Archive for June, 2009

Australia’s once dominant wine industry is facing its biggest challenge, as competition increases from lower-cost rivals and consumer tastes change. Producers are being encouraged to target exports to Asia to revive the industry.

Last year, Australian wine exports fell by almost 10 percent, the first decrease in a decade. It was a sign that after a long boom, the country’s vineyards are struggling under the weight of increased competition from lower-cost rivals in Chile, Argentina and South Africa and the changing tastes of international consumers.

A long drought also has brought higher irrigation costs, especially in the parched wine belt in southeast Australia. Relatively high wages also undermine Australia’s international competitiveness at a time when prices for exported wine have fallen.

The average price per liter of Australian wine sold overseas is about 25 percent lower than it was a decade ago.

Sluggish demand in Great Britain, a key overseas market, is likely to force a fundamental restructuring of Australia’s wine trade, although exports to the United States remain positive.

Wine experts warn that Australia’s wine industry may have to cut production by up to a fifth to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive international market.

Source: voanews.com

More than 700 “controlled drinking zones” have been set up across England, giving police sweeping powers to confiscate beer and wine from anyone enjoying a quiet outdoor tipple.

Local authorities are introducing the zones at a rate of 100 a year. Some cover whole cities, a radical departure from what the law intended.

Once a control zone is in place, police can seize alcohol from anyone who is not on licensed premises, even if the bottles or cans are unopened. Although drinking is not banned in the zones, police can ask anyone to stop drinking and it is an offence to refuse, punishable by a maximum £500 fine. No explanation or suspicion that the person could be a public nuisance is required. The highest fine will soon rise to £2,500.

Campaigners say that if the rapid spread of the zones is not halted it will soon be impossible to find anywhere to have a picnic or outdoor drink on a summer’s evening.

It will be crying shame if you cannot enjoy a glass of wine with a picnic.

From: timesonline

The latest statistics from Nielsen indicate a modest increase in the sales of off-license wines in the British market. In terms of value sales have risen 5% over the 12 months closing at the end of may.

The increase represents only 1% in terms of volume. This progression remains very moderate when compared to the rate of growth seen over the last few years. The rise in value is essentially due to the increase in taxes and the increase in both production and import costs.

Nevertheless this figure is more encouraging than the zero% increase announced by Nielsen at the beginning of the spring. The average bottle of wine in the British off-license sales market has risen to £4.25 (4.99 €).

Source: winealley.com

The Internet has now become another media which allows the advertising of alcoholic beverages. It is however subject to a certain number of legal constraints, such as the obligatory mention to always “drink in moderation”…
After several doubts which were put forward by a parliamentary group opposed to this authorisation, the Senate have retained the writing of the project for the law on Hospital patients, Health and Territories.

The advertising for alcoholic drinks will therefore be allowed on the Internet, excluding sites which are dedicated to young people, sport or any other physical activity.

Will this have a drastic effect on global wine marketing? Probably not on the short term. What do you think?

Source: winealley.com

We’re having another Market Day wine sale at our Welmoed cellar door in Stellenbosch.

Dates: Thursday 25 June to Saturday 27 June 2009

Venue: Welmoed Cellar door. Here are the directions: Directions to Welmoed

The following wines will be on sale:

- Welmoed 4-pack@ R 54.99

- Arniston Bay Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay 2007 @ R 14.00 per bottle

- Arniston Bay Shiraz/Pinotage 2006 @ R 12.00 per bottle (case lots only 12x750ml = R 144.00) New!

- Thandi Chardonnay/Chenin Blanc 2007 @ R 14.00 per bottle (case lots only = R84.00)

- Thandi Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 @ R 17.00 per bottle (case lots only = R 102.00) New!

- Bergschaduw Ruby Cab/Cinsaut 2006 @ R 12.00 per bottle (case lots only = R 72.00) New!

