Swinging with Norma and Warwick

Published by emile@winegoggle.co.za under Reviews and Views

Norma Ratcliffe - Grand Dame

Ever since Mike Ratcliffe talked me into buying a membership of the Warwick Wine Club two years ago, I seem to have a lot of this farm’s stuff lying around. I’m not going to stake a claim to being a Warwick boffin, but I can spot the Estate’s wine in most line-ups, just as I can tell my dog’s bark from 320 others running around De Waal Park.
Of course, being somewhat intrigued by the wines from Simonsberg, Stellenbosch’s Pauillac, delving into my Warwich stash is always going to be more than just opening another bottle of something.
The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot do not give as much heady fruit intensity as Kanonkop, Warwick’s one neighbour. Nor to these varieties portray the likeable leanness of Le Bonheur just up the road.
For me the Warwick reds show wine’s ability to bear a seductive power. Tannins are evened out, but the presence is weighty and potent, without any hint of after-burn or over-extraction. Of course, a reason for this is the dominance of Cabernet Franc in the Trilogy Bordeaux blend. Having perfected Cabernet Franc, the farm is able to bring out the best in this variety, namely grace and poise enveloped by an assertive juiciness. For Cabernet Franc can be greener than a Kommetjie whale-hugger.
I was thus not going to let the opportunity pass me by of attending a tasting to celebrate Warwick’s 25 years in the winemaking business, held last week in the Vineyard Hotel. I wanted to see where everything came from. The bash behind the stash.
Norma Ratcliffe, Mike’s mother who placed Warwick on the wine map – amongst other noticeable achievements – led the assembled group of hacks and friends through a tasty line-up.
But this was a tasting Norma style. No weighty diatribes on yields, smart cellar decisions or philosophical statements on wood maturation. Just Norma talking animatedly about some of the Warwick wines she likes and using a few nostalgic titbits to complement her vivaciousness, knowledge and personality. (Isn’t the thought of young Mike among a pile of pumpkins just adorable!)
Norma tells it all, her way. She is, after all, our Grand Dame.
Okay, so first up was a 1984 Warwick Femme Bleu (sic), the first commercial wine made by Norma on Warwick. A Cabernet Sauvignon, this 25 year old model was in perfect condition. The colour was garnet. The nose honey-comb. Lean fruit on the palate, a hint of cedar. No oxidation or stuffiness.
The 1986 Trilogy was similarly brilliant, although the addition of Merlot and Cabernet Franc to the Cabernet Sauvignon allowed for a tad more complexity and depth. Once again, it was crystal clear on the palate and the good acid ensured it was still as tight as an Eric Clapton guitar string.
A lot of the anti-Pinotage gang rip into anybody willing to state that a Pinot Noir character can become evident in Pinotage. Well, Norma put up a 1997 Warwick Three Cape Ladies (Pinotage blend) which almost knocked one over with the whiff or pure Burgundian forest floor, wet haystack and Algerian vineyard worker arm-pit. This was more Pinot Noir here than in a lot of Pinot Noirs themselves.
Of course, the wine was huge in the mouth, making an assertive Pinot Noir entrance and ending with ripe cherries and hints of Fortis syrup.
Heading onto the 1995 Cabernet Franc and the 2001 Cape Winemakers Guild Femme Bleu (sic), it was enormously satisfying to begin recognizing the stylistic traits of my current, newer Warwick wines. Looking at my 2006 Trilogy and Cabernet Franc, it appears the wines are actually fuller and more voluptuous in their youth. After a couple of years, the fruit and tannins separate giving the wines a different structure all together, whilst maintaining pureness and depth.
Norma threw in a 1998 Chardonnay, and what a humdinger. It was big, it was nutty, it was limey, it was a Staffordshire terrier of Chardonnays, just waiting to rip the gonads out of anyone wearing an “Anything But Chardonnay” T-shirt. Some, like wine-trader Mark Norrish, were so inspired they shouted: “This is Burgundy, Norma!”
The evening ended with dinner, and I enjoyed more of the Chardonnay – albeit a younger model that, unlike the 1998, hadn’t been stirred with Norma’s golf club – and Warwick’s wonderfully supple Pinotage.
This was definitely the wine event of the past year for me, for you can haul out the best wines in the house, but the event don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.
Keep swinging, Norma, because you’ve got it.

E Louw Joubert

 

Mike, Naftali & Friends at the Trophy Wine Show awards function in Cape Town

________________________________________________
Mike Ratcliffe
Warwick Wine Estate
Phone: +27 (0) 21 88 444 10
Fax: +27 (0) 21 88 44025
Skype: mikeatwarwick
Email: mike@warwickwine.com

Drinking from the wedding cup

Dear Mike,

I promised you a photo that was taken at Warwick on 30 April.   The lovely young couple Andrew Hunt and Rachel Read are from Oxford and both involved in a tour operator called Audley who sends many English wine fans out to the Winelands. They are getting married in September and came out to the Cape to source the wine that they want to present at the wedding to some 100 guests. Isn't that nice?  Hopefully they will eventually decide on Warwick ‘The First Lady’ which is my favourite.

