For a flash when Trenton Oldfield, the Aussie LSE graduate with an MSc in “contemporary urbanism” emerged from the Thames on Sky News in a black wetsuit after disrupting the annual Oxbridge boat race, I thought it was ubiquitous UK wine blogger Jamie Goode, spotted surfing in the Cape last week – or northern France, as French tourism authorities may wish you to believe.  But closer examination reveals that Trenton has more hair.

Wine Blogger (l) Class Warrior (r)

Certainly there are wine connections aplenty.  The Guardian reports Trenton was protesting against “the transnational-corpo-aristocratic [TCA] ruling class (invisible)” who “haven’t turned up today and would never consider doing so, despite the best endeavours of Bollinger, Xchange and Hammersmith & Fulham’s mayor.”  TCA (2,4,6Trichloroanisole) is the main chemical responsible for cork taint in wine.  It is also invisible.

Trenton’s swim against elitism certainly resonated in the Swartland that saw Bollinger Champagne hijack last year’s Swartland Revolution (at which Jamie was a celebrity guest) with a Sommelier of the Year Competition.  A most inappropriate venue, as sommeliers and French Champagne are unknown in the Swartland.

Shortly before diving into the muddy waters of the Thames, Trenton blogged on the subject of “elitism leading to tyranny” and made the point that the annual boat race is a “pseudo competition” that allows the elites to “reboot their shared culture in the public realm.”  A fairly good description of some SA wine competitions that are riddled with elitism and tyrannize SA producers desperately searching for a route to market.

With Cape Wine 2012 and the Nederburg Auction both coming up, Trenton should be invited as keynote speaker as entrenched classism (of racial and economic rather than aristocratic origin) is one of the biggest threats to SA wine.  That and telling porky pies, a good example of which is WOSA CEO Su Birch telling Rapport why the great SA wine-drinking public are banned from Cape Wine 2012.

“Die tentoonstelling sal egter nie vir plaaslike verbruikers oopgestel word nie en Wosa het reeds heelwat kritiek hieroor ontvang, onder meer van mnr. Neil Pendock, een van die land se voorste wynskrywers.  Birch sê dit val buite Wosa se mandaat om wyntentoonstellings vir plaaslike verbruikers aan te bied aangesien dit die organisasie se opdrag is om Suid-Afrikaanse wyn in die buiteland te bevorder.”  If this is indeed the case, Su should be fired for peddling wosa braii boeke in South Africa!