If you’d like more details regarding the sale, please contact Anri or Zoliswa at our cellar door on 021 881 8062

Vinexpo, the world’s biggest wine and spirits fair, opened Sunday as 40,000 professionals from around the globe gather to ply their beverages in markets made fiercely competitive by the economic crisis.

Wine sales have floundered since the crisis hit. In addition, even before the economic woes, traditional markets France, Switzerland, Portugal, Austria, Argentina and Spain were consuming less and less wine.

That trend has producers focusing on newer and emerging markets.

To the relief of producers, a study conducted for Vinexpo by the International Wine and Spirit Record (IWSR) predicts that 108 other countries will increase their thirst for wine.

Overall world wine consumption is predicted to grow by six percent over the next five years, and the challenge is to capture those new consumers.

Vinexpo brings the trade together, and despite tightened travel and marketing budgets, local hotels are full and 48 countries, up from 45 in 2007, have joined the exhibition.

“We start this edition with great serenity,” said Xavier de Eizaguirre, president of Vinexpo and general director of Baron Philippe Rothschild SA. “It’s in line with the previous edition with 2,400 exhibitors and all of the space rented.”

As usual the world’s largest producers, Italy, France and Spain, dominate the exhibition hall, but smaller producers like Mexico, Portugal and South Africa have increased their presence this year.

Read more: AFP

The eyes of the soccer world are firmly on South Africa as the world’s best teams participate in the Confederations Cup. International viewers are curious about this uniquely South Africa sound (noise) which is present at all the matches.

What’s plastic, a metre long, brightly coloured and sounds like an elephant? It’s the vuvuzela, the noise-making trumpet of South African football fans, and it’s come to symbolise the sport in the country.

It’s an instrument, but not always a musical one. Describing the atmosphere in a stadium packed with thousands of fans blowing their vuvuzelas is difficult. Up close it’s an elephant, sure, but en masse the sound is more like a massive swarm of very angry bees.

And when there’s action near the goal mouth, those bees go really crazy.

To get that sound out requires lip flexibility and lung strength – in short, a fair amount of technique. So be sure to get in some practice before attending a South African football match, or you the sound you produce may cause some amusement in the seats around you.

Vuvuzela supplier Boogieblast offers this advice: “Put your lips inside the mouthpiece and almost make a ‘farting’ sound. Relax your cheeks and let your lips vibrate inside the mouthpiece. As soon as you get that trumpeting sound, blow harder until you reach a ridiculously loud ‘boogying blast’.

Descendant of the Kudo Horn?

The ancestor of the vuvuzela is said to be the kudu horn – ixilongo in isiXhosa, mhalamhala in Tshivenda – blown to summon African villagers to meetings. Later versions were made of tin.

Boogieblast offers a somewhat different story.

The trumpet became so popular at football matches in the late 1990s that a company, Masincedane Sport, was formed in 2001 to mass-produce it. Made of plastic, they come in a variety of colours.

There’s uncertainty on the origin of the word “vuvuzela”. Some say it comes from the isiZulu for – wait for it – “making noise”. Others say it’s from township slang related to the word “shower”, because it “showers people with music” – or, more prosaically, looks a little like a shower head.

Viva the vuvuzela orchestra!

Cape Town-based music educator Pedro Espi-Sanchis has a different view, however: to him the vuvuzela is a rousing instrument that can, when tuned correctly, play in an orchestra as easily as a flute, violin or cello.

Espi-Sanchis says the vuvuzela is a “proudly South African instrument” with roots deep in local traditional music. He was introduced to it over 30 years ago by renowned South African ethnomusicologist Andrew Tracey.

A fan of football himself, Espi-Sanchis came up with the idea of a vuvuzela orchestra after realising that crowds at a match could coordinate their trumpeting to make music. “I heard the vuvuzelas at soccer games and the sound was not musical at all,” he says. “Vuvuzelas need to play rhythms together to really show their power”.

In 2006 Espi-Sanchis and Thandi Swartbooi, head of the South African traditional music group Woman Unite, launched a vuvuzela orchestra as part of the Cape Town-based uMoya Music organization.

