Friday, May 11, 2012


The SA industry is planning a new ethical standard - what's the point? 

The South African wine industry is besieged by standards. There's the IPW (Integrated Production of Wine) which was introduced in 1998 and is South Africa's voluntary environmental sustainability scheme.  Then there's SAWIS  (S A Wine Industry Information & Systems) whose certification seal shows the wine has been certified by the Wine and Spirit Board and is a mark of authenticity.  Linked to it is the WO (Wine of Origin) scheme which marks providence. And of course there's the ubiquitous BBBEE, designed to help level the playing field. That's all before you've entered the international game, in which case you'll need an HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points), or a beefed up version for the UK called a BRC (British Retail Consortium), or an ISO (International Organization for Standardization). So what is this new standard? And is it really necessary?

WIETA is an South African ethical trade in agriculture initiative. It was established a decade ago and describes itself as  'a multi-stakeholder, non-profit voluntary organisation which actively promotes ethical trade in the wine industry value chain'. There is support from a body of international retailers, unions and established industry organisations to help WIETA establish an ethical seal that will testify to reasonable working conditions, based on rigorous and closely monitored qualification criteria. Sounds good.  Clearly, fair and equitable treatment of workers is the right thing: morally, economically, socially, ethically, politically, legally. You would be hard pushed to argue otherwise.
The impetus behind this new standard, which will entitle producers who make the grade to use the seal on their wine, seems to have been twofold. Firstly, to counteract the negative publicity surrounding cases of labour malpractices in the wine industry; WIETA CEO Linda Lipparoni  (quoted on wine.co.za) hopes that the standard will 'protect them from any potential negative publicity resulting from those who flout the law'. And secondly,  to bring all the many ethical standards under one major umbrella ethical certificate. 

The WIETA standard 'precludes the use of child labour, asserts that employment should be freely chosen and that all employees should have the right to a healthy and safe working environment. Amongst the conditions it sets are that workers should have the right to freedom of association, a living wage and to be protected from unfair discrimination. Worker housing and tenure security rights should also be respected.'  And what monster could disagree with that? But, hold your righteous horses a second, aren't there already serious measures in place to ensure all this already happens?  Even if  you wanted to, you can't just go about firing people on a whim - the CCMA would have your guts for garters! Fortunately South Africa has a very highly developed legal system,  first world labour laws and conforms to fierce ILO (International Labour Organization) standards - so wouldn't the right course of action, in a case of any of the above, be vigorous legal action rather than a wrap on the knuckles from WIETA?

Perhaps it is insufficient government control and support of these stringent laws that allows the odd malfeasant to slip the noose? No doubt there are black sheep out there. But will another acronym, rather than a vigilant legal system and a watchful media, bring them back into the fold?  Perhaps wine producers could simply wear WIETA funded stickers that say 'Law Abiding Citizen!'.

What do you think?



Want to know more?

http://www.ipw.co.za/
http://www.sawis.co.za/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazard_analysis_and_critical_control_points
http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html
http://wieta.org.za.www34.cpt3.host-h.net/
http://www.wine.co.za/News/News.aspx?NEWSID=20300&Source=News

Friday, May 4, 2012

2012 Harvest


The 2012 harvest has come and gone in a blur of bountiful activity. As Freddie puts it 'this is the best year I have seen in my 41 years of working in the vineyards'. Rarely is there such an plentiful harvest where abundance is matched by exceptional quality. Across the board the wines are set to be stella; the white wine is fresh, varietally correct and displays both good depth and structure; the red wines, a bit more difficult to judge at this stage, have great colour and tannin yet remain free from green or raisin flavours.

How did this happen? The 'grape' weather has to take a lot of credit.  It all started well with the healthy weather and sunny days of November 2010 which determined the fruit set, leading to fruitful buds (or eyes) and ultimately helping to result in the good bunch sets of the 2012 harvest. It's strange to think that weather conditions from 18 months ago had an influence on this year's harvest. 

The early growing season was dominated by very dry weather with mild sunny days. This encouraged good, even growth patterns and (thankfully!) zero incidence of disease such as the dreaded powdery mildew or its evil cousin downy mildew. Robertson is a dry region so our vines need to be irrigated. This can work in our favour as it enables us to stress our vines at various times and to produce small, intensely flavoured berries. It also results in thick skins for the grapes which provide effective resistance to rot late in the season.

