The news that one of the Distell wine brands sold in the UK and now recalled for glass fragments in the bottle is called Secret Cellar comes as a surprise. For in SA, Secret Cellar is a widely sold buyers own brand of UltraLiquors. Mark Norrish, who has taken the brand to one of the best value offerings in SA, will not be best pleased as the news will cause confusion for visiting UK tourists. One of their number. Sir Richard Branson, is one of the best customers of the Greenpoint branch of Ultra.

And how ironic that another recalled brand is called Danger Point, although another Richard, Distell CEO Dick Rushton, claims that drinking the affected wine poses no danger to health. Lets hope the smiling jumper doesn’t confuse Cape Point with the not-Danger Point and the joke that the 56 hundred on the Nederburg label refers to the number of glass shards per bottle, is most unfortunate.

Meanwhile across the Irish Sea, Fleur du Cap is being recalled. Verre du Cap as the Irish now call it. Two Oceans as well. The affair is turning in to a major marketing disaster for Distell and the question on every SA supermarket buyer’s lips in business class on Emirates is “are SA bottles affected?”

Lets hope the deafening silence from WOSA on the matter has nothing to do with the new CEO being an ex-Distell senior manager. Or is the whole WOSA team already in Bordeaux for VinExpo?