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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
Pinotage may well be designated as the official wine for the 2010 World Cup. A request to this effect has been submitted to FIFA. The multi-billion rand industry is aiming to capitalise on the event which will see an estimated 300 000 tourists visiting South Africa. Cobus Dowry, the Minister of Agriculture in the Western Cape, has come out in strong support of the proposal. Beyers Truter who is Chairman of the Pinotage Association describes it as a 'win-win' opportunity. Project 2010 asked him….  What is the idea behind this initiative? These wines can hold their own against wines of any variety from any wine-growing region in the world and we would like to showcase this fact. Pinotage is indeed the trump card of the South African wine industry - you can call it a huge unique selling point. It offers value for money with great quality - what I call classic balance. What better way to market this than the World Cup? If FIFA accepts this request, what then? Firstly, Distell has the licencing rights for 2010, so we will chat to them - we don't want to take anything away from them. But we would use two or three barrels and let it lie for the next 15 months. This would produce a young wine with very good potential. We would use one-and-a-half or three litre bottles and it would have a generic label because we will invite all the winemakers to contribute. If the request is accepted, we will donate a sufficient quantity of wood-matured Pinotage wine for official functions and for participants and winners of the World Cup. We would like to see Pinotage wines at the official functions during the World Cup celebrations. Are you focused on any other 2010 initiatives? No. We do not want to become involved in the commercial opportunities, as there are enough cellars that are structured to do this. Do you see the wine industry booming as a result of the World Cup? Absolutely. The guys are getting seriously involved particularly in the hospitality industry. Also, so many visitors - people from countries like Germany and France - will be experiencing our wine for the first time. I know the wine farms are expecting a lot of visitors. more interviews...
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