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Was this week’s biennial SA generic wine tasting in London a flop? Mike Ratcliffe of Warwick and Vilafonté fame e-mails “the grassroots wine community of restaurant and bar staff and restaurant owners were conspicuous by their absence.” Johann Rupert noted earlier this week at the KWV farewell dinner for outgoing chairman Danie de Wet, the dimensions (length and breadth) of the current recession have been seriously underestimated and the UK is taking it on the chin. So no one will hold organizers WOSA, Wines of SA, the exporters’ association, accountable for slimmed down numbers.

Mike Ratcliffe

Mike Ratcliffe

But in a couple of blogs Mike highlights some organizational snafus that need attention. The brilliant wheeze of importing plane loads of New York sommeliers fell a bit flat when they pointed out the wines being showcased were mostly not available in the US.

With Soccer Salvation 200-odd days away, the opportunity to promote wine as part of a World Cup Package seems to have been missed. As Mike suggested: “perhaps the brains-trust that organise the event could think of some way to further differentiate this event. Perhaps an indoor football tournament of South African wine producers and UK wine hacks would have added an element of fun to the sometimes sombre proceedings?”

After the first day of the tasting “was there a soccer ball in sight? One cannot help but think that we are procrastinating by not cranking up our media and marketing machine with only months to go before the largest sporting event ever to descend on Africa?”

With the benefit of hindsight, Mike asks “while the coordination, presentation and winery attendance at the show were impressive, one cannot help but ask if a one-day show would have had the same impact.”

The one thing that did work well seemed to be the public tasting with 400 punters scrambling to taste SA wines in the evening. A story confirmed by prices at the Cape Winemakers Guild Auction: when the U-bend of supply gets clogged by cash-strapped restaurateurs and boutique retailers, time to flush the pipes with a public RotoRooter. Unleash consumers, Oompa Loompas of Olfactation, who are always ready to “suck it and see” when a tasting is free.

While one swallow does not make a summer and one person’s perception is far from the last word (as one-person sighted tastings confirm all the time) we’ll have to wait for producers to return for the postmortem results.

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Comments

 

Peter

October 17, 2009 at 11:39 am

Warwick First Lady

Caveat emptor. I have been serving Warwick First Lady for a couple of years. When the stock of the 2006 blend (Cab/Merlot) ran low I ordered some more from Vinimark. Not a word from the distributor and guess what, the First Lady 2007 arrived, I paid and then discovered that the 2007 is a Cab not a blend.

Back on the phone next week to arrange to return it. Let’s hope it all turns out well and doesn’t end in tears.

Of course it was my fault – careless purchasing, but rest assured it won’t happen again.

 

MIKE RATCLIFFE - WARWICK

October 19, 2009 at 4:41 pm

Hi Neil, to clarify, here is my reply to your email requesting confirmation of my views.
Regards
Mike
—————————————-

From: Mike Ratcliffe
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 13h17
To: Neil Pendock
Subject: Mega-Tasting

Hi Neil
I think that ‘dud’ is a bit strong – actually for those producers that are organised and had pre-booked appointments, they had the opportunity to meet with all of the major buyers.
My comments reflect my feeling that the grassroots wine community of restaurant and bar staff and restaurant owners were conspicuous by their absence. Actually, it was a very successful business show for me – but I would suggest that majority of producers arriving unprepared would have wasted their time.
M

_______________________________________________________________
Mike Ratcliffe
Warwick Wine Estate
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Phone: +27 (0) 21 88 444 10
Email: mike@warwickwine.com
Web: http://www.warwickwine.com
Web: http://www.vilafonte.com

From: Neil Pendock
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 8:33 AM
To: mike@warwickwine.com
Subject: Mega-Tasting

Hi Mike

It seems from your last posting on http://www.winenews.co.za that the Mega-Tasting was a dud? No 2010 marketing, the USA sommelier jolly fell flat and there were no restaurateurs/small retailers?

What went wrong?

Cheers

–
Neil Pendock

 

MIKE RATCLIFFE - WARWICK

October 19, 2009 at 4:46 pm

WARWICK ‘THE FIRST LADY’

Hi Peter, I was sorry to hear about your troubles with getting the correct vintage of ‘The First Lady’ – please call me personally and I will assist in sorting out the problems. Have alook at this latest review of the 2007 vintage from Jancis Robinson http://www.jancisrobinson.com/.....09245.html – perhaps this might change your mind?
Regards
Mike Ratcliffe

 

Peter

October 19, 2009 at 5:39 pm

Good day Mike

The problem was not the vintage but the fact that the 2006 First Lady was a Cab/Merlot blend and the 2007 First Lady is a Cab, not a blend. I assumed the 2007 First Lady would also be a blend and didn’t check the invoice or the packaging.

As a result I didn’t change the wine list either and a customer brought my misrepresentation to my notice, very embarassing.

We tasted the 2007 Cab at lunch today. Very good and the price break is just right for our small wine list.

BTW we love your wines, so that is not an issue. But I have learnt a good lesson, to check incoming products more carefully :-)

 

Neil Pendock

October 19, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Hi Mike

Yep, that’s why I changed “dud” to “disappoints” in the posting headline. I also checked with other wine makers and they agreed the tasting had problems – I only quoted you as you had gone public on http://www.winenews.co.za.

Cheers

 

Chad

October 22, 2009 at 5:52 pm

This year’s generic tasting was very disappointing. How strange to see a table of Fair Trade wines and not a single black face at the venue. The more things change, the more they stay the same!

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  • About

    Neil Pendock is South Africa’s leading Indie drinks commentator – he has no financial connections with any importer, producer, distributor, retailer, show, competition or restaurant.

    A columnist for the Sunday Times, Financial Mail, winenews.co.za and WINE magazine, he was voted “most trusted palate” by readers of WINE. An enthusiastic amateur, he has a healthy disregard for the anoraks, bowties and Emperors of drink and their new clothes, both locally and internationally.

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