Source: southafrica.info

A new survey shows that women prefer wines they know to be more expensive.

Do women have expensive taste? Darn right!

According to research by the Stockholm School of Economics and Harvard University women attach more value to pricey bottles of wine than the actual taste.

Research showed that disclosing the price of the wine before it was tasted generally resulted in much higher wine ratings.

During the study conducted by Johan Almenberg of Harvard University, 266 volunteers in Boston, US were asked to taste one of two Portuguese red wines, one costing five US dollars (R40) while the other cost US40 (R322).

One-third of the volunteers were told the price before the tasting while other volunteers learned the price afterwards.

Women appeared to give far higher ratings when they were told that what they were about to drink was expensive.

Men did not seem that affected by the price, they appeared to go more on taste. But women certainly seemed affected by the price – and this impacted on their wine rating.

Interestingly enough though, in a blind tasting both sexes gave higher ratings for the cheaper wine than for the more expensive wine.

Almenberg said the impact of pricing on women could be “something evolutionary”.

“If you look for what women find attractive in a man, the pay cheque is probably not that important for either sex, but a lot of women attach more importance to that than men do,” he said.

Did somebody really just say “gold-digger?”

What do you think? Right on the money or downright rubbish?

Source: food24.com

A survey carried out by German magazine Focus and Vinexpo has shown that when buying wine, German women focus more on origin and grape variety than on the price.

The typical female German wine consumer appreciates wine as a cultural product, and preferably enjoy wine with friends. This is the conclusion of an international study that has for the first time analysed female consumer behaviour with regard to wine in five different countries. Together with consumer and trade media, the world’s largest wine trade fair, Vinexpo, has analysed responses from more than 4.000 women questioned in Germany, France, England, the USA and Japan with regard to their preferences and customs with regard to wine. The German partners in this survey were the magazine Focus, and Focus Online.

Six of ten women stated that they drink wine at least once a week. Germany is in second place, at 66.1%, behind the USA at 92.5%. Questioned as to the reasons, why they drink wine, 79.3% of all respondents replied that they enjoyed the taste; in Germany, this figure was a high 82.2%. In France, the connection between food and wine is the most decisive factor for consuming wine. According to 87.8% of German women questioned, there is no problem in combining the consumption of wine with a healthy, balanced diet.

Women are very focused and conscious of what they are looking for when buying wine. The German female wine lover prefers to buy wine in a specialist retail shop (56.4%) rather than in a supermarket (49.6%). 48.2% of respondents buy wine directly at the estate. The Internet play a minor part – 21.1% of sales internationally, and only 7.7% in Germany.

As far as the Female German wine lover is concerned, origin is a decisive criterion in selecting a wine (65.3%), followed by grape variety (57.6%) and finally the price (35.7%). In the other four countries, women declared price was the most important criterion – 56.7% said so. Incidentally, red wines are more popular than white wines: Among all women questioned, 60.1% prefer red wine, in Germany the figure is 52.2%.

Source: wein-plus.com

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the eco-friendliness of various types of wine closures. When word got out a few years ago that 70 percent of the world’s cork is used in wine production, many environmentalists began to worry that demand for cork products was putting a huge strain on the world’s few remaining cork forests.

For a while, plastic and glass alternatives were heralded as a greener choice – but as wineries made the switch, cork forests in Portugal, Spain and other Mediterranean countries actually began to suffer.

In the Coruche district of Portugal, cork oaks are vital to an entire ecosystem and actually help stave off devastating effects of global warming.

Their roots hold the soil together, preventing it from being washed away during the deluges that often come after weeks of no rain in this hot, extreme climate.

Cork forests contain a diverse array of life, including animals, birds and insects that aren’t found anywhere else in the world. Some wildlife depends on the cork forests for survival, including the Iberian lynx, the Barbary deer and the Egyptian mongoose.

