CWG: Quo vadis?
Sole purchaser of the 80 cases available was Alan Pick, owner of the Butcher Shop & Grill in Sandton. He subsequently sold the wine at his restaurant for R1 800 a bottle, a mark-up approaching 365%, but it apparently moved quickly suggesting that even at this elevated price, it still represented a desirable proposition, at least to the well-heeled patrons of Pick's establishment.
Two years on however, and Kent has been unable to get a subsequent vintage of his wine accepted on the auction. Guild members submit potential auction wines for review by their peers, and neither the 2004 nor 2005 Boekenhoutskloof Syrah set aside for this purpose made the grade. This is quite astounding given the reputation of the wine - the 2004 release rated 5 Stars in the 2007 Platter guide while also picking up 4 Stars and being placed among the Top 10 in this year's Pick 'n Pay WINE magazine Shiraz Challenge. Kent, meanwhile, relates that he selects his best barrels from which to make up his CWG auction wine, all to no avail.
Ever mindful of the so-called "three strikes and you're out" rule that sees winemakers evicted from the Guild if they fail to make a wine considered up to auction quality over three consecutive years, Kent this year put forward a Noble Late Harvest Semillon Auction Reserve 2006 even though he doesn't consider himself a "sweet wine specialist". It happens to be a fine effort - "comparable to a good Barsac, if not Sauternes" as he puts it and it will duly go under the hammer when the auction takes place on 6 October. "It gives me three more attempts to get my best two barrels of Syrah onto the auction," observes Kent dryly. "However, I've been kicked out of better places than this before…"
Kent is clearly exasperated with the situation. You'd think that both he and Boekenhoutskloof are held in sufficiently high regard that he could do without the hassles posed by membership of the Guild but he feels that there is still "marketing value" to be had by continuing his membership.
The Guild however faces a crisis of relevance. The line-up of wines available for auction this year contains some that are good but others that are ordinary and you have to wonder about the collective competency as tasters of those involved when they can't recognise the quality of Kent's Syrah.
But that's the least of it. In an industry where the conventional thinking holds that site is primary and human intervention is secondary, the guild manages to turn this on its head. Kevin Grant leaves Hamilton Russell to start Ataraxia and the wines of his old domaine no longer feature on auction, however good his new wines appear to be. Beyers Truter leaves Kanonkop for Beyerskloof, Charles Hopkins leaves Graham Beck for De Grendel, Philip Costandius leaves Neethlingshof for Lourensford. You get the picture…
Supposedly the CWG exists to help "create premium South African wines that will receive benchmark recognition both locally and abroad". Nevertheless, the question has to be asked if it is fulfilling the leadership role in terms of socio-economic development that it must face, whether this is specifically mandated or not.
Twenty-five years after being started, its 36 members are all white and all male. Okay, there's the silent auction for charity every year. And there's the protégé programme launched recently "to empower aspiring winemakers from previously disadvantaged communities" and first-to-be-selected Howard Booysen who is currently a cellar hand at Flagstone Winery is an immensely promising talent. However, if you consider the stature of the individuals affiliated to the guild and the sponsorship of no lesser institution than Nedbank, you feel there should be much greater effort in this regard.
The handbook for this year's auction contains a significant inaccuracy in that it lists 37 rather than 36 members with Jean Daneel having resigned after it went to print. It seems that he had both a 2006 Chenin Blanc and a 2005 red blend accepted for sale this year, but decided to leave anyway. Asked why, he says it was simply because he considers himself "too bloody busy" - in 2004, he acquired property outside the town of Napier in the Cape Agulhas district where he now has his own cellar and vineyards. He insists that he has nothing against the Guild and adds that it must carry on playing the role that it does. Nevertheless, after 18 years as a member, he felt it was time to make way for fresh blood. "Other members couldn't understand why I left. But it's like giving up smoking. You can't put it off tomorrow or the day after." With the likes of Kent disaffected and no room for Daneel, perhaps the Guild is an institution whose time has come.