The summer was hot but January more so than usual. I think red grape varieties need a bit of heat during the growing season to burn off any excess herbaceous flavours. So, unpleasant as the scorching weather was, the results on the vines were positive. February and March were milder allowing the grapes a smooth ripening period and avoiding any 'jammy', overripe characters.

The sheer size of the harvest meant Johan, our winemaker, had to work magic to fit it into the winery. When the last grapes were received and safely stowed in the cellar, we had harvested over 3,500 tonnes but still had contingency space for 3 more tonnes - how's that for organisation!

Gourmet Dinner for Kelvin Grove Club

On April the 25th Excelsior Wine Estate hosted the Kelvin Grove Club for a Gourmet Dinner.




The Menu:

Starter: Guacamole marble with smoked snoek and sesame
            compression on orange blossom sauce


 Main: Organic fillet of beef poached in red wine enhanced lamp jus
          served with horseradish, watercress and shoestring potatoes


 Dessert: Passion fruit cheese cake with blueberry foam













Thursday, April 26, 2012

Things to do in Robertson

Robertson has so much to offer for the adventurous tourist. For the ones who want to get more active there are lots of possibilities.

Fish Eagle Trail: A 8,5 km hiking trail which crosses the Breede River and climbs up the Rooikrans with breathtaking views of the valley

River rafting: With amazing mountain scenery and abundant bird life, river rafting on the Beede River is an experience for the whole family.

Skydiving: Skydiving at Robertson Airfield- come and enjoy the experience.

Klaasvoogds Game Reserve:Guided game drives in the 800ha reserve nestled in the foothills of the Langeberg Mountain Range

For more information and attractions click here.

Stay at Excelsior Manor, the perfect gateway to the Robertson Wine Valley and its activities. After an eventful day in the area relax on our estate with a glass of wine and watch the sunset!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Winner of Vineyard Block Competition


Excelsior Wine Estate
has won the Winetech/VinPro Vineyard Block Competition “Boeredae” 2012. It is already the second time that Excelsior has won this prize.


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Feedback Harvest 2012

After our blog post on 21 of February about the Harvest 2012 we now want to give you a feedback on it and also a few pictures.


The 2012 harvest was definitely on to remember. We wrapped up on Thursday the 28th of March with the last Cabernet Sauvignon, just managing to beat the rain. All in all it was our largest harvest since 1998, but the big difference was that despite the size of the harvest, it was one of our best quality harvests. All varieties had higher than average yields, and the biggest increase was definitely on the whites.

Early indications are that the Sauvignon Blanc is crisp with nice tropical flavours, while the Chardonnay is very citrusy in the typical Robertson style. Red wines all show great colour and structure, with standout variety being Cabernet Sauvignon.

Thanks must definitely go to Johan Stemmet and his winemaking team for managing the logistics of such a big harvest. We are also grateful to the harvest teams who on average managed to pick 40 tonnes of fruit each over the season. That works out to over 1 tonne per person per day.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Conferencing at " The Stables Conference Centre"

Situated in the heart of the beautiful Robertson Wine Valley a mere 2 hours from Cape Town International, Excelsior's conference centre offers opportunities for executive management teams to hold strategic planning sessions on a working wine farm.

Programmes, packages and menus are tailored to suit individual requirements and to ensure that conferences are valuable and uplifting.

The conference venue can accommodate:

Configurations:
  • Banquet – 36 pax
  • Cinema – 60 pax
  • School Room – 24 pax
  • UShape – 23 pax
Equipment included
  • DVD player
  • Plasma Screen: 86cm x 50cm
  • Branded note pads
  • Pens
24 Hour Conference Package includes:
  • Tea/Coffee and home made treats on arrival
  • Mid morning tea/coffee and home made treats
  • Lunch: light lunch – two courses
  • Mid afternoon tea/coffee and home made treats
  • Use of venue
  • Standard equipment
  • Dinner – 3 courses
  • Bed and Breakfast
Full Day Conference package includes:
  • Tea/Coffee and home made treats on arrival
  • Morning tea/coffee and home made treats
  • Lunch: Light lunch
  • Afternoon tea/coffee and home made treats
  • Use of Venue
  • Standard equipment


Wine tasting and wine blending are available.

Contact

peter@excelsior.co.za
+27.236151980