Regards 

Pietman Retief

 

 

Brand Hooligans conference - Mike speaks

 

Cherryflava conference: Brand Hooligans - Creating a brand experience that makes people nuts about you [video link] On Thursday 28 May 2009 Cherryflava will host an experiential marketing conference in Cape Town called BRAND HOOLIGANS - Creating a brand experience that makes people crazy about you. The event will showcase the city's most creative and successful marketing practitioners in a unique marketing conference format designed to generate maximum insight into their successful strategies and future opportunities as they see it. It's a must-attend event for marketers, creative professionals, entrepreneurs and strategists keen to gain insight into how a carefully crafted experience can be the most efficient and effective marketing tool a brand can employ. Tickets to the conference are very limited. Only 30 are available for purchase. The speaker line up includes: Rui Esteves & Brad Armitage [founders vida e caffe and and now Brewers & Union] - Building a world-class South African brand: The devil's in the detail Jody Aufrichtig [co-creator of the Old Biscuit Mill and The Grand Daddy and one of South Africa's most prolific and successful business innovators] - Re-imaging the way things are done Porky Hefer [celebrated creative director and founder of Animal Farm - an award-winning creative consultancy that is quickly redesigning the world] - Innovation inspiration from the world around you Mike Ratcliffe [Platter's guide 2009 5-star award-winner and partner/owner of Stellenbosch-based Warwick Wines and Vilefonte] - Experience is the only real marketing tool we've got left Gareth Cotton [the 24-year old entrepreneur and creator of Chariot Limousines] - 10 recession busting marketing ideas in 3 blocks Jonathan Cherry [editor of Cherryflava] - How to market like Marilyn Manson When: Thursday 28 May 2009 Where: Boo Radley's, Cape Town CBD Time: 1:00pm - 6:30pm Price: R950 per ticket. To book your seat: E-mail Jon Cherry - jon@cherryflava.com Bookings close: 20 May 2009 [no tickets to be sold after this date] [video link]

 

 

Our new product - Warwick Bottle Stopper

TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Mike Ratcliffe, Managing Director & Owner of Warwick Estate and Vilafonté Vineyards (http://www.vilafonte.com/) visited Russia on a wine marketing trip recently. Here he blogs irreverently about the experience.
Entering the Russian wine market is not for the fainthearted. The beaurocratic mess that is the Russian import regime makes South Africa's wine regulatory red-tape feel like a walk in the park. Add to that the shambolic politically motivated import restrictions and the punitive (and irrationally inflexible) customs duties and taxes and you have already accumulated a number of reasons to avoid the Russian federation all together.And so it was that I found myself facing a barrage of questions from a local customs official after disembarking at Moscow's Demondenova airport. To put it into perspective, the landing card containing numerous illogical questions (like university qualification, interests and hobbies etc) and needs to be filled out in triplicate. Despite a wealth of travel experience, I made the mistake of filling out the wrong form (in triplicate) and it was eventually explained that I had inadvertently used the form for 'Belarus' citizens and not the 'foreigners' form. Let me be clear that nowhere on the form did it mention any distinction between foreigners and Belarus residents.After navigating the murky corridors of taxi diplomacy, I seemed to be making progress. Stepping out of the airport into the crisp cold afternoon air was like getting slapped in the face with a bag of ice. Cold was the word of the day and boy was that word an over-traded commodity. After an hour of driving through a crazy snow-storm, I arrived at the Danilovskaya Hotel which was something out of a 1970's James Bond movie. Built to withstand a nuclear blast with windows designed to keep radiation out, this was a budget hotel in name only and without any service at all. Even asking the concierge (who didn't really speak English) to book me a taxi was met with an unapologetic scrap of paper with a phone number on it and a few other words in cyrrilic script. Communication in the Russian federation is challenging and I was quite surprised by my inability to decipher even a single Russian letter on signage or understand a single word of the local lingo. I downloaded a translation application on my phone and even this did not help as the pronunciations are challenging, even for a Stellenbosch educated Afrikaans speaking souty. I finally found that the only way to compare the words on the map with the words on the street signs was to compare the shapes of the letters.Now that I have set the cultural scene, let me explain that Moscow has never been accused of being a pretty destination. It does however have isolated examples of breath-taking architecture and somehow familiar examples of extraordinary (or grotesque depending on your angle) edifices that hark back to the days of the cold-war. I spent a late evening clearing my head wandering through Red Square in the driving snow and it certainly felt a little like a dream landscape, but the reality of mass unemployment and beggars on the street corner soon dispelled all hints of romanticism. I should also note that despite extensive investigation, there was absolutely no evidence of the iron curtain.Hot tip: There are easier places to sell wine, but the Russian market, even now, is flush with cash and if you can navigate the complicated entry procedures, South African wines are considered seriously good value and can, and do, make an impact. The Russian market is also untainted by any kind of historical (read early nineties) baggage that over-zealous wine marketers might have foisted on the British. Wines from South Africa seem to be considered cool and in the many high-end wine retailers that I visited were often positioned in the pride of place and amongst the best wines of the world. I also visited a couple of every-day supermarkets and was happy to see wines from South Africa being displayed prominently, and at price-points that seemed to indicate a relative value against our antipodeans and South American compatriots. Yes - the 'V-word' translates globally and it is just as valid here in Moscow. As an aside, have we considered how many people around the world that are trading down in price point, are currently trading down to the South African price-point. A wise man once said that there is nothing quite like a recession to realign markets and bring supply and demand back to an equilibrium of common-sense. Perhaps it was the same wise man that noted that some of the worlds biggest success stories were founded by opportunists and entrepreneurs during a recession. The South African value proposition is going to hold us in good stead over the ensuing months as the world shakes it's excesses out of the system.Back to Russia; the wine culture does not scream at you and to truly uncover the potential of this market you really have to scratch around a little. I did. I discovered wine, vodka and cigar bars hidden below ground behind unmarked doors. I found wineshops that were so eager to learn that they were prepared to shut down the store for an hour long presentation. I met serious sommeliers that actually listened to what a winery owner from South Africa had to say - and took notes. It is a far cry from some of the more established blasé markets that have been overrun by winemakers on their annual overseas holiday (read: wine marketing trip/employment perk) who are judged on their ability to limit their expense account rather than on tangible results.Some (secret agents and wine marketers) would suggest that departing Moscow brings a certain bitter-sweet level of relief and an inner calm - I would not disagree with this completely. Despite all of the mixed opinion above, Moscow has not scared me off - the market is exciting, edgy and pulsating with potential. A little adrenaline never failed to galvanise my resolve and I will be back.

