GREG SHERWOOD MW - Handford Wines
Like so many people in the local and international wine trade, I can’t even remember how long I have subscribed to wine.co.za? All I do know is that as someone who attempts to follow the ins and outs of the South African wine trade from afar, sitting here in London, reading the daily wine.co.za newsletter in the morning with my coffee has become de rigeur and just how I start every day.
With the dreaded Covid pandemic restricting my regular travels to the Cape, the articles, stories and links have taken on even more significance in helping me keep up with multiple story threads in the Western Cape wine industry.
For me, it’s also the breadth of content that has always appealed, with a balanced look at all sectors of the industry and all quality and price levels of the trade. I have been back in London just over 20 years now and it is incredible that wine.co.za is already celebrating its 25th anniversary! Well, a big congratulations to Judy, Kevin and the whole team involved in delivering the wonderful finished product. Everyone I know who follows the South African wine industry reads your newsletter and values its professional content.
All the best for the future as we all steer our way through and out of this pandemic era. I am sure your publication will continue to play an important role as the South African wine industry looks to rebuild and recover.
FIONA MCDONALD
To survive and grow a business over 25 years is no mean feat – and to do it as wine.co.za has done, at a time when the South African wine industry was going through a massive transformation and growth period is remarkable.
Obviously my interaction with wine.co.za through the years has invariably been over many – so, so many! – glasses of wine! Wherever there was a media event, Judy (or Janine or Trudie or Dusan or Sarah...) would be, camera in hand, documenting it for the website. Kevin was even allowed to attend the odd occasion too!
Their teams over the years have covered anything and everything in the South African winelands – travelling far and wide and then putting the images and reports into cyberspace.
If I think about wine.co.za through the years, I have to recall the somewhat twitchy relationship in the early 2000s when WINE magazine was (briefly!) involved in wine retail through Winetoday.co.za. As Editor, I was only focused on putting out a magazine so was only peripherally aware of the details of winetoday.co.za which fell under my colleague Mike Froud’s authority. Although there was an arm’s length relationship, the general feeling was that winetoday.co.za had an unfair advantage in sourcing and selling wine to the public since it was privy to info on top-scoring wines before the results were published in WINE magazine.
Well, neither WINE magazine nor winetoday.co.za are still around – but wine.co.za is!
In those early days, wine.co.za offered local producers not just an internet presence but also a route to market. They hosted webpages for wineries and cellars which either were not overly interested or perhaps couldn’t afford a ‘bells and whistles’ dedicated site. The format was simple but it provided a necessary electronic address so that when local or international folks were looking for information, it could be found easily and swiftly. Those were the days before digital marketing and social media was “a thing”.
Times have changed dramatically but wine.co.za has always changed with them.
So I salute you, Judy, Kevin and the team for your quarter century supporting and documenting the changing face of South African wine.
Well done!
ANDREW DOUGLAS - Owner of TOPS at SPAR Wine Show
“When we were planning the announcement around our foray into wine, I’ll never forget the words of a seasoned wine colleague - “if it’s worth saying…it’s said first on wine.co.za”.
That sort of reputation is hard earned and comes from 25 years of passion, sweat and toil for an industry that simply put…wine.co.za just lives to serve.
The team at the TOPS at SPAR Wine Show have thoroughly enjoyed the working relationship with wine.co.za over the course of our journey and we look forward to many more years of the same!
Happy 25th Birthday Judy, Kevin and team from the TOPS at SPAR Wine Show.”
PIETER DU TOIT - Cederberg Wines
During 1996 the internet and everything to do with the internet was new for all of us. We had NO idea …
At that stage my career took a turn: from tourism to wine. I started to do walkabout tours in Stellenbosch and got involved with Andre Morgenthal’s Village Cycle tours. Part time work at The Cape Wine Academy lead to a full time job.
During this time the brand new www.wine.co.za became our bible for events and new releases and just about anything to do with wine. If you wanted the industry to know something about you – the latter was where you took your information to, so that the world could learn about you.
During this “new era” - long before ANY one else had information by the gut – “wine dot coza” knew how. I remember some-one talking to me about launching a wine tourism paper and me saying to the new editor:” If you do not get your ducks in a row like ‘they’ have – you will never make it”
During the years to come, things will change for all of us. The ground breakers will return to the land they prepared, but let us never forget the ones that paved the way.
Judy and Kevin – for being brave and for taking a step when the rest of us were fast asleep – I salute you.