Hot on the heels of the bombshell that Christian Eedes no longer visualizes for the Platter wine label guide owned by Standard Bank, comes confirmation that Ultra Liquors will not be submitting wines for the 2015 edition of the guide.

Ultra’s Secret Cellar wines have long been some of the best value wines in SA – best MCC at the Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show and RECM best value Sauvignon Blanc and Red Blend – but the prejudice shown to supermarket own label brands in sighted tastings has already seen Tops @ Spar, largest liquor retailer in SA, refuse participation in the publication.

The departure of Ultra must surely be the death knell for a proud institution started by John and Erica Platter that has been hijacked by commercial interests and turned into a PR mouthpiece for Franschhoek wine producers and their allies. The previous owner of Platter, Andrew “Big Mac” McDowell, got out just in time, selling the guide to Diners Club whose director Reg Lascaris owns Boekenhoutskloof, producer of the year in the guide. Conflicts of interest proliferate at an astounding rate.

With producers now fleeing in droves, Standard Bank shareholders should be asking what kind of toxic sub-prime investment was this? An investigation into the purchase of the guide is well overdue and producers who still participate in this deeply flawed project need to ask themselves what does Spar and Ultra know that they don’t?