Visiting Drinx Wine in Mississippi.Bartholomew Broadbent, Matt Beard & Mike R.

________________________________________________
Mike Ratcliffe
Warwick Wine Estate
Phone: +27 (0) 21 88 444 10
Fax: +27 (0) 21 88 44025
Skype: mikeatwarwick
Email: mike@warwickwine.com

Warwick Trilogy 'Estate Reserve' - Position 46 in Wine Spectator Top 100!!

_______________________________________________________________

Mike Ratcliffe

Warwick Wine Estate

 Phone:    +27 (0) 21 88 444 10

 Fax:       +27 (0) 21 88 44025

 Skype:    mikeatwarwick

 Email:     mike@warwickwine.com

 

Mike was a judge at the Indian Wine Challenge in London

 

Mike & Ronald are spearheading the planting of a new vineyard at the historic Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town www.vineyard.co.za

 

‘Major coup’ for charity Jan Kriel wine auction

Friday, 16 May 2008
International leader in the wine industry, Mike Ratcliffe, will auction off a list of top wines at the prestigious London Jan Kriel Charity Wine Auction scheduled for Thursday, May 22. The 10th annual auction in the British capital is one of the city’s only charity events aimed at helping South African children with epilepsy and special educational needs.
Ratcliffe qualified as a business major before attending the University of Adelaide and was in the first graduating class for the Graduate Diploma in Wine Marketing.
He is now managing director of his family estate, Warwick, which is recognised as one of South Africa’s foremost wine estates.
Mike is also owner and partner in the first and only South African/American luxury winemaking joint venture – Vilafonte. In 1997 Ratcliffe founded Rootstock, an organisation dedicated to the upliftment and education of the youth of the wine industry with a practical focus on marketing and management.
He was an instrumental participant in reigniting the concept for a “Cape Blend” (Pinotage-blend) which has since become an integral part of the Cape high-end wine offerings.
Ratcliffe is a board member of WOSA, (Wines of South Africa), the generic export promotion board for the SA Wine Industry and has participated actively on the marketing committee of the Stellenbosch Wine Route.
He is keenly involved in black economic empowerment and land redistribution as deputy chairman of the South African Wine Industry Trust (SAWIT).
Ratcliffe’s presence as auctioneer at the London Jan Kriel Charity Wine Auction was described by project co-ordinator Marco Pereira “a major coup” for the event.
“As regular international wine judge, industry commentator and marketing coordinator, it gives the event international appeal,” Pereira said.
The event will take place at the New Connaught Rooms, 61 - 65 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2B 5DA. To secure a seat or a tabel at this event, contact Marco Pereira on 08702244081 or mail to info@jkwineauction.org.

Rootstock comes alive

'Around the World Blog' 22 June 2007

Mike Ratcliffe is a front man for the South African wine industry on many, well, fronts. His latest itinerary reads: Johannesburg – London - New York - Washington DC – Dallas – Houston – Chicago – Shanghai – Hong Kong – Johannesburg – Cape Town. He will regularly be touching base with WineNews's readers en route, blogging style. In this first posting Mike ponders "The 'Carbon Footprint' Tipping Point" and what it means for wine.

In a contemplative mood on an international flight en route to New York, I started considering the latest environmental catch-phrase of 'carbon footprint' which pervades daily conversations, not to mention the global wine industry's agenda.

There are many examples in popular culture when a tipping point has been reached, which has changed an obvious and logical idea into a broadly accepted fact that can drive the perceptions of an entire generation.

The discussion on global warming was partially re-ignited when terminology such as 'CFC' and 'ozone-layer' were coined, and through sustained consumer pressure this lead to the widespread withdrawal of this 'uncool' ozone gobbling propellant.

More than a decade later and after a million flight miles by Al Gore, it would appear that even the most hardened denialist agrees that the concept of global warming has at least some credibility, and that the wholesale dumping of secondhand carbon pollutants into our atmosphere is the major factor driving the artificial warming of our planet. So what does 'carbon footprint' mean? 

