wine and your money goes to very worthwhile and transparent causes.

Please go to our site, see who’s donating and where your money goes and support this project.
Send us a mail at rikus@heartofhealing.org.za and reception@heartofhealing.org.za, order online or call (021) 442 9600

Thanks for taking the time out to chat with me, Hope that the project takes off!

Thank you very much and thanx for your website! SA really needs all the positivity we can get because, as you allready know: SA Rocks!!!

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