If people stopped buying cork, these forests would disappear: Demand for cork products is what keeps them protected from conversion to other uses, abandonment and degradation. People care for the forests because they’re vital to the local economy.

According to a 2006 World Wildlife Fund report , loss of commercial demand for cork puts Mediterranean cork oak landscapes at risk of intensified forest fires, loss of irreplaceable biodiversity, accelerated desertification and economic crisis.

So if there are so few cork oak forests left in the world, how is demand not causing problems with overharvesting? Cork is a highly sustainable resource when properly managed. A single tree can live hundreds of years, and after each harvest – every nine years or so – the cork, which lies just under the bark, grows back several centimeters thick.

Not a single tree is cut down during the harvest – a delicate process that requires highly skilled workers to painstakingly cut the bark with sharpened axes.

A recent independent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers  found that the preservation of cork forests isn’t the only reason natural cork wine stoppers are more eco-friendly than plastic and aluminum screw-cap alternatives. Researchers found that plastic stoppers result in nearly 10 times more greenhouse gas emissions than natural cork during a 100-year period. Aluminum screw caps are responsible for 24 times more emissions during the same time frame. Natural cork is also biodegradable and recyclable.

“Cork taint” is often used as a rationale for replacing natural cork with synthetic alternatives, but tainted wine is also found in bottles with noncork stoppers or in plastic packages. Taint, caused by the presence of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, leads to undesirable smells and tastes but is harmless. Screw caps and synthetic corks can also be prone to another aroma taint called sulphidisation, which is caused when the reduced oxygen supply concentrates sulphurous smells that come from preservatives in the stopper or cap.

Ultimately, winemakers will heed consumer preferences when it comes to choosing wine bottle closures, so it’s up to all of us to request natural cork stoppers. Antonio Ferreira, who has been a landowner and cork farmer in Coruche for many years, emphasized the importance of the cork retaining economic value in an interview with the BBC last year.

“It’s not just a tree we are trying to protect here. It is a whole environment,” Ferreira said. “The forest you see around you now has been like this for hundreds of years. It is meant to be this way.”

Source: miamiherald

The French are so identified with rosé wines that it is their word that is used worldwide for these wines, which lie between reds and whites in taste and intensity. Now the French winemakers are battling to save rosé.

At issue is a European Union proposal to make rosé by blending white and red wines together. The French fear this will result in a flood of cheap wine. It would be bad not only for the public’s palate, they believe, but also for the winemaker’s pocketbook, ironically at a time when rosé is finally winning a reputation as a serious wine among consumers.

The EU vote is slated for June 19. If the measure passes, as expected despite French vows to fight it, the regulation would become law in August.

In France, and indeed anywhere rosés are traditionally made, the juice of red wine grapes is left in contact with the color-bearing grape skins for a brief time, then the juice is pressed off or drained from the skins and fermented separately. The resulting wine is pink.

What would happen if rosé were made by blending?

“The first thing is, the taste will be different,” said James de Roany, secretary-general of the Conseil Interprofessionnel Vins de Provence, known as the Wines of Provence.

“To turn a white wine into a rosé, you only need 3 to 4 percent of red wine,” de Roany explained on the telephone from France. “Consumers will be confused; a rosé will taste like a white.”

Jeff Morgan, author of “Rosé: A Guide to the World’s Most Versatile Wine” and co-owner of Napa’s SolaRosa Wines, credits the French for embracing tradition.

“In order to keep tradition, it is important to resist changing tradition,” he added. “What they’re trying to avoid is a free-for-all capitalization on the world’s newfound love of rosé.”

According to an EU press release, the measure would allow European winemakers to be more competitive, letting them vie with winemakers from non-EU countries who may be already blending white and red wines together for rosé.

Winemaker Charles Bieler doesn’t buy the EU’s argument. He makes rosé in France at his family’s Bieler Pere et Fils winery in Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence and collaborates on a rosé here with Charles Smith of Washington’s K Vintners.