Wikipedia.org has it as follows:
Carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide or CO2 emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels; in the case of an organization, business or enterprise, as part of their everyday operations; in the case of an individual or household, as part of their daily lives; or a product or commodity in reaching market. In materials, is essentially a measure of embodied energy, the result of life cycle analysis. A carbon footprint is often expressed as tons of carbon dioxide or tons of carbon emitted, usually on a yearly basis. There are many versions of calculators available for carbon footprinting.This is directly related to the amount of natural resources consumed, increasingly used or referred to as a measure of environmental impact. Carbon dioxide is recognized as a greenhouse gas, of which increasing levels in the atmosphere are linked to global warming and climate change.

'Carbon footprint' will almost certainly be the term, retrospectively, that defined the tipping point which brought climate change out of the laboratory and into popular culture. History shows that popular culture is what drives voters, gets politicians interested, and leads to meaningful change. So what should the wine industry be thinking - or rather doing - about this?
Over the past few years, Wines of South Africa (WOSA) have dedicated substantial resources to the conceptualisation, distribution and promotion of the 'Diversity Is In Our Nature' message - a campaign designed to communicate the 'eco-friendly' nature of our industry on the one hand, and to promote the massive diversity of our environment on the other hand. Critics of the WOSA campaign have been quick to slam the positioning claiming that it is irrelevant to the consumer, confusing, distorted and not easily understood by the producer community - that ultimately is funding the positioning statement through statutory levies. The wine industry has supported the campaign, but it is not uncommon to hear grumblings of discontent around the winelands' watering holes.

 I would contend that the WOSA positioning statement, subject to one or two more consumer-friendly tweaks and some wording adaptations, might be one of the more forward-thinking promotional strategies ever seen in the world of wine. Let me explain… The world changes quickly. The major forces of producer fragmentation and retail consolidation that are shaping the global wine industry are not mutually supportive. The supermarkets are becoming bigger and are getting more focused on addressing the large impact that they have on the environment. While nobody can deny the intelligence and logic expressed by the Chairman of TESCO in his recent address on environmental  awareness, some would question the rationale for this retail behemoth in placing such emphasis on the environment and in creating a plan to measure the TESCO 'footprint'. The future is being mapped out as TESCO has committed to pouring considerable funds into creating a usable and consumer-friendly methodology for accurately mapping and defining the complete 'carbon footprint' for each of the products on its shelf. South African producers dealing with TESCO should brace themselves for new packaging rules which will have them reflecting the carbon footprint of that particular wine on the packaging. Producers should also brace themselves for the additional cost of compliance as TESCO has never been shy of shifting costs onto its suppliers. It is not unreasonable to believe that TESCO will move quickly as they attempt to swiftly tap into the 'carbon footprint' wave of popular culture in an attempt to steal a march on their competitors, achieve first-mover status, gain much-needed positive PR and drive their ever burgeoning bottom-line (although analysts panned the stock this week for only growing sales by 4.7%). It is also reasonable to make the assumption that where TESCO and other global retailers lead, the world will follow; and that we are on the brink of a cultural paradigm shift where the common household starts assuming responsibility for climate change.
The power of the consumer, it seems,  is going to be unleashed once again to manipulate the full extent of the supply chain to become more efficient - and to reward those that are the most efficient at becoming more efficient. 

Note to readers: The author acknowledges the obvious contradiction in this column in that sitting on an international flight is not improving his own personal carbon footprint. No paper was, however, wasted in the writing of this column. 

On Monday: Can WOSA's biodiversity campaign play into this pop culture momentum or will it be sidelined?
_______________________________________
Michael Ratcliffe
Sent via Blackberry handheld.
PO Box 2, Elsenburg, 7607, South Africa
Phone: +27 (0) 21 88 44410
Fax: +27 (0) 21 88 44025
mike@warwickwine.com

www.warwickwine.com

Fire in the Winelands

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On the 24th of january 2007, a ferocious fire swept through the vineyards of Stellenbosch in the cape. Through an amazing partnership between the vignerons and the South African air force, a major tragedy was averted. Pictures and video cannot convey the immense scale o=r the intense heat of the fire. No lives were lost!

Tags: wine, fire, stellenbosch, luxury, warwick, vilafonte, ratcliffe, south, africa, freese, zelma, series

The Vilafonte winery is almost finished.

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More footage of the amazing state of the art Vilafonte winery taking shape in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Vilafonte is South AFrica's first luxury wine brand as well as being the first ever joint-venture between South Africa and the United States.

Tags: wine, luxury, vilafonte, freese, zelma, broadbent, ratcliffe, parker, sexy, south, africa, stellenbosch, podcast, blog, vlog, video, harvest, decanter, spectator

WARWICK TRILOGY: Top 100 Wines of 2006/Wine Enthusiast Magazine

Congratulations Team Warwick!

