Great Wine Capitals Global Network celebrates inuaugral steering committee
Wednesday, 23 February, 2005
Wines of South Africa
Representatives from the City Cape Town and the Executive Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality Clarence Johnson met last week at Nederburg to reward the winners of the 2005 Best Of Wine Tourism contest and to consolidate the action plan driving the Great Wine Capitals Global Network in South Africa.
The international body embraces seven large wine producing hubs, centred around the capitals at the heart of each region: Bilbao-Rioja in Spain, Bordeaux in France, Florence in Italy, Melbourne in Australia, San Francisco-Napa Valley in the United States, Porto in Portugal and Cape Town in South Africa. During the sixth Annual general assembly of the Network in Melbourne in November 2004, the city of Santiago from Chile was expelled from the Network because of its lack of commitment to the Network. The city of Mendoza, Argentina, is meant to integrate the network this year.
The City of Cape Town and the Cape Winelands District Municipality which represent the network in South Africa in a joint membership, confirmed the members of the newly appointed steering committee. The President of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network in South Africa is Nomaindia Mfeketo, Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town. The chairperson of the Great Wines Capitals Global Network in South Africa is Councilor Clarence W Johnson, Executive Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality. Alderman Clifford Sitonga, Member of the Cape Town Mayoral Committee for Economic Development and Tourism, will head the Business and Investment portfolio on the Committee. Mr. Charles Erasmus, CEO of SAWIT (The South African Wine Industry Trust) will direct the Education and Research portfolio and Mr Andre Morgenthal, Head of Communication of WOSA (Wines of South Africa) will direct the Wine Tourism portfolio.
Amongst the initiatives discussed during the Network’s first steering committee meeting of the year were the creation of a wine service excellence school, which would consist of providing front of house courses setting universal service standard. The South African chapter of the network also considered the establishment of a wine industry database of empowerment projects and investment opportunities in the wine areas. Finally the South African member decided to structure its interventions around the social responsibilities of the various stakeholders in the wine industry.
The work of the Steering committee will be supported by a range of technical working groups with a broad based representation of volunteers. People committing themselves to working groups will benefit from mentorship and skills development in return for their services. People interested in contributing in the research in the different committees of the network are welcome to contact Sasha Lagrange, the coordinator of the Network at sasha@oda.co.za.
The Network’s Steering Committee meeting was followed by the 2005 'Best of Wine Tourism Awards' which took place in the Nederburg manor house.
The four South African winners were rewarded by the Chairperson of the local chapter of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network, Councillor Clarence Johnson, Executive Mayor of the Cape Winelands District Municipality, who accepted the awards on their behalf during the Network’s AGM held in Melbourne in November last year, accompanied by Alderman Clifford Sitonga, Member of the Cape Town Mayoral Committee for Economic Development and Tourism. Nederburg Wines won the International award for South Africa in the Special Wineries Tourism category; this category rewards wineries which offer special guided tours or innovative visits on the property concerning the vineyard, the wine trade or profession. The other national winners were Dornier Wine Estate, certified a winner in the Architecture category; Nelson’s Creek, certified winner of the meetings and business tourism category and 96 Winery, certified winner of the winery restaurant category.
The judging panel described 96 The Winelands Restaurant, who owes its name to its founding year, as one of the most exciting developments in the local food and wine industry. The restaurant which is run by Allan Forester, Ken Forrester, Natasha Harris and Martin Meinert delights itself in serving what can best be described as a fusion of traditional, Asian-pacific, continental and the best of east- and west- coast foods, with outstanding wines of origin.
In handing the meetings and business tourism certificate to Advocate Allan Nelson of Nelson’s Creek, the judging panel praised the way in which Nelson’s Creek responded to the growing need for business, conference and meeting facilities in and around Cape Town. The winery now provides excellent corporate meeting and conference facilities in the heart of the Cape Winelands, less than an hour from the City.
Dornier Wine Estate, the winner of the Winery Architecture award was recognized for its various contributions to the development of the local wine industry. The judging panel commented on, not only the outstanding architecture of Dornier, but also on the spirit with which the Dornier family has been participating in the programs and activities of the local wine industry and in particular praised their sustained support for the generic marketing of South African wines. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Raphaël Dornier and architect Johan Malherbe paid tribute to the vision and dedication of Mr Christopher Dornier and described the architectural features of the winery as a visual expression of the wines produced at Dornier.
The Nederburg estate, part of the wine portfolio of Distell, known for the quality of its wines and sustained contributions to the global positioning of the local wine industry, won the Special Wineries Tourism award. The judging panel paid tribute to the consistent pursuit of excellence at Nederburg and praised the collaboration between the team at Nederburg and creator Katinka van Niekerk that resulted in the 'incredible journey of taste.' According to the panel, ''The Journey' represents a highlight in the world of wine tourism.'