“I think the whole thing is hogwash,” he said. “Seriously, over the years with leaner vintages, I’ve considered adding a touch of red wine to my rosé to pick up a little color, and the results are almost entirely negative. Above about 0.5 percent addition of red, you start picking up tannin and bitterness, which is not a good thing.”

“The idea that an interesting wine can be made by mixing red wine and white wine is nuts,” Bieler added. “A consumer may buy a bottle once, but they will almost surely not go back, so the market will decide that it doesn’t work.”

But Morgan, for one, doesn’t believe rules and regulations really work all that well in wine.

“There are many ways to make great wine, and creative winemakers need to be able to explore the possibility,” he said.

Source: chicagotribune.com

This quote accurately sums up the importance of a quality wine glass when enjoying wine: “If you want to enjoy wine, you can do so out of a clean water glass. If you want to appreciate wine, then you want to use a glass with a stem long enough to fit three adult fingers, and a bowl that comes in on itself”

Caring for your wine glasses forms an integral part of appreciating wine and this starts with the way your glasses are stored. Most of us make the mistake of storing our glasses upside down. Doing this will trap odours and stale air inside the glass. You might even be able to smell what I mean if you give a glass a good whiff straight from the shelf. The correct way to store glasses is to stand them upright, with a sheet of clear paper over the top to protect them from dust.

The most important rule when it comes to cleaning your wine glasses is to NEVER put them in the dishwasher. I have seen too many dishwasher-washed glasses that develop a frosted effect, a definite no-no for when you want to admire the colour of the wine. Dishwashers also increase the risk of your glasses getting broken. The best thing to do is to wash each glass by hand in some warm water with a little bit of dishwashing liquid. Make sure that you rinse the glass well afterwards (again with some warm water) to get rid of all the soap. I like to leave the glasses upside down to dry and then to wipe them with a lint-free cloth until they are nice and shiny.

If shine is important to you, the best way to get your glasses to sparkle is to hold them above a steaming pot of water (or a kettle – but be careful, steam can cause a nasty burn), letting the steam cover the whole glass. Once it is covered in steam, dry it with a lint-free cloth. This method works particularly well with crystal glasses.

Source: sawineadvocate.com

A new independently published wine guide, The People’s Wine Guide, lists 600 wines and features “blind tasting” to ensure impartiality. It’s aimed at those who buy wine from supermarkets and liquor chains, and is written in everyday language.

Tasting for the first edition of The People’s Wine Guide, commenced recently in Cape Town’s The Nose Wine Bar. The 600 wines were submitted by wineries from throughout the country for the judges’ scrutiny. Their views will be made public when The People’s Wine Guide hits the bookshelves in September.

According to Neil Pendock, who is writing the book in conjunction with wine author and former restaurateur Michael Olivier, the guide aims to assist consumers in their selections, as well as highlight the tremendous diversity and excellent quality of wines found in supermarkets at reasonable prices.

“Most of the media, and other guides, tend to focus on the merits of wines made in limited quantities that carry price tags out of the reach of most and are also not readily available to the public,” said Pendock.

Not a “lofty tome”

“The People’s Wine Guide is exactly that: a guide for members of the average wine-buying public instead of a lofty tome full of wine-speak focusing on the so-called wine expert. The wines they have become familiar with through their supermarket purchases, as well as a couple of exciting new discoveries made by lesser-known producers will be incorporated. The writing style, layout and general tone of the book will be just as accessible as the price and quality of the wines reviewed.”

Pendock said that tasting for the guide is blind, meaning that the judges are not privy to the relevant wine in their glass.

“This allows us to make a true independent judgement without prejudice or subjective views, something that has been proven to sway tasters’ opinions,” he added.

Wine sales increasing

Olivier, who is also a former wine and food consultant to Pick n Pay, says that the amount of wine sold in supermarkets is increasing on a monthly basis.