Mike

 

	Wine Enthusiast SELECTS Top 100 Wines of the Year     December 7, 2006— Elmsford, New York – Wine Enthusiast Magazine, one of the world’s most respected and quoted publications in the field of wine and spirits, has named De Loach’s 2004 30th Anniversary Pinot Noir from California’s Russian River region “Wine of the Year” in its December 31st “Best of Year” issue, available this week.  The Best of Year issue celebrates the Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Wines of 2006 and also recognizes the year’s Top 100 Best Buys, with a Washington State Shiraz as the number one best-buy choice.    Carefully selected by the editors of Wine Enthusiast Magazine, the annual “Best of Year” selections are drawn from the nearly 10,000 wines tasted over the course of 2006 and represents the highest standards in quality, price, availability, newsworthiness, excitement and buzz! The list covers all five major categories of wine: sparkling wines, red and white table wines, fortified wines and dessert wines. Winners this year include wines from 13 different countries of origin. “More and more countries are making top-flight wines, and the 2006 list reflects the great improvements in winemaking that we’re seeing around the world,” said Wine Enthusiast Magazine Tasting Director and Senior Editor, Joe Czerwinski.    The Top 100 Wines of 2006 The Top 100 Wines of 2006 include 56 New World wines and 44 from Europe.  The New World was well represented in the Top Ten with South Africa’s Warwick Trilogy at number five, and Argentina’s Punto Final Malbec Reserva from Perdriel at number nine. The US boasted 38% of the Top 100 Wines, with three of the top ten produced in California.  Price and value are important criteria for even the best wines – Wine Enthusiast’s number three pick is the Charles Heidsieck Rserve Brut Champagne, at $36 a bottle. While the average price of a Top 100 wine was $53 a bottle, the median price was $36.    Since multiple factors were considered when selecting wines for this prestigious list, not all wines on the Top 100 list are necessarily the highest-scoring wines.  Of those featured, the wines that received the three highest scores from the Wine Enthusiast 100-point rating scale were all Cabernet blends from the 2002 vintage in California, including: Sloan Cabernet Blend, Rutherford, unique recipient of 100 points; Rubicon Estate Cabernet Blend and Harlan Estate, Cabernet Blend, Napa Valley, both 99 points.  The average score of Top 100 Wines is 94, while the average price of Top 100 Wines is $53, with the median price at $36.   The Top 100 Best Buys of 2006 Less than 1% of all wines tasted over the course of the year make it onto the Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Best Buy list.  Wines designated as the Top 100 Best Buys of 2006 have wine-rating scores of 85 points or higher of the 100-point scale and generally have a suggested retail price of $15 or below.  The grand winner this year was Columbia Crest’s Grand Estate Shiraz from Columbia Valley, Washington, with a 90 point rating score for $11.  Second place went to Portugal's Dao Sul’s Quinta do Gradil, also with a 90 point score, available for $6.  Rounding out the top ten, the USA had five wines (2 from Washington State and 3 from California), while Portugal, Argentina, Australia, France and Spain each had one.   Of the top 100 Best Buys, 52 wines are from the New World while 48 are Old World, while the average price is $11.60.  As contrasted with the Top 100, which had no ross, there are four ross on the Best Buy list. In addition, 40+ wines scored 90 or above: 14 from US, 6 from France, 5 from Argentina, 4 from Spain, 5 from Australia, 3 from Portugal, 2 from Chile, 2 from Germany.     5 Warwick 2004 ‘TRILOGY’ Estate Reserve 95   South Africa, Stellenbosch / $32 Red This was the first Bordeaux blend from the Cape, and remains one of the very best. This 2004 is stylish, very Bordeaux in its structure, yet shows a richness of fruit that Bordeaux can only envy. Black currants, dry tannins and a sense of great ageability - they are all there. Page: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
103 Fairview Park Drive • Elmsford, NY 10523 914/345-8463 • Fax 914/592-0102 • www.wineenthusiast.com/mag

 

 

 

 

The Vilafonté winery is taking shape - mid November 2006

The Vilafonte winery is taking shape

Watch the video

The next video of the upcoming Vilafonte winery in Stellenbosch. Things are really taking shape and it is looking good!

Tags: south, luxury, freese, africa, series, stellenbosch, wine, vilafonte, long, zelma, ratcliffe

Construction starts on the new Vilafonte winery

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The work has begun on the new home for Vilafonte?Vineyards as the team move in. Foundations and infrastructure is in, walls are up and the roof is one. The reinforced floors and drainage are going in this week in anticipation of tank installation in late october. All very exciting!

Tags: freese ratcliffe series broadbent decanter parker spectator, wine vilafonte luxury construction building zelma

WARWICK ESTATE: Challenge International Du Vin

Dear ‘Team Warwick’,

More good news!

 

The results are in for the Challenge International Du Vin 2006.

The Challenge International du Vin is the biggest French international wine competition with over 30 countries entering and 5000 wineries entering.

 

South Africa received 5 medals, of those, Warwick took home 1 gold, 1 bronze and 1 silver – a total of 60% of South Africa’s results.

http://www.challengeduvin.fr/result_search.php

 

Well done everyone … another positive result!

I hope that this info is useful.

Mike

_______________________________________________________________

Mike Ratcliffe

* PO Box 2, Elsenburg, 7607, South Africa

( Phone:    +27 (0) 21 88 44410
4    Fax:       +27 (0) 21 88 44025

( Skype:    mikeatwarwick

ÿ mike@warwickwine.com

"   http://www.warwickwine.com

Next Rootstock meeting

The next Rootstock meeting is coming and we are going to have it soon- details will be posted on both the Rootstock blog as well as on the www.wine.co.za diary page. We are going to be talking technology in wine marketing, the significance of increased internet penetration and the opportunities that this holds globally for wine. Is there an opportunity in South Africa yet. We may talk blogging, podcasting and viral marketing - depends on where we go.

