In recent years there has been a war for the bottle neck – not the unfortunate drug war of South African local marijuana (dagga) users – more for the closures that seal our bottles. The options vary between cork, plastic and screw top seals.

The reason for this battle is that cork is expensive and variable in quality. Good cork comes at a price. So in the last few decades alternatives were researched and encouraged.

A recent article on the new book To cork or not to cork is ambiguous. It leaves the reader hanging. The ambiguity is evident in the interview as the writer does not give a clear indication as to a preference – other than cork is questionable and somebody held a funeral in favour of screw caps (which are my favourite).

The wine industry is one of the world’s leaders in a movement toward environment protection, but no one says anything.

South African vine farmers used to be free to protect their crops just about anyway they wanted. Vineyard pests and weeds were kept bay by the simplest and cheapest method, no matter how hazardous. It was seen as the only way. And that applied to vine growers everywhere.

Ten years ago, a torch light was shone on the long term effects of soil and environment poisoning in South African vineyards.

South African scientific planners in vineyard tech and admin designed a programme they called Integrated Production of Wine (IPW) just in case anyone thought that this might have an effect on the future of the world and pull the plug on it. In 10 years a lot of progress has been made with IPW, but the news has not yet reached the world.

First of all, IPW  is voluntary for the producer. No one is forced to participate. Next, everyone in the SA wine industry participates, fully and wholeheartedly.

There are IPW recommendations and guidelines for vineyards. And there is another set of IPW rules for cellars. Every year, just about everyone passes and the next year, the bar goes up; the rules and procedures get a bit tougher.

IPW is self-policed, you fill in your own performance. But there’s an independent audit. Someone may pitch up out of the blue and ask you to show what you do, how you work.

We would have an irregular supply of uneven wine and no specialist producers if farmers couldn’t protect their harvests from natural hazards. IPW is designed to provide security that has the least impact on the environment.

Organic and biodiverse vine-growing and winemaking is the ultimate. But most growers and cellarists don’t have the opportunity to take this step. At least, not yet.

In South Africa, IPW provides an interface between conventional wine making (still practiced as standard throughout Europe) and the organic principle. This will guide Cape wine people in moving ever closer to organic without taking potentially catastrophic risks.

This ant colony lives, underground, between the rows in a Merlot vineyard. They carry on their work, year in year out. Vineyard protection doesn’t harm them or the millions of other much smaller organisms that make up the below-ground soil world.

South Africa (dare I reveal this) is the world leader in environmentally-friendly principles in making wine.

Australia, New Zealand and California are all now on the same path, but South Africa’s independently audited method is the front runner. Who said South Africa is a sleep hollow.

But why keep this world-first a secret?

Just another one of the South African enigmas, I guess.

Can you imagine that somewhere in the world there’s fake Riesling?

There are big markets for fake Gucci and fake Rolex. Why not fake Riesling? Here’s the background story.

For a century or more Crouchen, a variety from south west France that has never produced a bottle of wine that anyone has remembered, has masqueraded as Riesling in South Africa. No one can recall or will tell the story of how this happened. In 1973, this popular belief became wine law.

If you made a bottle of real Riesling, you would have to call it Weisser Riesling or (as a producer you had a choice) Rhine Riesling. If you made a bottle of Crouchen, you were encouraged to call it Riesling.

Real Riesling didn’t have a chance. The double name of Weisser/Rhine Riesling caused confusion among wine lovers. The cheaper price of Riesling (Crouchen) eliminated any opportunity Weisser/Rhine Riesling had in the market.

After 38 years, no one buys fake Riesling any more. And even Weisser/Rhine Riesling has declined from little to nothing.

But now, we are allowed to vote on fake Riesling vs. real Riesling. Or something like that. I have been asked, after 30 years of howling protest in the dark, if I am happy to allow Crouchen to be called Crouchen and Riesling to be called Riesling on bottles of SA wine.

I am happy. Let’s wipe all of the past away and start over again. But who will plant the Riesling vineyards in the right places? Without that, we will never play a part in the great Riesling revival.

How did it happen? Why was it allowed? Vested interests have a strong hand in most human decisions. Two big Crouchen (ah , Riesling) brand owners felt that they would lose their long-standing markets if they could not call their product Riesling. I’m sure that they were right.

