Why can't Africans sommeil?

If white men famously can’t dance, do black people fail to sommeil?  Last week WOSA’s Sommelier World Cup (below) flew in 12 somms from around the world to have their skills on SA wine assessed.  Not one from Africa, even South Africa, so much for tiny carbon footprints.  This in spite of a game lodge tourist explosion in Kenya and Tanzania until Al Shabaab and the Shiraz came to town and a tourist boom in Mozambique and Mauritius.  What a shame and a missed opportunity.

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Contestants hailed from the USA, Canada, Russia, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, China and Hong Kong.  Let’s hope the 2 million Chinese employed to monitor the internet picked up that WOSA fails to realize Hong Kong is part of China.  A diplomatic démarche is expected, but then sino-specialists WOSA ain’t as they think the Shanghai Bund is in Beijing.  Which is bizarre as WOSA enforcer André Morgenthal has more frequent flyer miles than Tina Joemat-Petersen.

The focus on somms is an attempt to go after the top end of the wine world as somms “procure wines for their fine-dining establishments, compile restaurant wine lists and recommend wines to pair with foods. Some even make their own boutique-label wines that are highly sought after by wine connoisseurs.” So how come there was no Indian somm as the subcontinent has forgotten more about luxury than WOSA has learnt on R34 million a year?

Is there an anti-India thing going on as the somms were given Tuesday night off rather than a chance to taste SA first growths at the Taj Hotel in Cape Town with René Dehn and his White Club.  Looks like WOSA has a White Club of its own.

And with the Soccer World Cup in Rio next year, the lack of a Brazilian sommelier is nothing short of criminal negligence.  Or does WOSA think soccer supporters only drink beer?  No wonder neither India nor Brazil make the list of Top 25 nations to which SA tries to export wine.

Still WOSA must be ecstatic that a Canuck, Will Predhomme, won, as sales to the top of North America are down 11% this year.  I’m not talking bulk here as last time I bought bulk, I didn’t see any sommeliers hovering.

Is there an incipient racism in WOSA in their ignorance of Africa?  Sales of bottled wine to Angola are down 24% this year.  This is a meltdown.  Sales to China are down a massive 17% even as Australians talk about increasing their exports to the Middle Kingdom by 50% over the next three years.

Will Siobhan Thompson, the new WOSA broom hovering in the wings, sweep this unfortunate competition into the overflowing “failed projects” bin?  Unless someone gets a grip, this expensive initiative will continue to deliver corked wine to the table.