Big topic: Is the Telkom monopoly and their agressive anti-competitive behaviour restricting the roll-out of affordable internet to our populution and reducing our global competitiveness. Well, that was a retorical question - of course it is. Will the new telecon service provider in 2007 change all that or is it a pipedream?
We are putting together a panel of speakers to debate and discuss this hot topic. Sure, we may go off the point and will follow the discussion where it takes us - but it will be a good one.
I will try to get a representative from Telkom - wish me luck. Does anyone have other thoughts for speakers?? Let me know so that we can contact them.

Thoughts on Rootstock guest speaker???

OK, it is that time of year again when Rootstock puts together a plan for some guest speakers. Lets hear what you all have to say. Does anyone have a suggestion for a speaker or a topic that needs to be adressed. Our industry is in a continual state of flux and we should stay ahead of it in this forum. Lets hear your thoughts. Click on comment below.
Mike

Wine across America Blog - Los Angeles

Today's PODCAST from CALIFORNIA.

DOWNLOAD TELL A FRIEND PLAY

Distribution in America is the key to success. Like anywhere in the world, ‘route to market’ is always going to be the killer attribute that can mean the difference between success and failure. Nowhere in the world is this more apparent than in the United States where the neo-prohibitionist hangover of federal liquor controls hangs thick in the air. Americans, it seems, have reached an uneasy state of acceptance of this extraordinary status quo where every facet of a wines journey to the end consumer pads somebody’s pocket. To recapr for those who are confised by these statements. America (generally) has a 3 tiered system of wine distribution whereby the non-American producer cannot legally sell wine to anyone but a wine importer. The absurdity starts when you understand that no single person or business entity may own both a distribution and import license. What this means is that the importer cannot sell wine to the consumer or even the retailer/restaurateur and can only sell wine toa distributor who in turn can also only sell wine to the trade. Technically speaking, the only place a consumer can gain access to imported wines is through the 3rd tier of the channel which is the retailer or restaurateur. Once you understand the vastness of the US market, it is understandable that perhaps this system would have evolved independently as few companies have the infrastructure and capabilities to own and distribute nationally with efficiency. But the system really falls down in the sense that it suppresses free market activities and that the larger National distributors have little in the way of competition. As a result of this and to further entrench this skewed power balance, the larger distributors are being consolidated at a rate that is unprecedented and fewer distributors are controlling more of the market. It feels sometimes that every medium-size distributor in the US is simply waiting for the ‘big guys’ to come along and buy them out. Might I be over-dramatising this? Maybe, but this is the feeling on the ground.
So what does this mean for South Africa? Well, for every distributor that gets purchased, this means fewer distribution slots for South African wines exist and fewer small producers are able to participate in what becomes a much larger structure. The larger a distributor gets, the larger the supplier has to become in order to become a meaningful contributor to bottom-line. The big brands become bigger and the smaller brands get squeezed out. The consolidation of distribution and ongoing production fragmentation continues apace. The two trends are not compatible and we will have to win over some serious buyers to grow South African wine in the US – usually at the expense of another global supplier.
So where are the opportunities?
The federal and state regulators are slowly (very slowly) dismantling the complex wine distribution laws, but a combineation of big business (distributor) lobbying in Washington, a very religious and conservative population and misplaced priorities is hampering this progress. A high-profile battle between retail giant Costco and the state of Washington recently threw up a couple of clues about the future when Costco won the first step in the battle to allow it to ship directly from the producer. Of course this judgement will go to appeal and will probably be held up for years, but Costco is being aggressive and has set a valuable precedent which any sensible judge cannot fail to respect.
Is this a good thing? Well, yes and no as it si being championed by the mammoth retailers and you can be sure that they are not pursuing a Samaritanian endeavour to make money for the supplier – no, they are chasing margin for their bottom-line because they know that through direct imports and direct shipments, that they can leverage their massive nation-wide distribution network to exponentially multiply their sales and balloon already embarrassing margins.
Opportunities exist for South African suppliers to find routes to market that narrow the gap between importer, distributor and retailer. In some states, it is (kind-of) legal for the husband to own an import license, the wife to own a distribution license and the kids to own multiple retail licenses. It happens – another symptom of an idiotic system. Many California wineries drive a substantial volume of their sales through wine clubs and direct shipments to customers. Of course there is a limited amount of states that you can ship to directly, but this has been growing over the years. Is there a business model here for South African wineries. Is there an effective model for a South African winery to run a wine club for direct sales to customers? The answer must be yes, but there has to be demand first and brand South Africa must become more entrenched before this will work. So the hard work lies ahead in this massive market opportunity that is the USA.

Wine across America – California Dreaming!