“With the selection of wines available to supermarket shoppers increasing, it has become necessary for a guide aimed at helping them wade their way through the aisles,” he said. “And just as these shoppers have unique needs in their wine purchases, a guide is needed to assist them with their selections.”

Besides Pendock and Olivier, the tasters are Norma Ratcliffe, winemaker and proprietor of Warwick Wine Estate, Cathy Marston, former owner of The Nose Wine Bar, sommelier David Msebi and Portuguese winemaker and commentator Aníbal Coutinho.

Source: bizcommunity.com

A pint of beer or a glass of wine a day can protect against gallstones, scientists have found.

Drinking two units a day reduces the risk of developing the painful stones by a third.
It had long been known that moderate drinking can reduce the chances of gallstone formation, but this is the first study to show how much was required.

It is the latest evidence that consumption of small amounts of alcohol can be beneficial to your health. Other studies have linked it to lower rates of heart attack or stroke.

Dr Andrew Hart, from the University of East Anglia, said the new study may now allow doctors to offer specific guidance on avoiding the formation or growth of gallstones, without introducing the risk of excessive alcohol consumption.

His team examined the dietary habits of 25,639 people with questionnaires over a 10-year period, during which time 267 patients developed gallstones.

Results showed that those who consumed two units of alcohol per day had a one-third reduction in their risk of developing gallstones. Two units is equal to a pint of beer, a medium-sized glass of wine, or a double shot of whisky.

For every unit of alcohol consumed per week the chances of developing a gallstone decreased by three per cent.

Dr Hart, senior lecturer in gastroenterology at UEA’s school of medicine, health policy and practice, in Norwich, said the findings were an important step towards finding a way to stop the formation of gallstones.

He said it was not understood why small amounts of alcohol appeared to protect against gallstones.

‘These findings significantly increase our understanding of the development of gallstones,’ he said.

‘Once we examine all the factors related to their development in our study in the UK, including diet, exercise, body weight and alcohol intake, we can develop a precise understanding of what causes gallstones and how to prevent them.’

Gallstones are small, pebble-like substances that develop in the gallbladder – a pear-shaped sack located below your liver in the right upper abdomen.

The stones form when liquid bile stored in the gallbladder harden into pieces of stone-like material and block the flow of bile to the small intestine.

Bile, which helps the body digest fats, is made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder until the body needs it. If the liquid bile contains too much cholesterol, bile salts, or a chemical called bilirubin, it can harden and causes gallstones.

The stones can block the path of bile to the small intestine which is painful and without surgery can lead to death or permanent damage to the liver and pancreas.
Dr Hart presented his findings at the Digestive Disease Week annual meeting in Chicago yesterday.

Last month a study claimed that half a glass of wine a day can add more than four years to your lifespan. Drinking two units a day increased life by two years – but those who drunk more saw no benefit.

It said wine was strongly associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease and stroke – possibly due to an increase in ‘good’ cholesterol, or a reduction in blood clotting.

But nutritionists warned that people should not start drinking as a result of such studies – because alcohol was addictive and heavy consumption leads to cancer and cirrhosis of the liver.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Feeling the pressure of the economic downturn, South Africans are tightening their budgets and cutting out unnecessary expenses. However, alcohol which is a luxury item is still very high on the priority list for most people.

The Nielson Global Consumer Confidence Index saw South Africans’ consumer confidence dropping to its lowest level yet , with 15% of people saying that they have no spare cash at the end of the month – and the 41% that do say they use it to pay off their debts and credit cards.

With these stats, surely South Africans should be cutting luxuries like alcohol straight off the shopping list?

This doesn’t seem to be the case:

Pick ‘n Pay’s food merchandise director Paul Connellan was quoted saying: ” When consumers have less discretionary income per month, goods such as alcohol and tobacco are recession-resistant and perform well.”

Proving this further SAB managing director, Tony van Kralingen says, “The beer market has historically been resilient in tough economic times and it is likely to perform similarly in the current economic climate,”

He goes on to say, “We see sustainable opportunities in the premium market, even though the sector’s growth rate has softened more recently.” SABMiller recently introduced two new beers to the SA market, Grolsch and Dreher Premium Lager. SAB recorded a 6% growth rate in line with last year.

