Wines of South Africa (WoSA)  launches ‘Spectacular South Africa’ Campaign

Wines of South Africa (WoSA) just announced they are launching monthly social media campaigns and an online campaign to promote “Spectacular South Africa” wines.

Building towards a virtual tasting of South African wines on Friday 22 May, the campaigns will run across all export markets, encouraging producers and their importers to become involved and support the hard-hit industry.

“In each market we will be encouraging importers, retailers and trade and to come together and get involved in the campaign and supporting the South African category, firstly on May 22, by hosting a tasting, opening a bottle of wine and sharing it on any of their social media channels, video and photos,” says WoSA’s UK market manager, Jo Wehring.

WoSA is keen to build upon the outpouring of support for the country’s producers at a time when lockdown has also been accompanied by a ban on alcohol consumption across the nation, plus a (now lifted) ban on exports of wine.

Dates and themes for the campaigns:

May 22 – Spectacular South Africa (all SA wines)

June 20 – Drink Chenin

July 24 – rosé

August 28 – sustainability (IPW seal, WWF Champion)

September 25 – MCC

October 10 – Pinotage

The social hastags include:

#SpectacularSouthAfrica #SupportSouthAfrica  #DrinkSouthAfrican #southafricanwine #tastingtogether #lockdownwine

 

Idealwine launches Fine Wine Auction for Healthcare Workers #ProtegeTonSoignant

Online fine wine auction site idealwine has launched a charity auction to raise funds for healthcare workers in France.

Unveiled this week, the auction will run until May 7. The auction includes Château Lafite Rothschild 1996 in a double magnum, and a range of large formats Bordeaux such as Pichon Baron, Phelan Segur and Suduiraut, and Salmanazars from Domaine de la Solitude, Domaine Albert Bichot and Champagne Drappier.

All proceeds will be donated to the #ProtegeTonSoignant collective which is a multidisciplinary team that identifies hospitals’ urgent needs, to buy and deliver the medical equipment.

Just under 1,000 bottles will be up for auction, with donations from 100 domains, which is worth an estimated €60,000-€100,000.

The auction will be live from April 27 until May 7 2020 on the iDealwine.com site.

The auction will be administered by International Wine Auction, the certified public auction operator and subsidiary of iDealwine.

How to Bid

Simply sign up on the iDealwine site.

All proceeds [the hammer price and buyer’s commission (19% excluding tax)] will be donated to the collective. The wines bought will be shipped to buyers by iDealwine (shipping fees apply), or will be available for collection at the iDealwine warehouse (in Paris) after the end of lockdown.

http://www.iDealwine.com

Asia Pacific Wine and Spirit Institute helps industry professionals with online learning during social distancing

APWASI launched this week 20 online wine and spirit certification courses in 26 languages. The newly released programs include the world’s first certified courses in “Icewine”, “Wines of China”, “Caviar” and “Truffles”.

The APWASI (Asia Pacific Wine and Spirit Institute) board unanimously agreed to move the launch forward to offer support to those in the airline, cruise line, hotel and hospitality industry who are facing uncertain, challenging and life-changing situations because of the global pandemic.

APWASI will be making the important Wine Essentials 1 Course complimentary and other courses qualify for special pricing. The program goals are to allow people to be more productive, acquire new knowledge and get certified during this period at home that many are experiencing.

In 2018/2019 there were over 100,000 wine and spirit students globally undertaking courses from various wine bodies. The wine and spirits market is explosively dynamic and experiencing generational, global and dramatic taste changes. APWASI’s mission when developing these career courses was to combine required fundamental theory and practical skills required for the workplace.

Industry experts were consulted to ensure APWASI courses had the impact and relevance to enable course graduates to be seamlessly and more easily absorbed into new career positions. As a non-profit organization, APWASI wants ensure the courses can be delivered globally and at scale.

Dr. Clinton Lee, Executive Director APWASI said, “It is imperative students have the choice now of a condensed route to attaining new skills with the flexibility to further upgrade those skills during their career. Not only are work skills important but so are cultural awareness levels. I was adamant that APWASI courses incorporate cultural awareness and we have done that. As a lifelong student myself, I can share through my own experience, that lifelong learning is the only way forward.”

APWASI developed a holistic approach for their students, from start to career, by developing strong strategic alliances with pivotal partners in the field. APWASI strategic alliances include Quini (http://www.quiniwine.com), a respected, established online wine tasting software company. Students can taste wine and record professional-grade tasting notes with ease, anywhere, anytime and recall them at the touch of a button. Students can also take online language study components through APWASI’s strategic partnership with Rosetta Stone Language. “Studying Italian wine and language just became much easier,” said Dr. Lee. APWASI students will also be able to keep up-to-date online with the wine industry through our highly valued APWASI strategic partner, Wine Spectator magazine.

Students will be able to access APWASI strategic partners, including global recruitment agencies geared to focus on APWASI graduates, to assist in placement during and after their course completion.