The late night arrival of Team South Africa on the East Coast with an additional 3 time-zone changes was a minor shock as the road-show rolls on. After 3 months of non-stop rain that has been seriously affecting budding and shoot-development in California, the skies finally opened on the day of the Wines of South Africa tasting downtown, a stones throw from the eponymous Embarcadero. By many accounts, this tasting has been the most successful of the tour to date. Restaurateurs, retailers and eager consumers arrived in droves and kept everyone busy with an intense interest in learning more about South African wine. It is once again clear how closely linked tourism and wine are in selling brand South Africa. A large majority of the consumers had either been to South Africa or knew of someone that was going and this provided the key draw card, in my opinion. Americans have an embarrassment of choice and this is what has made America the enormous consumer culture that it is – or was it the other way around? The consumer, on the one hand, can be a little jaded and confused by choice. But if the message and the choice is communicated clearly and unambiguously to the consumer, they show an incredible willingness to open themselves up to trying something new. I have said this before – but feel that it is important to restate. Americans want us to teach them about our products and they want to buy them. We just need to start working on a clear message because at the moment our little wine industry does not have the financial or logistical clout to really get the message across. Sydney Harbour Bridge sells more Australian wine than you can imagine. ‘Finding Nemo’ and many other cultural icons has driven a whole generation to find Aussie interesting and exciting. We got close with Lion King – but it was really not there, was it?
On the subject of repeating myself, If I hear another consumer complaining that the wines on the WOSA show are not available in the USA, I will scream. It is always going to be difficult to give ‘new entrants’ an opportunity to show their wines, but perhaps we are putting the cart before the horse on this one. Perhaps these producers have had an opportunity to learn a huge amount about the US market and get a feeling for how to go about positioning themselves to enter the market, but it seems like an illogical and costly entry and market research solution. The tasting this afternoon in Costa Mesa, South of LA is being hosted by a prominent retailer called Hi-Time liquors. Once again the problem is going to raise its head as the consumers can only purchase the wines that the retailer stocks, and at best wines that have Californian distribution – it’s a tough school.
Wow! The Costa Mesa Orange County tasting was a hit – the consumers came out in droves and we were run off of our feet. This tasting must have rated as one the most intense and focused consumer wine tastings that I have ever been privileged to participate in. Wines poured, winemakers sweated, consumers listened and the wines of South Africa touched the perfect Southern California market. It was a monumental tasting and even impressed the organizers. I arrived a little more than 10 minutes before the tasting started ( a little late) and had to fight through about 100 people queuing at the door to get in. Big thank must go to Hi-Time Cellars for their excellent organization and boundless energy – the show was great!
I would like to pay tribute to the WOSA team for the effort and organization in putting this tour together – it has been an eye-opener for many producers and will be a catalyst for South Africa in this market. It is also a catalyst for greater cooperation in building South African wines in the US by building brand South Africa. One of the great minds behind doing just that is Yvonne Johnston at the SA International Marketing Council. It has been said that a bottle of wine in every wine shop and on every wine list in America will act as a positive reinforcer for Brand South Africa’s generic image. The wine industry has a lot to offer our marketing drive and we should not play second-fiddle. Tourism and many other SA industries engaged in marketing all have an excellent opportunity to harness synergies by partnering with WOSA – wine is exploding in America and we are in the right place at the right time – but there will not be more than one chance to get it right.

The Wines of South Africa tour heads West

I have now arrived along with Team South Africa in beautiful (and chilly)
San Francisco – the flight from Chicago is only 4 hours, but takes in 3
times zones and even this short distance leaves you with jet lag – after a
run along the Embarcadero, the waterfront of San Francisco I feel refreshed
and ready for another big day.
But first, lets chat about Chicago. I had some very detailed debates about
the efficacy of the South African presence in the USA with Norman Cilliers
and Ken Forrester who are co-conspirators on this unabashed assault on the
USA. A lot of thoughts came out along with a lot of things that I wanted to
share. A question was posed about how many of the people manning the stands
on the WOSA roadshow actually have authority to transact business and take
any kind of meaningful business decisions. A lot of comment has been
received from consumers, retailers and restaurateurs that they have liked a
lot of the wines and upon enquiring about the producers distributor, were
told that the wines are not available in the USA. Now we understand that
many of the producers are looking for importers and distributors and that
this is a ‘fishing’ expedition, it was seen as intensely negative from many.
Another thought was that there may be examples of people from South Africa
on the tour who were considering this as a mini vacation from the office and
really had very little likelihood of doing any business. I would encourage a
thorough evaluation of the process upon return to South Africa to see if
there has been any return at all from this trip across America. This is a
concern – does this apply to other WOSA road trips? It was suggested in the
same debate that if a ‘follow-up’ meeting was called for South Africa upon
return, how many of the tour participants would attend?
On the positive side, we had a very beneficial day in Chicago and saw a lot
of existing clients and customers as well as spent some valuable time with
our distributors who are doing a great job. Business was done, relationships
formed and strengthened and the Wines of South Africa made a very positive
impact.
Another debate was raised in Chicago. The question about the coordination of
South Africa’s marketing efforts was discussed and it was felt that we
should be seeking greater cooperation between South Africa’s marketing
agencies. A South African wine tour would be a perfect companion for a
tourism tour, a finance tour and perhaps even a Safari lodge tour of
America – we have invested heavily in this tour and it is a certainty that
we should be cross-pollinating our efforts to a larger extent. The financial
economies of scale alone scream for this type of cooperation. What if the
big South African investment conference that was in NYC at the same time as
the WOSA tour had been in the same venue??? The missed opportunities hurt
the more you think about them. This is not a finger-pointing exercise. It is
however an effort to spark debate about the future of South Africa’s
investment into the world market with the greatest potential for South
Africa and our wines in particular.
Many producers have reported exceptional sales into the USA, but this could
easily be explained away with ‘filling the pipeline’ – the shelves are
starting to report increased populations of South African wines – but are
they moving. The answer has to be yes, but too slowly. This is a consumer
issue and not an importer/distributor issue. Distributors will not take on
any more brands if the existing ones are not moving. This is what is
happening and we should welcome debate on this. This is not a rule, but a
generalization – many producers are doing well – but Brand South Africa is
NOT flying off the shelf. We need to coordinate our icons – what about gold
and diamonds, table mountain, wild animals, Nelson Mandela, Charlize Theron,
Dave Matthews and many other wonderful SA icons that are yet to be
discovered.
Another contentious question has to be raised about the (negligible)
representation of WOSA board members at this event. The board members on the
tour numbered one (excluding the hard-working CEO, Su) –out of a possible
13. If this market is going to be successful we need the support of the
board and this is only going to come about if they understand the market and
this will only ever come about as a result of having been here. It is my
contention that in the next year we are going to have to raise our game
significantly through greater man-power, significantly increased funding and
national coordination if we are going to win the consumer over. Without a
thorough understanding of the complexities and challenges of the US market,
we cannot have strong leadership and without this we are dead in the water.
Despite these challenges, South Africa is gaining traction that will provide
us with a solid platform for our REAL marketing push. Lets call this a
scouting expedition shall we?