Let me tell the story of two paintings of Dr Gachet. A melancholy portrait of this man, attributed by all of the appropriate judges of these issues, to have been made by the hand of Vincent van Gogh, was sold fairly recently for about 75 million greenbacks.

Last week, a Greek woman went public about her van Gogh portrait of the sad doctor, a slightly different angle and some different colors, but otherwise, to you or me, the same thing. Apparently, one or two van Gogh experts have said "Wow, its a lost masterpiece." The rest have said "We are not convinced".

Regardless of how many pictures of Dr Gachet Vincent may have done, vested interest plays a role in the value of pic no. 2.

Sommeliers Bordeaux Red Glass

I read an article (the magazine was titled “Where to spend it” – so I assume that means disposable income – if you have it) a while back about Riedel glasses. Firstly I am sceptical because I grew up in the years of the cheap supermarket glass and then progressed to the ISO taster – because I had ascended to the level of a wine snob. That was then. Luckily I have “grown up” (not that it really happens with the “male of the species”).

So when I first read about the Riedel glasses my first response was – “I have to have the Tasting Glass.”

In the Sommeliers range there are 44 (you can check me) glasses. And there are 12 ranges (not all have 44 glasses in them). The Overture range is their competitively priced range that is for the “beginner” [read cheapskate].

The boss at Riedel at the time of the article (I believe it was Georg Riedel) has only six sets of Sommelier glasses at home. He has (and this is from memory so is not to be trusted) – Bordeaux Grand Cru, Burgundy Grand Cru, Champagne, Chablis, Water and Apperitif (I stand corrected Georg).

Experts (taken with a pinch of…) have been asked to blind taste from Riedels mixed with pretenders and pretty much chose Riedel 90% of the time. Tough choice me thinks.

PS. I have still not purchased the Tasting Glass that I so lusted over.

The Own a Vine, Save a Job fund has reached R290 000. In just 2 months since inception, seven of the South African suppliers to the failed UK wine agency company, Orbital Wines, have received relief. (For more information, click the Own a Vine icon, and go to The Fact Sheet.)

The immediate need

There are still many jobs at risk. Remember, for R2000, we will put your name on a vine in a block of the variety of your choice, and email you a photograph of the vine with your name on it. We will also send you a certificate demonstrating your ownership, and a bottle of wine made from the block where you’ll find your vine.

There’s always an opportunity. When’s your birthday? What are you going to give your spouse? What can your group own together? To get more information, comment on this post or email graham@stormhoek.co.za.

Remember, getting is delicious but giving is noble.

Many thanks to everyone.

You can make your brand sing. You can make people you don’t know decide to support you and buy your wine.

It’s not hard. It might involve hard work, but its not rocket science.

So why is it so elusive? Why is successful wine marketing so scarce?

When people are dealing with the mystery of wine they seem to go blind and deaf to the basic rules of marketing. Here’s your chance to view your wine brand with new eyes and an open mind.

The head of Executive Education at the Graduate School of Business in Cape Town is Elaine Rumboll. She has brought some bright minds from the creative and marketing fields to a revolutionary new look at wine marketing; a ‘this is how you do it’ course called Dirty Hands.

The course is open to anyone who wants to know how to do it; A Practical Approach to Wine Marketing.

Do you think it will be easier to get more people to pay real money for your wine if you know how big and how disloyal the world market is, or if you know just how special your wine is? Peel away the mystery. Reveal the jewel within.

What’s the world’s most competitive business?

Music. There are more people wrestling over tiny scraps of good fortune in the worldwide music game than any other.

And the wine trade comes second. But remember, if you know how, its not so hard. The Dirty Hands course will take place at the GSB at UCT’s Breakwater campus. It is open for bookings now. To get all of the hard details, where, when and how, plus the cost, call Junita Abrahams 021 4061323

Her email address is abrahams@gsb.uct.ac.za

You’ll find a detailed list of the contents of the course at www.gsb.uct.ac.za/winemarketing

Its a pity, but there is a limited number of places. You have just a few days to decide whether you are ready to be part of the first wave, the new generation of winning South African wine marketers, or if you will wait for year 2.

Free shirt

Everyone who books before May 08 will receive a free ‘Dirty Hands’ wine marketing course T shirt.

The rest will have to buy theirs at the end of the programme.

Help South Africa become a real force. Join now.