Is this a uniquely South African phenomenon? America, who has undoubtedly been hit very hard by the recession, is reporting the same thing. As Americans face tougher times from a slowing economy, they are consuming more alcohol, Reuters reported Jan. 12. Clearly, people need to hang on to remnants of their ‘normal’ lives in times of crisis.

The questions are clear, is alcohol an untouchable commodity? Do we need to prioritise our expenditure? In tough times people need to find relief and it seems that people will always find a way to fund what they enjoy doing, whether it means changing from their favourite to a cheaper brand or cutting down on their consumption.

Source: bondbusters.co.za

A new Passport that takes you to 14 of the finest cellar doors in the Cape Winelands with major savings of up to 60% on tastings and tours, has been launched to offer visitors a variety of experiences at a packaged price.

The Cellar Door Collection Passport offers some of the most memorable winelands experiences from Stellenbosch and Durbanville to Paarl, Robertson, Tulbagh and even as far north as Phalaborwa! Visit your choice of leading cellars and distilleries at your leisure over a period of 6- months or 1-year depending on your Passport card preference.

The R50 option entitles you to visit four different experiences, whilst the R100 card allows you to visit all 14 destinations. With this new Winelands innovation, you can plan where and when you want to visit, ensuring a day out that suits your own individual needs. The Passport card also makes a great gift of weekends of fun in the winelands - ideal for sharing with family and friends.

Comprising some of the finest wine estates in the Winelands, the Cellar Door Collection covers everything from ultra modern cellars to 300 year old homesteads as well as allowing visitors to experience the age old tradition of a working brandy cooperage. The Passport concept offers visitors a cost effective and uncomplicated way of enjoying the best the Cape Winelands has to offer.

The renowned Stellenbosch area alone offers eight incredible opportunities for eager Passport holders. Alto, famous for their hand crafted red wines, Uitkyk with its magnificent setting, Neethlingshof with its unique kilometre long avenue of pines, Stellenzicht known for their award winning wines and Le Bonheur, still hand-picking their grapes, all offer outstanding wine tasting experiences that will stay with you long after you leave.

Also situated in the Stellenbosch area is The Bergkelder, home of Fleur du Cap; South Africa’s first dedicated sparking wine cellar, The House of J.C. Le Roux; and Van Ryn’s Distillery, delighting passport holders with great tastings along with interesting and educational tours to expand your wine knowledge and keep you enthralled.

World renowned Nederburg in Paarl presents a tour and tasting from the Winemasters range, whilst Plaisir de Merle near Franschhoek, gives Passport holders the opportunity to taste six of their internationally acclaimed wines.

For some visitors a trip to the winelands is just around the corner with Durbanville Hills, a mere 20 minutes from the Cape Town CBD. Enjoy a tour and taste eight delectable wines from the Hills and Rhinofields collections.

Break away for the weekend and use your Passport to get to the Klipdrift Distillery in Robertson for a tour and tasting of four Brandy products and great friendship, with “eish” of course.

In Tulbagh you can visit De Oude Drostdy, the original neoclassical magistrate’s building dating back to 1806 and the home of Drostdy-Hof wines.

The Cellar Door Collection Passport reaches as far as the country’s northern most province, home to South Africa’s famous Amarula Cream. The Amarula Lapa in Phalaborwa is a must for visitors to the game-rich Limpopo Province, especially if a trip to the Cape Winelands is next on the itinerary.

In addition to great value, the Passport also entitles holders to special privileges from time to time, so be sure to enquire about this during your visit. Tickets can be purchased at any of the participating cellars. Tour groups, hotels and guest houses are welcome to purchase them in bulk for their guests. For more information or terms and conditions, visit www.cellardoorcollection.co.za.

Source: wine.co.za