So, farewell then, chairman of the SA Wine Council Kader Asmal, as Private Eye’s EJ Thribb (17½) might say. And out with the customary paeans of praise for the suddenly departed. The normally acerbic Grape website, while not delirious with either praise or grammar noted “Professor Asmal seemed to bring a rare and much welcomed liveliness to this leadership position within the wine industry, and it is to be hoped that his successor – who will be nominated ‘in due course’ by the Wine Industry Advisory Forum.” Huh? Business Day reported the bombshell with a straight face. But did the whisky sipping Kader jump, or was he pushed?

Uncorked’ s sources report that progressive elements of the Council, including the Bawsi, Nafu and Rudnet representatives, had long been agitating for his removal (and had even written letters) while more reactionary members damned the chair as hopelessly ineffectual. Whatever the truth, it is unlikely to emerge from the murky spittoon of SA wine politics.