In Part 1 of this on-going saga, I posted about comments attributed to Su Birch, head of the SA Wine Export Marketers (WOSA).

In his November 20, 2011 article for TimesLive.co.za, Neil Pendock, who describes himself as ‘South Africa’s leading independent drinks commentator…’ writes about Birch’s  war-of-words with Hong Kong businessman and socialite Sir David Tang (formerly he of Shanghai Tang).

I am happy to say that Su has since contacted me and clarified her side of the tiff as follows:

Dear Mike,

I want to assure you that WOSA is totally committed to the Hong Kong and Chinese markets and are doing as much as we can with our very limited funds.

We were active at 4 shows in China last year, one of which was in Hong Kong and brought WOSA Wine Workshops to Hong Kong and Guangzhou.

These master classes were presented by some of our best winemakers to a large audience of Hong Kong sommeliers and trade.

I presented at the Wine Futures Hong Kong seminar in November.

We are planning to be at 5 shows this year, the first of which is Vinexpo Hong Kong in May.

We have translated our promotional material in to Mandarin and building our first Mandarin website in the next few months.

WOSA does not sell wine, we just try to grow awareness and promote a positive image.

If you have some great ideas on how to get more wine sold in Hong Kong,we’d like to to hear them. But budget is always a problem.

Our bottled wine exports to China (unfortunately I don’t have Hong Kong separately) are up 90% for the 12 months ended October 2011.

I guess everywhere in the world you have politics, and quite why Mr. Pendock found it necessary to make such a huge fuss about my comment in an online lifestyle magazine about not wanting to go on holiday in China (where I have done some travelling) is not something I understand. Going on holiday and doing business are two very different things.

I hope this sets the record straight.

Best

Su

On my usual Sunday-morning walkabout, I took some images of the SA shelf at the Jason’s store in Tsim Sha Tsui’s K11 mall.

Those of you who have been following my ramblings here on Howzit-HongKong.com will know full well about my bitching about the lack off South African wines on the Hong Kong shelves.

Since my first post on this issue I’ve been at a loss of words on this issue but today, on my usual trawl of the South African daily papers, I probably found (one of the reasons) for the discrepancy.

Seems the head honcho of the SA Wine Export marketers (WOSA), one Su Birch have been in the thick of things as far as SA Wines’ import attempts into Hong Kong/China is concerned. And NOT in a good way.

Read this report from TimesLive…

Seems Su Birch has not exactly endeared herself into the local wine inport/export community with her comments.

More to follow…

Mike Jansen

(Hung Hom)

A shopping trip to my local Park & Shop here in Hung Hom this afternoon brought a welcome surprise.

If, like me you’re a Savanna Cider fan (OK I am a fan of any South African products available this side of the noodle-gordyn!) you will be happy to know that the golden cider is now available right here in Hong Kong.

Park & Shop is selling the 330ml (3%) Savanna Light for $9.90 each or $19.90 for 2.

I bought the last six left on the shelf.

Hopefully they’ll restock.

As I mentioned in a previous post, on Sunday Howzit-HongKong.com attended the South African Tourism Workshop at the Park Lane Hotel in Causeway Bay.

As always, not only was it yet another occasion where I got to meet an old university acquaintance totally by chance (I last saw him 20 years ago), but it was an opportunity to catch up with what is happening back home in terms of our country’s tourism industry.

My family and I make our annual Hong Kong summer trip home to the Western Cape and we always make a point of visiting as many places as we can fit in-between all the family commitments. Talk about being a tourist in one’s own country!

It was therefore a bonus that officials from the Cape Winelands District Municipality were part of the South African delegation at the Workshop.  My family home is located just outside the world-famous Stellenbosch Wine Route which, of course, is located within the Cape Winelands District.  As annual visitors to towns and amenities located in this District, I learned of many new offerings that has been developed in the region… some have been there for decades.

More about that later.

While researching (read: Google) the District, I came upon this informative series of video-clips on the Cape Winelands.  As the wine retail industry is growing exponentially here in Hong Kong, we thought that it would be a great idea to share these videos here on Howzit-Hong Kong.com:

Cape Wine Route, Episode 1

Cape Wine Route, Episode 2:

Cape Wine Route, Episode 3:

You know you get around a wee bit when you walk into a restaurant and the staff pours your regular tipple without you even ordering.  This is my regular experience when I visit Bulldog’s in Tsim Sha Tsui East.  (It’s near my apartment and I’ll stick to that excuse.)

In this case the tipple of my choice happens to be Kanonkop’s Pinotage.  If you ever visit Hong Kong, go around to Bulldog’s and listen to how they pronounce “Kanonkop.”  You’re bound to recognise a little bit of Cape Town accent there.

I’m proud to say that I am responsible for that.

Our friends over Zoopy.com recently posted this short video (below) about 3 prominent Western Cape wineyards.  Incidentally, they are all within an hour’s drive of my Cape Town home.

Please enjoy this introduction to Simonsig, Rustenberg and of course, Kanonkop.

Kanonkop’s signature canon (Pic: Lorraine R, Flickr)

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