SA Wine Report 2008

A poll of the most read features on www.winenews.co.za gives a pretty accurate picture of the issues which agitated the SA wine spittoon during vintage 2008. That the USA is the Holy Grail for SA wine exporters is confirmed by the 2367 hits Tina Caputo’s story from US magazine Wines & Vines received on the progress towards a wine culture in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave as well as the 1429 hits on the First We Take Manhattan story prompted by WOSA (Wines of SA, the exporters’ mouthpiece) recommending SA exporters stick to their European knitting.

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Tina’s story was the only foreign origin feature to make the top ten which says something about the health of local wine comment. Of local origin stories, there was overwhelming interest in the blind versus sighted rating story with Platter’s Blind Vision receiving 2273 hits.

Wine tourism issues were in third (1751 hits) and ninth places while the controversial burnt rubber profile of SA reds raised by a couple of UK wine hacks came in fourth with 1659 hits.

A plea for smaller carbon footprints from Kim Maxwell was fifth and a report on the long awaited release of the Anthonij Rupert range of wines was sixth. The film version of the ultimate blind tasting tourney, the Judgment of Paris, was in seventh place while last position went to a refutation of the charge that SA wine reportage is overwhelmingly negative.

If some on-the-ball publisher were to collect these stories and print them under a funky cover Tom Stevenson’s Wine Report 2009 (R171 plus postage from www.kalahari.net) would have some serious competition. How about it, Monika? A sister publication to your Wine Tourism Handbook.

That www.winenews.co.za list in full:

1. Many Wine Consumers “Overwhelmed” by Tina Caputo Wines & Vines

2. Platter’s Blind Vision by Neil Pendock

3. Elephant in the Boardroom by Ross Sleet

4. Big, Burly Bruisers by Neil Pendock

5. Lighter Bottles, Please by Kim Maxwell

6. Making Good Wine by Neil Pendock

7. Bottle Shock vs The Judgement of Paris by Graham Howe

8. First We Take Manhattan by Neil Pendock

9. Tourism Tribes: Millennials, Black Diamonds & Wine by Graham Howe

10. Nattering Nabobs of Negativism by Neil Pendock