The WOSA tasting in NYC

The WOSA tasting in NYC

Watch the video

A brief video showing the space and the excellent attendacne at the WOSA New York City show a couple of days ago.

Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois - the train continues rolling!

Great excitement for South African wine is that the head winebuyer for the PLCB (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board) has decided that it is about time that South Africa is featured as wine of the month and October 2006 it will be. After an excellent lunch with Steve Pollack, Mark Hazurand the guys from the Wine Merchant a broad agreement was made on how to proceed. Pennsylvania is a monopoly state and over 150 wine stores and outlets are owned and controlled by the State. This could be an opportunity? Steve has undertaken to assemble 125 store managers in one place for a whole afternoon in September for a South African seminar in which we can ‘educate’ them about South Africa, our geography, geology, climate and wines. I spoke to Rory Callahan and he has committed to presenting the seminar – he will need some backup. Bill Kohl who is the GM of the Harrisburg Hilton has agreed to make the conference facilities available to us in September at no cost and so we are all set. This is going to be enormous for South Africa! Well done Rory!
The train to NYC was uneventful and a late arrival and check into the crappy Holiday Inn was not very exciting! My shoebox (hotel room) at $290 per night was a firm welcome to NYC gift and I realized that NYC is back after the horrors of 9/11. Boy this place is expensive.
Back onto the train on Saturday and a great visit to Farmingdale, a vaguely charming town on Long Island. My train was delayed twice due to brush fires and I ended up taking a bus, another train and 2 taxis to make my way to Stew Leonards Wine Shop. I spent the afternoon doing a tasting and educating the guys on South African wine – they reported a steady growth in their South African sales, but mentioned that South Africa had not yet really dome anything significant to compel customers to reach for our wines. The shelves were also (at the bottom) languishing with expired vintages of wines that I cringed at. Perhaps our friends at the big winery in Paarl could do something to try to sell through some of the unsold back vintages polluting the South African category and taking up valuable shelf space around the country?
Monday … the big day and the WOSA tasting in the Puck building on Lafayette street was all ready to go. Wines of South Africa and the supporting contingent have to be congratulated for putting on a great show and showing a spectacular face to the buyers and trade of NYC. I was proud to be South African as I saw all the winemakers and agents in a beautiful venue, well dressed and with a wonderful selection of SA wines. The tasting started slowly and then started building until it was fantastically busy – it really was good and the trade poured in. For those that had dome some preparation, it was a great opportunity. I cannot speak for the participating producers without importers about the success of the day – but my gut feel is that it might have been a little less successful business wise? There was a good mix of sommeliers, waiting staff, wine shop owners/buyers and other wine buyers and they all seemed really interested. Pinotage was popular and I heard this remark a number of producers who were caught off guard. The fruity, yummy Pinotage wines that had a little sugar found favour with the patrons. You can agree or choose to disagree, but the fact remains that wines with higher extract, good concentration, some sweet oak, a little residual sugar and a smooth finish do wine the customer over in the US. Now, we can fight this, or we can accept it and listen to the market. This does not mean a wholesale corruption of winemaking philosophy and South African terroir – we should just make a point to understand our markets and adapt ourselves to this. This is not a global direction and w4e should treat this topic carefully and not just accept it. It could get heated if treated lightly. We should perhaps open this topic to greater debate and I intend raising this topic at a Rootstock forum some time this year. Anyone want to join in the debate? Click on the comment tab below to start the debate.
I write this column from my airplane seat en route Chicago for the next installment of the WOSA tour – the windy city will meat the marauding South African wine industry on Wednesday and we can expect to meet some interested and influential customers. Stay tuned.