Roger Noujem, CEO of Quini, said, “Global industry requires talent that is digitally savvy in cross-functional areas of business. Going well beyond being personally knowledgeable about wine, for example. It is skills related to bringing automation ideas to the workplace that have now become more important than ever in the wine and hospitality sectors. With the new depth of education, certifications, virtual environment and partnerships that APWASI has crafted, we see a paradigm shift that QUINI is exceptionally proud to help advance and stand shoulder to shoulder with APWASI on.”

For further details: http://www.apwasi.com.

Vinitaly postponed to April 18-21 2021

This week Veronafiere announced Vinitaly 2020 was canceled, made in agreement with representatives of Vinitaly’s partner associations, which are listed below.

Sol&Agrifood and Enolitech shows, which are held in conjunction with Vinitaly, and have also been rescheduled to 18-21 April 2021.

Commenting on the massive economic impact of Covid-19 for the exhibition business in Europe, president of Veronafiere, Maurizio Danese said that the cost would run into billions of euros.

He said, “We must bear in mind that this situation has a massively disruptive impact on the European exhibition industry. To date, more than 200 events have been rescheduled, with an overall loss of almost 6 billion euros and 51,400 jobs at risk, not to mention all businesses related to this industry and the loss of 39 billion euros in exports for SMEs in Europe generated by international trade shows.”

Giovanni Mantovani, CEO of Veronafiere, said that once the health emergency in Italy caused by Covid-19 had subsided he would be embarking on a “renaissance” for the show, which he had thought would be possible in June this year.

He commented, “The health crisis, as everyone can see, has become distinctly worse and what seemed possible out the outset is no longer so now.”

Continuing he said, “In agreement with supply chain organizations, Vinitaly, Sol&Agrifood and Enolitech will, therefore, take place next year.”

He also stated his intention to grow Vinitaly’s international business and create a new event later this year for the show’s partner organizations.

“In addition to implementing special investments in international events such as Vinitaly Chengdu, Vinitaly China Road Show, Wine South America (23-25 September 2020), Vinitaly Russia (26 and 28 October 2020), Vinitaly Hong Kong (5-7 November 2020 ) and Wine To Asia (9-11 November 2020), as well as initiatives organized by the Vinitaly International Academy, we will be at the complete disposition of the sector and promotion system to consider the development of an innovative event next Autumn at the service of sector companies.”

The calendar for the main events organized directly by Veronafiere or third parties affected by changes is given below.

EVENT – ITALYDATE IN SHOW CALENDARNEW DATE
Model Expo Italy – Elettroexpo7–8 March 202021-22 November 2020
SportExpo6–8 March 2020Postponed to a date to be defined
Samoter – Asphaltica – ICCX Southern Europe16-20 May 202021-25 October 2020
LetExpo16-20 May 2020Postponed to a date to be defined
Automotive Dealer Day:19-21 May 202015-17 September 2020
Veronafil22-24 May 202021-23 May 2021
Verona Mineral Show Geo Business22-24 May 202021-23 May 2021
Vinitaly – Sol&Agrifood – Enolitech14-17 June 202018-21 April 2021
Opera Wine13 June 202017 April 2021
Vinitaly and the City12-15 June 202016-19 April 2021
Innovabiomed:15-16 June 2020Postponed to a date to be defined
Art Verona16-18 October 202011-13 December 2020
Oil&NonOil20-22 October 202021-23 October 2020

 

EVENT – INTERNATIONALDATE IN SHOW CALENDARNEW DATE
Vinitaly Chengdu22–25 March 2020Postponed to July 2020
Fieragricola Morocco @Siam14–19 February 2020Canceled
Living Italy @Design Shanghai12–15 March 202026-29 May 2020
Bellavita Expo Warsaw21-23 April 202030 June-2 July 2020
Vinitaly China Road Show15-19 June 2020Postponed
Bellavita Expo Hamburg20-24 June 202012–16 March 2021

Vinitaly partner associations and their representatives include:

  • Ernesto Abbona, President of the Italian Wine Union
  • Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, President of Federdoc
  • Riccardo Cotarella, President of Assoenologi
  • Sandro Boscaini, President of Federvini
  • Luca Rigotti, wine sector coordinator for Alleanza Cooperative
  • Matilde Poggi, President of the Italian Federation of Independent Wine-Growers

Sources:
Veronafiere and Drinks Business

Steven Spurrier is returning to Napa for the Judgment of Napa

May 2020 Steven Spurrier and George Taber will return to Napa for the Judgment of Napa – a modern-day interpretation of the famed 1976 event with a focus on giving the public a chance to be part of the judgment. Full itinerary, video and ticket link here.

50 VIP guests paying $15,000 will have the opportunity to participate in the blind tasting curated by Masters of Wine Peter Marks and Matt Deller and sit side-by-side with the men behind the original event. 50 additional guests purchasing $1,500 tickets will be part of the reception, watching the tasting while enjoying other highly credible wines.

This special event is being put together by Angela Duerr of luxury concierge service Cultured Vine and will launch a series of one-of-a-kind experiences in Northern California wine country.